Shawn Domgaard Ph.D.
College of Liberal Arts - Department of Arts, Communications, Languages, and Media
PROGRAM DIRECTOR, MASTER OF ARTS IN STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF COMMUNICATION
- Ph.D., Communication, Washington State University
- M.A., Professional Communication, Southern Utah University
- B.A., Public Relations & Communication Studies, Southern Utah University
In 2019, the state of Washington experienced a measles outbreak in small communities where the vast majority of those infected were not vaccinated. At the same time, Shawn Domgaard was working on his Ph.D. and conducted research based on this incident to understand how misinformation affects health, and how people can use verifiable and credible information for evidence-based decision-making instead. Shortly thereafter the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this same problem to a global scale, and Domgaard has been studying media literacy, health communication, and social identity ever since.
Domgaard’s teaching and research stems from a belief in the power of messages to provide solutions to social problems. As a social scientist, his work revolves around interdisciplinary approaches to complex problems, such as how people navigate media environments to build their identities and make decisions, how differing epistemologies determine the socio-cultural divisions amongst dichotomous groups, or how truth and trust in information affect the health of society. For instance, on a grant for the CDC, he partnered with researchers in psychophysiology and cognitive psychology to come up with creative solutions on ways to educate rural communities about health decisions using marketing physiological data, motivational interviewing techniques, and science media literacy.
Earlier in his career, Domgaard worked with the National Parks Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Forest Service using strategic communication to help recruit new interns and win grant money for a program at Southern Utah University. He also worked in public and private industries doing communication work in a variety of roles, such as reputational management, internal and external organizational communication, and crisis communication.
Although he grew up in a small town in Utah, Domgaard, his wife, and three children have loved calling Hawaii home. He believes in sustainability and giving back to the community, where living Aloha is embraced every day.
