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Jason Combs

Principal Lecturer; Dialogue Zone Coordinator

Full-Time Faculty

College of Arts and Sciences: Communication

Contact

Email: Jason Combs
Phone: 937-229-2038
SJH
Curriculum Vitae: Read CV

Degrees

  • Ph.D., Organizational Communication, Purdue University, 2006
  • M.A., Communication, University of Dayton, 1998
  • B.A., Communication, University of Dayton, 1996

Profile

Jason Combs’ research focuses on creating unity within communication systems. In his teaching, Jason focuses on conditions that make unified action possible among people, such as creating and maintaining dialogue, developing community, making decisions and solving problems through collaborative means, analyzing power and establishing conditions for ethical organizational action.  

As the inaugural coordinator for the Dialogue Zone, Jason seeks to build capacity among faculty, staff and students for having challenging conversations about topics that otherwise might divide people and building mutual understanding. He oversees all of the Dialogue Zone's operations, including assessment, programming, budgeting, training, supervising student workers and graduate assistants, marketing, registration, needs assessment, building relationships with campus partners and strategic planning.

Jason has had extensive experience in working as a communication trainer and consultant for businesses and non-profit organizations throughout the Midwest in various industries, including hospitals, credit unions, IT companies, manufacturing firms, energy services providers and dental offices. Such experience informs his teaching in the communication management concentration and his training and consulting work through the Dialogue Zone.

Faculty perspective

"I view improving communication as a way of transforming human society as a whole. Communication is the fabric of human relationships.  Improving people’s capacity to achieve desired outcomes through ethical collaboration makes their relationships with each other stronger. Better communication means better families, better companies, better communities, and ultimately a better world. This vision is my primary inspiration in both teaching and scholarship."

Research interests

  • Dialogue in an organizational context
  • Creating and maintaining community
  • Collaborative decision-making and problem-solving
  • Ethics in organizational contexts
  • Communication issues relating to Central Appalachian families
  • Training and organizational development

Courses taught

  • COM 525: Communication Training and Development
  • CMM 425: Professional Seminar in Communication Management in Organizations
  • CMM 421: Organizational Communication and Writing
  • CMM 385: Dialogue, Power, and Diversity
  • CMM 350: History and Analysis of Propaganda
  • UDI 268: Building Community through Intergroup Dialogue
  • UDI 269: Intergroup Dialogue
  • UDI 272: Facilitating Dialogue