91福利大全

My passion is to study human communication for a lifetime, both through scholarly research and from the practitioners’ point of view. I teach in the Applied Communication department. Since 2001, I have taught graduate and undergraduate courses in Nonverbal Communication, Small Group Communication, Intercultural Communication, and Communication and Change and Communication Theory. A native of Pune, India, I have taught in the United States and have guest lectured in India, Trinidad and Tobago, and Argentina.

I co-authored a book, Intercultural Communication The Indian Context, which is used in the US and internationally. The second edition, titled Communication Across Boundaries: The Indian Way, is also available. I have published numerous articles in communication journals and presented scholarly papers at national and international conferences. My research focuses on diversity, hybrid identity, personal transformation, and facilitating social change through positive communication strategies.

Recently graduated from Arkansas State’s primer leadership program LeadAR and conducted intercultural training with Heifer International and with students from Pakistan as part of a U.S. AID. I received the 2010 U.A. Little Rock College of Social Science and Communication Faculty Excellence Award in Research and Public Service in 2019.

Additionally, I completed a yoga instructor course from Kaivalyadhan Yoga Center, India, in 2022.

You can access my reflective writings at —

PH.D. COMMUNICATION
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, July 2004

M.S. COMMUNICATION
Bangalore University, Bangalore, India, June 1995

B.A. HISTORY
Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India, May 1997
B.Sc. Bangalore University, Bangalore, India, May 1993

Research Interests: Health Communication, Intercultural Hybrid Identities, Transformative Experiences, Communication and Social Change, Diffusion of Innovations

My research interests focus on examining the processes of 1) transformative experiences; 2) socio-cultural impact of new technology; and 3) intercultural hybridity, creolized identity, and social change. My training in multiple research methods enables me to conduct both empirical and interpretive inquiry.聽 Additionally, my training in mass communication and health communication enables me to examine communication through a broad disciplinary lens.

Refereed Books

Rao, N.R. & Thombre, A. (2021). Communicating Across Boundaries: The Indian Way. Notion Press: Chennai, India.

Rao, N. R., & Thombre, A. (2015). Intercultural Communication: The Indian Context. Sage, New Delhi.

Refereed Journal Articles

Leach, K., Mirivel, J. C., & Thombre, A. (forthcoming 2026). Personal transformation among INGO beneficiaries: Evidence from a case study in Honduras. The Journal of Development Studies.

Leach, K., Mirivel, J., Thombre, A., & ten Bensel, T. (2025). Working for the Greater Good 鈥� A Qualitative Study in Uganda to Evaluate Civic and Community Engagement. Journal of Social Service Research, 1鈥�16.

Thombre, A. (2024). Edited a special issue of Electronic Journal of Communication titled Talking with myself: Intrapersonal communication, mind-body dialogue and Personal Transformation. 聽

Thombre, A. (2024). Our evolving field of communication: Perspectives on mind-body communicatioan. The Electronic Journal of Communication, 30, 1, 2.

Leach, K., Mirivel, J., ten Bensel, T., & Thombre, A. (2024). Civic and Community Engagement among Poor Rural Women in Bihar: A Pilot Study. Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research 15, 2, 1鈥�24. doi:10.29173/cjnser688

Thombre, A. (2023). Teaching and Learning as Rumination or What Cows can teach us about Pedagogy. The Teaching Professor.

Julien C. Mirivel, R. P. Fuller, A. Thombre, T. Ten Bensel & K. A. Leach (24 Sep 2023): Communication Competency and Positive Communication Among Women in Bihar, India: A Case Study of Heifer International鈥檚 Community Development Efforts, Communication Studies, DOI: 10.1080/10510974.2023.2259027

Mirivel, J. C., Thombre. A., Bensel, T., & Kirk. L. (2023). Qualitative changes in communication competency among women in Bihar, India: Heifer鈥檚 Impact on Personal Transformation. American Journal of Qualitative Research. 7,2, pp. 163-184.

Thombre, A. & Lobos, A. A. (2022). Hybrid Identity, Adaptation, Acculturation and much more: Argentine Mate drinking culture in Covid times. International Review of Business and Applied Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 3. Available at

Kanekar, A.S., & Thombre, A. (2019). Fake Medical News: Avoiding Pitfalls and Perils. Family Medicine and Community Health Journal. 7:e000142. doi:10.1136/fmch-2019-000142

Mohammed, S. N., & Thombre, A. (2017). An investigation of user comments of Facebook pages of Trinidad Tobago鈥檚 Indian music format radio stations. Journal of Radio and Audio Media.

Mohammed, S. N., & Thombre, A. (2015). The global and the local in Trinidad and Tobago鈥檚 Indian music format radio. The Journal of Human Communication Studies in the Caribbean, 1,1. Available at 聽

Mohammed, S. N., & Thombre., A. (2012). Imagined communities, virtual diasporas or local hangouts? A study of Trinidad and Tobago groups on Facebook. Electronic Journal of Communication/La Revue Electronique de Communication. Available at 聽

Thombre, A. (2011). Diffusion studies and trickle down. In Southerton, Dale (Ed)., Encyclopedia of Consumer Culture. (pp. 453-456). CQ Press: Sage.

Montague, D. R.; Thombre, A; and Miller, Jennifer M. (2011). Educating Children of Incarcerated Parents on the Criminal Justice System. International Journal of Crime, Criminal Justice and Criminal Law. Volume 6. No 1-2. Pages 1-11.

Thombre, A., Sherman, A. C., & Simonton, S. (2010). Religious Coping and posttraumatic growth among family caregivers of cancer patients in India. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 28, 2, 173-188.

Thombre, A., Sherman, A. C., & Simonton, S. (2010). Posttraumatic growth among cancer patients in India. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 33, 15-23.

Mirivel, J. C., & Thombre, A. (2010). Surviving online: Analysis of how burn survivors recover from life crisis. Southern Communication Journal, 75, 232-254.

Thombre, A., & Sherman, A. C.聽(2009). Assessing posttraumatic growth among cancer patients in India. 聽Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 37 (suppl): s193.

Thombre, A., Montague, D. R., Maher, J., & Zohra, T. I. (2009). If I could only say it myself: Communicating with children of incarcerated parents. The Journal of Correctional Education, 60, 1, 66-90.

Chitins, K., Thombre, A., Rogers, E. M., Singhal, A., & Sengupta, A. (2006).聽 [Dis]similar Readings: Indian and American Audiences Interpretation of Friends. Gazette: The International Journal of Communication Studies, 68, 2, 131-145.

Kawakami, H. S., & Thombre, A. (2006).聽 The evolving genre of Our Lady of Guadalupe: A feminist analysis.聽 Texas Speech Communication Journal, 30, 2, 121-133.

Mohammed, S., & Thombre, A. (2005). HIV/AIDS stories on the World Wide Web and transformative experiences. Journal of Health Communication, 10, 4, 347-360.

Rogers, E. M., Singhal, A., & Thombre, A. (2004). Indian Audience Interpretations of Health-Related Content in the Bold and the Beautiful. Gazette, The International Journal of Communication Studies, 66, 5, 437-458.

Book Chapters

Bensel, T., Mirivel, J. C., Leach, K. A., 聽& Thombre (forthcoming). Challenges and Lessons Learned: Conducting Global Mixed Methods Research in Poverty-Stricken Areas. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice.

Mirivel, J. C., Thombre, A., Leach, K., ten Bensel, T. (2026). Positive communication in the context of poverty: Personal transformation in Heifer participants in Uganda, Africa. In T. Socha (Ed.), Handbook of Positive Communication. Palgrave

Koerber, A., & Thombre, A. (2021). Challenges in conducting health communication research. In Teresa. L. Thompson and Nancy Harrington (3rd Ed). Health Communication Handbook. Routledge.

Calvin, K., & Thombre, A. (2019). Giving Birth in Distant Land: Patient hood and Transformation of Another Kind. In Peter M. Kellett & Jennifer Morey Hawkins (Eds)., Woman鈥檚 narratives of health disruption and illness: Within and across their life stories. Lexington Press. Lanham, MD.

Thombre, A., & Sherman, A.C. (2012). Understanding perspective transformation among recently diagnosed cancer patients in India. In Antonella Surbone, Matjaz Zwitter, & Mirjana Rajer (Ed)., New challenges in communication with cancer patients. Springer: New York.

Mohammed, S. N., & Thombre, A. (2012). Cures, treatments, and therapies on Facebook Veteran鈥檚聽 PTSD Groups. In Beatrice W.聽 Boateng and Erik W. Black (Eds)., Social Media in Medicine: The impact of online social networks on contemporary medicine. (pp. 163-186). Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.

Sherman, A. C., Thombre, A., & Simonton, S. (2011). Exploring positive life changes in response to cancer: Perspective transformation and posttraumatic growth. In Carrie J. Boden and Sola M Kippers (Eds.,) Pathways to Transformation: Learning in Relationship. (pp. 355-371). Information Age Publishing.

Mohammed, S. N., & Thombre, A. (2011). 聽Web-based strategies of HIV/AIDS prevention agencies in Anglophone Caribbean. In Godfrey Steele (Eds.,) Health Communication Reader. (pp.127-140). St Augustine: University of West Indies.

Thombre, A., & Rogers, E. M. (2009). Transformative experiences of cancer survivors. In Maggie Wills (Eds.,) Communicating spirituality in health care. (pp. 251-272). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Thombre, A. (2007). Organizing multiple HIV and AIDS discourses for engaging crisis communication in India. In Matthew W. Seeger, Timothy L. Sellnow and Robert R. Ulmer (Eds.), Crisis Communication and the Public Health. (pp.179-199). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Top Faculty Paper in Spiritual Communication Division , National Communication Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, 2024

Top Paper in Intercultural Communication, International Communication Association Annual Conference, Paris, France, 2022

Winner of University of Arkansas Little Rock, College of Social Sciences and Communication, Faculty Excellence Award in Public Service, 2019

Top four Papers in Intercultural Communication, International Communication Association Annual Conference, Fukuoka, Japan, 2016

Selected for the LeadAr, leadership program of the University of Arkansas Division of Agricultural Sciences, 2015

Top First Paper Award, Intercultural Communication Division, International Communication Association Annual Conference, London, 2013

Selected for the Leadership Academy 2009-2010, College of Professional Studies, 91福利大全

Winner of 91福利大全, College of Professional Studies, Faculty Excellence Award in Research, 2009

Top Paper Award, Central States Communication Association Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2006

Winner of University of New Mexico, Doctoral Candidate Scholar Award, 2003-2004

Winner of Sakal Newspapers Trust Scholarship for Communication Studies, 2001

Designed and taught one faculty led study abroad program to New Delhi, India 2011

Designed and taught two faculty led study abroad programs to Trinidad and Tobago

Designed and taught faculty led study abroad programs to Buenos Aires, Argentina

Directed the capstone course in the undergraduate program from 2007-2011

Courses taught at 91福利大全

Graduate Class

ACOM 7310 Human Communication Theories

ACOM 8310 Seminar in Applied Communication Studies

SPCH 7320 Communicating Change and Information Diffusion

SPCH 7026 Communication Assessment and Consulting (Research Methods class)

SPCH 5312 Intercultural Communication

SPCH 4313/5313 Communicating in a Global World: Researching Indian Transformative Experiences – Study Abroad to India and Trinidad and Tobago

SPCH 4313/5313 Health Communication and Transformative Experiences

SPCH4313/5313 Coping with a Pandemic: Mind-Body communication and Yoga.

Undergraduate Classes

ACOM 2310 Human Communication Theories

ACOM 4313 Social Media and Communication

SPCH 4312-01 Intercultural Communication

SPCH 4300-01 Senior Seminar Capstone

SPCH 2310-01 Introduction to Communication Research

SPCH 3200-01 Small Group Communication

SPCH 3350-01 Nonverbal Communication

SPCH 3200-01 Advanced Public Speaking

SPCH 1300-01 Introduction to Communication

UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO

Undergraduate Classes

C & J 130 Public Speaking

C & J 221 Interpersonal Communication

C & J 268 Media Effects and Influence

C & J 323 Nonverbal Communication

C & J 324 Intercultural Communication

C & J 327 Persuasive Communication

Yoga Teacher Training/Yoga Therapy, Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, India, June 2022

National Communication Association

International Communication Association

To the Department of Applied Communication

Member, Department Faculty Search Committee, Fall 2004-present

Faculty Advisor, Lambda Pi-Eta, Honor鈥檚 Society, Department of Speech Communication, 2006 to 2011

Member, Department Website Committee, 2007 to present

Faculty Coordinator, Health Communication Master Program, 2005 to present

Member, Health Communication Masters Program Committee, Fall 2004-2005

To the 91福利大全

Secretary College Executive Committee, 2016

Parliamentarian College Executive Committee, 2014-15

Chair, College Curriculum Committee, 2011

Member, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee 2009 to 2010

Faculty Liaison, University of Graz Exchange Program – 2008

Faculty Advisor, Heifer International Club, 2007 to present

Member, Graduate Council, 2006 – 2007

Member, College Council, College of Professional Studies, 2005

To the Discipline and Professional Organizations

Editorial committee member International Journal of Business and Applied Sciences, Business and Applied Sciences Academy of North America.

Manuscript Reviewer for International Communication Association, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Conference

Manuscript Reviewer for National Communication Association, 2005, 2007 Conference

Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer for Journal of Applied Communication Research

Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer for Communication, Culture and Critique

Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer for Asian Journal of Communication

Manuscript Reviewer for Central States Communication Association, 2005 Conference

Ad hoc Manuscript Reviewer for Journal of Health Communication

To the Community at Large

Presentation to the Students of University of Buenos Aires, Importance of Hybridity, November 2017.

Presentation to UALR Bowmen School of Law on Communication and Culture, September, 2016

Presentation to Annual Assembly of Interfaith Arkansas, November 2016

Presentation to the 4H Center emerging student leaders on Leadership and nonverbal communication, September 2015.

Presentation to the students of University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago on cultural hybridity and Indian identity, September 2014.

Presentation to the students of University of Pune, India on cultural fusion and the role of diasporic maintenance of Indian culture, July 2014.

Presentation to the students of Bangalore University, India on cultural assimilation and role of technology. July 2014.

Presentation at a seminar on American and Indian media as affected by emerging technologies to the Sakal Times journalists in Pune India. July 2014.

Workshop on communication skills in everyday life to the students of Nowrosjee Wadia College, Pune, India.聽聽 June 2014.

Presentation to the students of University of North Texas on the role of technology and media in social change, October 2012

Workshop on Patient centered health communication Children鈥檚 Hospital, University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, 2010.

Workshop on Communication skill development to senior staff and managers of Arkansas Federal Credit Union, 2010

Talk to Daily News and Analysis, Pune, India, Journalists and Media Managers on 鈥淥nline Journalism in America and its implications for Indian Journalism.鈥� 2010

Workshop on Communicating Social Change, Arkansas Council for International Visitors. (2-day seminar on Culture and Leadership for 15 Pakistani students) 2009

Talk on Why only a few cigarettes can change your life? to the members of Asian Pacific Coalition for A Smoke Free Arkansas – 2008

Conducted Effective Communication workshops for City Year Little Rock 鈥� 2008

Conducted workshop for Medical Professionals on Effective Communication Strategies, Pune, India 2001

Conducted workshop for Journalism students in Health Reporting, Bangalore, India 2000

Conducted workshop for Journalism students in Ethics of Reporting, Bangalore, India 1999

PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED COMMUNICATION

91福利大全, July 2017-present

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF SPEECH COMMUNICATION (with tenure)

91福利大全, July 2010-2016

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF SPEECH COMMUNICATION (tenure-track)

91福利大全, August 2004-June 2010

GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT, DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM AND COMMUNICATION

University of New Mexico, 2001-2004

GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT, DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM AND COMMUNICATION

University of New Mexico, 2002-2004

HEALTH CORRESPONDENT, The Times of India, Pune, India

September 1998 to July 2001

ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT, The Times of India, Bangalore, India.

August 1998 to March 1996

EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT/SUB-EDITOR, Newstime, Hyderabad India.

February, 1995 to February, 1996

FREELANCE STAFF MEMBER, The Tribune, Chandigarh, India.

March 1994 to August 1994