Featuring Our Faculty

Community Sense of Place

Community Outreach Interests

My recent work focuses on risk and emergency communication in coastal areas, including tourist destinations, that are affected by severe weather conditions and potential problems related to environmental concerns such as climate change and oil spills. Effective communication helps communities prepare for and cope with emergencies, disasters, and environmental change such as sea level rise. I have also worked on communication issues related to the accessibility of built environments and the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act with the goal of improving information about the need for spaces that accommodate all people.

Research Interests

As a technical communicator and rhetorician, my research interests have always reflected in interest in the way that people communicate about and negotiate the challenges of inhabiting places and spaces. I'm primarily concerned with the dynamics of communication at the intersections of public and individual decision making, expert and non-expert interpretation of information, and the ways that the presentation of information helps or hinders understanding. I investigate cross-disciplinary negotiations of related texts and genres in various media and contexts.

Notable Publications

• North Carolina Sea Grant. 2010. Long, Patrick, Kenneth Wilson, Rebecca Powers, Catherine Smith, Donna Kain, and Hao Huille. "Tourism Business Owners Perception of Drilled Oil Risks."  
• Kain, Donna J., Catherine F. Smith, and Menno T. De Jong. 2010. Information Usability Testing as Audience and Context Analysis for Risk Communication.  In Usability of Complex Information Systems: Evaluation of User Interaction. Eds. Michael Albers and Brian Still. New York: CRC Press.  
• Smith, Catherine F., Donna J. Kain. (2010) Making Sense of Hurricanes: Public Discourse and Perceived Risk of Extreme Weather. Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis across Disciplines 4.2: 180-196.  
• Long, P., Hao, H., & Kain, D. With the Dexter Koehl Group, LLC. "Toolbox for crisis communications: Checklists and best practices." For the United Nations World Tourism Organization. 2010.
• Kain, Donna J. (2007) Evaluating the Effectiveness of Storm-related Risk and Emergency Communication. Weather and Society Watch: A Publication of NCAR's Societal Impacts Program 1.4.

Courses

• ENGL 5780: Advanced Writing for Business and industry. Emphasis on improving style and clarity, using data and research, designing documents and graphics displays of information.
• ENGL 6715: Technical Communication. Emphasis on developing technical documents, including planning, drafting, editing, and testing.
• ENGL 7765: Special Topics in Technical and Professional Communication: Risk Communication. Emphasis on effective risk communication in a range of contexts and genres.
• ENGL 7766: Special Topics in New and Emerging Media: Theory and Practice of New Media. Emphasis on identifying purposes, audiences, and applications for various contexts.