Contact
| Dept: | English |
| Email: | styewill@iastate.edu |
| Office: | 364 Carver 411 Morrill Rd. Ames IA 50011-2104 |
| Phone: | 515-294-7138 |
| Office Hours: | R 2pm-4pm |
Bio
Courses I am Teaching
ComSt 301 Human Communication Theory
ComSt 314 Organizational Communication
ComSt 317 Small Group Communication
ComSt 404 Research Seminar
SpCm 323 Gender and Communication
Engl. 302 Business Communication
Degrees
Ph.D. University of Nebraska-Lincoln • Organizational Communication
M.A. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee • Communication Studies
B.A. University of Iowa • Communication Studies and English
Research Areas
Incivility and Civility in the Workplace; Workplace Bullying; Organizing for Positive Change; Work Life Negotiation; Narrative
About My Teaching
I enjoy working with students to challenge the assumptions made about organizations and gender and to determine alternative ways of understanding and knowing. I teach students to go beyond taking the ways we talk in and about organizations at face value and begin to ask why. Articulations of gender and organizations are socially constructed meaning that they are created and sustained through communication. Through class discussion and assignments students develop an awareness that socially constructed structures can be altered and improved through communication. Ultimately, if we have an awareness of the power of communication we can make a positive difference in our communities, our organizations, and our world. It doesn’t get any better than that!
How I came to Communication Studies, Organizational Communication and Gender
I always knew that I wanted to do work that made a difference. I originally imagined I would make a difference by helping others by working in a health profession. I started out as a pre-physical therapy major. I took a communication class and became fascinated by the pervasiveness of communication and organizations in our daily lives. I changed my major and never looked back. In graduate school, I became most interested in organizational communication or how we use communication to create, sustain, and sometimes even destroy organizations and the people working within them. I realized that I can use my knowledge of organizational communication to help organizations function more effectively and humanely. My dissertation examined how targets of workplace bullying construct narratives to communicate about their experiences.
Recent Publications
Tye-Williams, S., & Krone, K. J. (Accepted for Publication). The paradox of workplace bullying advice. Journal of Applied Communication Research.
Tye-Williams, S., & Ruble, R. (Accepted for Publication). Perceptions of workplace bullying narratives: Exploring negative attributions. Ohio Journal of Communication.
Tye-Williams, S. (Forthcoming). Research question formulation. In M. Allen & N. Burrell (Eds.). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods.
Tye-Williams, S., & Krone, K. J. (2015). Chaos, Quests, and Reports: Narrative Agency and CoWorkers in Stories of Workplace Bullying. Management Communication Quarterly, 29, 3-27. *Lead article.
Tye-Williams, S. (2015). Surviving work: Toxic organizational communication. [Review of Surviving work: Toxic organizational communication. By M. Vorrell, H. Carmack, & J. Scarduzio]. Central States Communication Association, 83, 5-6.
Tye-Williams, S, & Marshall, J. (2015). Hope for the future. In M. Kramer & J. Mize-Smith. Case studies in volunteering and NGOs. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing.
Tye-Williams, S. (2013). “The Big Bad Wolf Carries a Purse: Restorying Gender Roles in Popular Children’s Stories.” In B. Ribarsky & M. Murphy (Eds.). Teaching about gender in the university classroom. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Current Research
I am currently working on a project examining the telling of workplace bullying narratives and agency. I am also comparing international perceptions of workplace bullying narratives. In addition, I am exploring how community members communicate in ways that facilitate growth and development. Finally, I am working on a project that examines how a small group of people can organize and become mobilized to have a positive impact on their communities.
Outside of the University
I enjoy spending time with my husband and two young sons. Most of the time you can find us outside having bucket drum rock concerts, building castles out of sand or rocks or snow (whatever is handy), riding our bikes, or working in the garden.