Amy M. Bippus `93
B.A. Communications
M.A. Speech Communication, Wake Forest University
Ph.D. Speech Communication, University of Texas at Austin
Associate Professor of Communication Studies at California State University, Long Beach
My job involves teaching courses on interpersonal communication, conflict management, and quantitative research methods. I conduct research on a range of interpersonal and instructional communication topics, but my favorite area is how people use humor as a communication strategy. I have the best job in the world – all day long I get to be around smart people who are interested in learning about themselves and others, and I get to focus my research on my own interests.
I can trace when I discovered I wanted to study communication to one particular incident at Behrend: The first time I read about social penetration theory, in Dr. Rod Troester’s interpersonal communication class. It clicked that this was something I was really interested in learning more about – and I wasn’t ready to stop just because I was graduating with my B.A.! When I decided to apply to graduate school, many of the faculty helped me choose schools to apply to and prepare for the experience.
I’m glad I did a University Honors senior project while at Behrend; the experience I got conducting an independent research project and presenting it in a research symposium left me well prepared for doing graduate-level work. As the graduate advisor in my program at California State University, I work with many students who want to go on to graduate school. It’s made me realize that I was very fortunate to have had caring and helpful faculty who were willing to give me individual attention as I prepared to move from undergraduate to graduate study.