Dr. Patricia R. Palmerton
Professor, Communication Studies
Hamline University
St. Paul, MN 55104
Telephone: 651-523-2228
Click here to email me
The other day one of our students asked me why I like teaching what I teach. I had to think for a bit--it's not a question often asked. I decided that for me there are many answers to that question, but one theme runs through them all: what I teach has the potential to make a difference.
I am also fortunate to work in a situation where I am constantly interacting with interested and interesting people--people who care, and people who are willing to take the risks needed to learn. Teaching Communication Studies is a real joy to me. Every course I teach has the potential of making a difference for those who work to understand how communication processes work, and how individuals singly, or in groups, organizations, or society at large can use these processes ethically.
I came to Hamline in 1985, having finished my PhD at the University of Minnesota in 1984. For several years I directed the Oral Communication Program at Hamline (the Speaking Across-the-Curriculum program) while teaching Communication Studies courses and developing the Communication Studies curriculum at Hamline. I now focus my energies on teaching, research, and departmental concerns. I teach a variety of courses including Rhetorical Theory, Communication in Conflict Situations, Interpersonal Communication, Research Methods, and the Senior Research Seminar. Occasionally I also teach Gender and Communication, Mass Communication, Argumentation, and Public Speaking.
My research areas include examining issues related to communication and social change, particularly in conflict situations; and communication and abuse. I have also done work on diversity in higher education and oral communication education (especially the "across the curriculum" approach to oral communication education). Recently I have become involved in studying the impact of equestrian vaulting in work with children with special needs. Our focus in this work is primarily on issues of social development, in particular the development of abilities related to empathy and developing and maintaining connection to others.
Periodically I am asked for copies of papers I have presented. I am putting some of the most frequently requested papers here. You may use one copy of these papers for your individual use, or to support your teaching. You must request permission from me to make more than one copy.
Palmerton, Patricia R. "Toward a Frame-Based Theory of Abuse: An Ongoing Exploration" presented at the International Association of Conflict Management, Budapest, Hungary, July 2007.
Palmerton, Patricia R. & Sayer, Scilla. "Horsing Around Without Horsing Around: An Examination of Equestrian Vaulting for Children and Young People with Special Needs and Their Support Networks." Report commissioned by Equibuddy and supported in part by the Scottish Equestrian Association.
Palmerton, Patricia R. “Maintaining an Abusive Relationship: What Do Relational Maintenance Behaviors Really Mean?” presented at the National Communication Association Conference, New Orleans, LA, November 2002.
Palmerton, Patricia R. “The Legitimization of Dialectic: Socratic Strategy in the Gorgias,” Central States Speech Association Convention, Top Three Papers in Rhetorical Criticism, Lincoln, NE, April 1983
Bonilla, James Francisco & Palmerton, Patricia R. (2000). Hamline faculty and student voices: Race, ethnicity, & gender in the classroom. The Hamline Review, 24, pp. 72-94.
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