Rick Malleus, PhD
Associate Professor
Communication and Media
Biography
Dr. Rick Malleus is a Zimbabwean who has been a member of the Communication Department since Fall 2006. Both his M.A. and Ph.D. are from the University of Minnesota in Communication Studies, with a focus on Intercultural Communication. He teaches a variety of courses in the department, in the University Core, and for the Global African Studies Program. Some of the courses he teaches include Social Foundations of Communication, Media Foundations of Communication, African Voices in a Globalized World, Celebrity & Social Media, Intercultural Communication, Africa & Communication, and the Communication Research Seminar.
His research interests include intercultural reentry and mediated communication in Southern Africa. Below are some of his recent scholarly publications:
- A book chapter: Malleus, R. (2016). Complicating what it means to be South African? Investigating the role of blogs in Intercultural Communication. In Jia Wenshan (Ed.) Intercultural Communication: Adapting to Emerging Global Realities, 363-378. San Diego, CA: Cognella Publisher.
- A book review: Malleus, R. (2016). Review of From the Confucian Way to Collaborative Knowledge Co-Construction: New Directions for Teaching and Learning. The NACADA Journal, 36(2) here.
- A journal article: Malleus, R. & Muchena, E. (2015). Multiple Identities, Multiple Needs: Student Cell Phone Use in Zimbabwe. Florida Communication Journal, 43(2), 15-29.
- A journal article as part of the International Academy for Intercultural Research collection “Pushing the Frontiers of Intercultural Research: Asking Critical Questions”: Malleus, R. & Slattery, E. (2014). Personal Travel Blogs as Texts for Studying Intercultural Interactions: A Pilot Test Case Study of an American Sojourner’s Blogs from Zimbabwe. SpringerPlus 3:211 here.
When he is not working, Malleus enjoys traveling to new places with his wife, playing board games with friends, and looks forward to trips home to Zimbabwe where most of his family live.