NEW FACES: Communication

The College of Arts and Humanities (csufresno.edu/artshum/) at Fresno State is the largest college on campus, encompassing nine departments, and the Armenian Studies (fresnostate.edu/artshum/armenianstudies/) program.

Of the 69 new faculty members at Fresno State this fall, about 20% of the new hires are in the College of Arts and Humanities. These new faculty bring innovative research, diverse disciplines and technical expertise to our college, strengthening our programs across many of our disciplines.

Over the next few weeks, we will introduce you to these new faces, by department. 

Communication Department

Dr. Amin Makkawy joins the Communication Department (fresnostate.edu/artshum/communication/) as an assistant professor, coming to Fresno State from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.  His specialty is Organizational Communication. Dr. Makkawy recently co-authored a chapter in “Contexts of the Dark Side of Communication” (Gilchrist-Petty and Long, eds., Peter Lang, 2016). The chapter is “Microaggressive Communication in Organizational Settings” and it was co-authored with Shawn Long, Haley Wonzjyi, Marcus Coleman and Calvin Spivey.

Question: What are you most looking forward to here at Fresno State?

Answer: Engaging with the students as well as collaborating with my colleagues, conducting research, teaching and serving the university and surrounding community.

Q: How did you become involved in your specialty area?


A: Organizational communication is the study of meaning making in the organizational context, like a business or a nonprofit. Through some interdisciplinary courses, I started to form my research interests and got into several discussions and read some seminal articles on organizational communication. This is when I noticed that my interests were extremely well aligned with that area.

Q: How will your background do to elevate the offerings of the Communication Department here at Fresno State?

A: As one of the few professors that focus on this area, I see myself providing an integral part as well as providing an avenue for those who are interested to conduct further research, and to advise those who want to conduct graduate studies in organizational communication.


Q: What are you reading?

A: “The Black Box,” by Michael Connelly

Q: What is a book you think everyone should read?

A: “Fahrenheit 451,” by Ray Bradbury. I love that book. I think it’s really relevant too, when you think about the context that we’re in, the university setting and the importance of knowledge. Knowledge can be so empowering, and when it’s taken away, what happens?

Q: What’s your biggest pet peeve in the classroom or a big mistake students tend to make?

A: Not putting names on papers. It happens, especially when they work in groups. So you’re supposed to put all the names of the people in the group on the paper or the assignment, and they just don’t do it. How am I supposed to give them credit?

Q: What’s a fun fact that people might not know about you?

A: I’m a technology/consumer electronics fanatic. I follow technology news religiously. I like adopting new technologies early. I like it, even though it has bugs and stuff, I like that. I’m the type of person who will check the technology news in the morning, and then if I check it again at noon and there’s nothing new, I’m disappointed.

Q: What are your office hours? And where is your office located?

A: 11 a.m. to noon Tuesdays, noon to 1 p.m. Wednesdays, 1-2 p.m.Thursdays in Speech Arts Room 8.

Previous NEW FACES articles:

• Two new Philosophy professors (fresnostatecah.com/2016/09/06/new-faces-philosophy-department/)
• Two new Music professors (fresnostatecah.com/2016/09/12/new-faces-music-department/)
• A new visiting professor in Armenian Studies (fresnostatecah.com/2016/09/19/new-faces-armenian-studies/)