profile-default

Erin Sahlstein Parcell

Professor, Department Chair
Communication
 Johnston Hall 237
Faculty & Lecturers
Curriculum Vitae

Education

PhD, Communication Studies, University of Iowa
MA, Communication, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
BA, Speech Communication, Iowa State University

Research Interests

My research currently centers on communication within and about interpersonal and family relationships. A primary area of my work focuses on long-distance relationships, including college dating couples and deployed military marriages/families. I most often employ qualitative methods for my research (e.g., in-depth interviews) but have participated in several meta-analyses and survey design studies. A secondary area for my work focuses on gun violence in southeastern Wisconsin, in particular the stories community members share about their experiences. I am on an interdisciplinary team seeking to address this issue by, in part, helping to elevate the voices of gun violence survivors via our living archive. I encourage students, both graduate and undergraduate, as well as community members to contact me if they are interested in participating in my existing projects or to start new ones.

Courses Taught

Graduate:                                                                                                                                                              Seminar in Interpersonal Communication
Marital & Family Communication
Qualitative Research in Communication
Advanced Qualitative Methods in Communication: Interviewing

Undergraduate:                                                                                                                                        Introduction to Interpersonal Communication                                                                                              Communication in Human Conflict                                                                                                                  Communication in Marital & Family Relationships
Qualitative Research in Communication

Selected Publications

Sparrow, D. M., Sahlstein Parcell, E. M., Gerlikovski, E. , & Simpson, D. N. (2023) Microaggressions toward people with disabilities. The Palgrave handbook of disability and communication , , 67-80. Palgrave.
Sahlstein Parcell, E. M., & Timmerman, L. M. (2023) To ask or not to ask: Uncertainty and information management within a military family during and after a deployment. Casing the family: Theoretical and applied advances in family communication . Kendall-Hunt.
Kim, S. , & Sahlstein Parcell, E. M. (2022) Construct-validating humility: Perceptions of a humble doctor. Frontiers in Communication , 13, 1-19.
Sahlstein Parcell, E. M., & Romo, D. C. (2022) Queering the Study of U.S. Military Family Communication. Oxford encyclopedia of queer studies and communication , 1–14. Oxford University Press.
Adebayo, C. T., Sahlstein Parcell, E. M., Mkandawire-Valhmu, L. , & Olukotun, O. (2021) African American women’s maternal healthcare experiences: A critical race theory perspective. Health Communication , 2021.
Peck, B. S., & Sahlstein Parcell, E. M. (2021) Talking about mental health: Dilemmas U.S. military service members and spouses experience post deployment. Journal of Family Communication. , 2021.
Adebayo, C. T., Walker, K. , Hawkins, M. , Olukotun, O. , Shaw, L. , Sahlstein Parcell, E. M., Dressel, A. , Luft, H. S., & Mkandawire-Valhmu, L. (2020) Race and blackness: A thematic review of communication challenges of the Black community within the U.S. health care system. Journal of Transcultural Nursing , 31(4), 397-405.
Cronin-Fisher, V. , & Sahlstein Parcell, E. M. (2019) Making sense of dissatisfaction during the transition to motherhood through relational dialectics theory. Journal of Family Communication , 19(2), 157–170.
Sahlstein Parcell, E. M., & Baker, B. M. (2018) Relational dialectics theory: A new approach for military/veteran-connected family research. Journal of Family Theory & Review , 10(3), 672-685.
Sahlstein Parcell, E. M. (2017) The United States military: Sites of intergroup discourses. Oxford encyclopedia of intergroup communication. .
Valenzano, III, J. M., Broeckelman-Post, M. A., & Sahlstein Parcell, E. M. (2016) Communication pathways. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press.
Rafferty, K. A., & Sahlstein Parcell, E. M. (2016) Dialectical tensions experienced during pediatric chronic illness: Analyzing art therapy conversations from a relational dialectics perspective. Journal of Clinical Art Therapy , 3, 1-20.
Odom, L. , Sahlstein Parcell, E. M., Baker, B. M., & Cronin-Fisher, V. (2015) Communication and female date initiation: Differences in perceptions based on assertiveness of initiator. Iowa Journal of Communication , 47, 177-196.
Maguire, K. C., & Sahlstein Parcell, E. M. (2015) Communication and the coping paradox: The case of Army spouses and wartime deployment. Southern Journal of Communication , 80, 365-376.
Sahlstein Parcell, E. M. (2015) Research at the intersections of military and communication: A preview and review. A communication perspective on the military: Interactions, messages, and discourses . New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Cramer, E. , Tenzek , K. , & Allen, M. R. (2015) Spirituality, social support, and the communicative role of the chaplain in veteran populations. Sahlstein Parcell, E. M., & Webb, L. (Eds). A communication perspective on the military: Interactions, messages, and discourse , 81-99. New York: Peter Lang.
Sahlstein Parcell, E. M., & Webb, L. M. (2015) A communication perspective on the military: Interactions, messages, and discourses. New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Sahlstein Parcell, E. M., & Maguire, K. C. (2014) Comfort, cliques, and clashes: Family readiness groups as dilemmatic sites of relating during wartime. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships , 31, 497-515.
Sahlstein Parcell, E. M. (2014) Domain and taxonomic analysis as a way to analyze qualitative data: Using Spradley’s semantic relationships as a means for studying long-distance friendship. Manning, J. , & Kunkel, A. (Eds). Qualitative studies of interpersonal communication: Method, context, and analysis , 106-110. Los Angeles, CA: ). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Sahlstein Parcell, E. M., & Maguire, K. C. (2014) Turning points and trajectories of military deployment. Journal of Family Communication , 14(2), 129-148.