Rukhsana Ahmed
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication
Member of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and thereby authorized to supervise theses.
Affiliated with the Institute of Women’s Studies, University of Ottawa
Member of the Interdisciplinary Research Group in Organizational Communication (IRGOC)
Team member of the Religion and Diversity Project/Religion et diversité, a 7 year Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funded Major Collaborative Research Initiative (MCRI).
Member of the Health and Healthcare Research Domain of a SSHRC funded Community University Research Alliance (CURA) on Welcoming Communities Initiative (WCI)
Research Affiliate, Loeb Research Consortium on Organ and Tissue Donation
Office: 103, 558 King Edward Avenue
Telephone: 613-562-5800, ext. 3834
E-mail: rahmed@uOttawa.ca
University Degrees
2007 – Ph.D. in Communication Studies (Health Communication), Ohio University, USA
2005 – M.A. in Communication Studies (Health Communication), Ohio University, USA
2000 – M.A. in International Development Studies, Ohio University, USA
1997 – M.S.S. in International Relations, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
1995 – B.S.S. (Hons.) in International Relations, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Fields of Interest
- Health Communication (Interpersonal, Intercultural, Organizational, Media, & Technology)
- Interpersonal and Intercultural Communication
- Gender and Communication
- Communication and Development
- Religious Diversity and Communication
- Multicultural Media
Ongoing Research
- SSHRC funded project for developing partnership with the City of Ottawa to study Ottawa’s growing multicultural digital and print media and the challenges and opportunities these diverse media may represent for newcomer wellbeing, inclusion, and integration.
- Project on the use of ICTs and mobile communications in improving healthcare services in remote and resource poor environments.
- SSHRC funded MCRI-linked project on assessing health beliefs among Muslim women in Canada for exploring culturally and religiously appropriate health care practices.
- Policy-focused study on urban health communication strategies for promoting broad-based inclusive development (pro-poor growth, sustained improvement in health, and environmental sustainability) in the face of critical challenges posed by globalization in developing countries.
- Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) funded Knowledge Synthesis project on the health profile on immigrant and refugee children and youth in Canada.
Selected Publications
Books
AHMED, R., & Bates, B. R. (Eds.). (in preparation; expected date of publication: Winter 2012). Health communication and mass media: Applying research to public health policy and practice. Gower Publishing Ltd.
Bates, B. R., & AHMED, R. (Eds.). (in preparation; expected date of publication: Fall 2012). When patients meet providers: Medical communication in clinical contexts. Kendall Hunt Publishing.
Hoffman-Goetz, L., Donelle, L., & AHMED, R. (in preparation; expected date of publication: 2014) Health literacy in Canada. Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc.
Book Chapters
AHMED, R. (in press). Interpersonal health communication: An ecological perspective. In R. Obregon & S. Waisbord (Eds.), Handbook of global health communication (pp. 144-176). Wiley-Blackwell.
AHMED, R. (2012). Integrating personal experiences and course materials to promote net generation student learning in an online health communication course. In S. P. Ferris (Ed.), Teaching, learning and the net generation: Concepts and tools for reaching digital learners (pp. 393-408). IGI Global.
Reimer, V., & AHMED, R. (in press). Feeling good never looked better: Examining stereotypical representations of women in Special K advertisements. (Lead Essay). In T. Carilli, & J. Campbell (Eds.), Women and the media: New perspectives.
AHMED, R., Ahmed, M. U., & Khan, Z. H. (accepted for publication). Globalization and urban health: Urban Health communication strategies for pro-poor growth and sustained improvement in health in South Asia. In C. Okigbo (Ed.), Strategic health communication in urban contexts. Springer.
Jaya, P., & AHMED, R. (2011). Women of color in the academy: The South Asian ‘corner.’ In M. N. Niles, & N. Gordon (Eds.), Still searching for our Mother’s garden: Experiences of new tenure track women of color at ‘majority’ institutions (pp. 137-153). Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
AHMED, R., & Han, M. (2007). The process of representation of Muslim women in the U. S. media: A rhetorical analysis of texts and countertexts. In B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, T. Pludowski, & D. V. Tanno (Eds.), The media and international communication (pp. 199- 213). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Bates, B. R., & AHMED, R. (2007). Disaster pornography: Hurricanes, voyeurism, and the home television viewer. In R. S. Swan & K. A. Bates (Eds.), Through the eye of Katrina: Social justice in the United States (pp. 187-202). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
Journal Articles
AHMED, R. & Bates, B. R. (in press). Development of scales to assess patients’ perception of physicians’ cultural competence in health care interactions. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 23(3).
AHMED, R., Bates, B. R., & Romina, S. M. (accepted for publication). Assessing the influence of patients’ perceptions of physicians' cultural competence on patient satisfaction in an Appalachian Ohio context. Journal of Cultural Diversity: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 19(2).
AHMED, R., & Bates, B. R. (2010). Patients’ ethnocentric views and patients’ perceptions of physicians’ cultural competence in health care interactions. Intercultural Communication Studies, 19(2), 111-127.
Nahon-Serfaty, I., AHMED, R., Grosjean, S., & Bonneville, L. (2009). Connecting the micro and macro approaches: Cultural stakes in health communication. Altérités, 6(2), 48-74.
AHMED, R. (2009). Interface of political opportunism and Islamic extremism in Bangladesh: Rhetorical identification in government response. Communication Studies, 60(1), 82-96.
AHMED, R., & Bates, B. R.(2007). Patient gender differences in patients' perceptions of physicians' cultural competence in health care interactions. Women's Health & Urban Life: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal, VI(2), 58-80.
Bates, B. R., Romina, S. M., & AHMED, R. (2007). The effect of improved readability scores on consumers' perceptions of the quality of health information on the internet. Journal of Cancer Education, 22(1), 15-20.
Bates, B. R., Romina, S. M., AHMED, R., & Hopson, D. (2006). The effect of source credibility on consumers' perceptions of the quality of health information on the Internet. Medical Informatics & the Internet in Medicine, 31, 45-52.
Conference Presentations
AHMED, R. (2012). Integrating personal experiences and course materials to promote net generation student learning in an online health communication course. Paper to be presented to the Instructional & Developmental Communication Division, International Communication Association Annual Conference, May 24 – 28, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
AHMED, R. (2011). Construction, communication, and performance of expertise in the health care context. Keynote delivered at the International Conference: Extending Expertise? Experts and Amateurs in Communication and Culture, University of Ottawa, Canada.
AHMED, R., & Bates, B. R. (2010). News coverage of H1N1: Avoiding panic in pandemic flu vaccination campaign or fear mongering in media? Paper presented at the International Communication Association 2010 Preconference, Health Communication Campaigns: Issues and Strategies in Asia, Australia and Southeast Asia, Singapore.
AHMED, R., & Jaya, P (2010). Cultural integration of internationally educated health professionals into the Canadian workforce: A meta-analysis. Paper presented at the Internationally Educated Health Professionals (IEHP) Atlantic Connection Symposium, Halifax, NS, Canada.
AHMED, R. & Bates, B. R. (2009). Assessing the relationship between patients' ethnocentric views and patients' perceptions of physicians' cultural competence in health Care interactions. Paper presented at the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies Conference, Kumamoto Gakuen University, Kumamoto, Japan.
AHMED, R. & Jaya, P (2009). Ethnic media and representations of south Asian women. Paper presented at the Canadian Communication Association Annual Conference, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
AHMED, R., Bates, B. R., & Romina, S. M. (2008). Assessing the influence of patients' perceptions of physicians' cultural competence on patient satisfaction in an Appalachian Ohio context. Paper presented to the Health Communication Division, National Communication Association Annual Convention, San Diego, CA, USA.
