Robert Krizek, Ph.D., University of St. Louis, and Nick Trujillo, Ph.D, University of California at Sacramento, “Studying and Writing About Cultures and Communities"

Robert Krizek (Ph.D., Arizona State University) teaches and conducts research in the areas of organizational communication, culture and communication, and ethnographic methodologies. In addition to research into socialization and storytelling in organizational contexts, he examines the personal and cultural significance of non-routine public events through the examination of the personal narratives of those in attendance. He often presents his research at national and regional conferences, and his work has appeared in five recent anthologies as well as in the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Adolescence, and other journals. He recently completed a three-year term as an Associate Editor of the Western Journal of Communication.

Nick Trujillo (Ph.D., University of Utah) teaches and conducts research in the areas of organizational communication, media and sports, and narrative ethnography. A recognized pioneer in the study of the performance of organizational cultures from a critical perspective, he is the author of several notable books, including Organizations in Prime Time (with Leah Vande Berg), The Meaning of Nolan Ryan, and In Search of Naunny’s Grave: Age, Class, and Ethnicity in an American Family. His forthcoming book is a book about cancer and death written from the perspective of a cancer victim and her husband. Co-authored with his late wife and fellow communication scholar, Leah Vande Berg, Uv Ou: Loving Through Cancer, Living Through Grief, is expected to be published in Spring 2008. The words “Uv Ou” are the last words that Vande Berg used in response to Trujillo saying he loved her. Leah Vande Berg died of ovarian cancer in 2004

Trujillo and Krizek have long collaborated as co-authors on studies of American baseball and ballpark culture. They have been featured speakers at The Baseball Hall of Fame.