Brenda Dervin

In Conversation

Episode 6 Brenda Dervin
Professor Emeritus of Communication, Theorist, Methodologist

In conversation with Brenda Dervin, Professor Emeritus of Communication, Ohio State University, Fellow and first Female President of the International Communication Association, famous for her Sense-Making Theory and Methodology, which has been widely adopted and applied by researchers in library and information science, communication, and other disciplines, who talks about her life including misogyny, contempt, neck injury, disability, and her refusal to be slotted or to slot people into categories.

Trailer (1:01)

Interview (02:17:35)

Timecodes
00:00:00 – About the interview
00:00:46 – Introducing Brenda Dervin
00:05:20 – Her Childhood
00:08:23 – Misogyny in her academic life
00:13:00 – What led to her career in academia
00:47:17 – Significant turning points in her career
01:00:53 – Thoughts on context
01:09:15 – Things she’s good at
01:14:19 – Role of serendipity in turning points of her career
01:16:39 – Perspectives on information science field
01:24:18 – Contribution to LIS and Communications fields
01:28:38 – Biggest successes
01:36:54 – People who have influenced her work
01:46:57 – Books that have influenced her
01:48:30 – Key skills that have helped over the years
01:52:06 – Something she wishes she knew earlier in life
01:54:46 – Life principles and values
01:58:52 – What happiness means
02:02:24 – Current Goals
02:06:38 – Mentoring advice
02:17:32 – Bloopers and Pictures

More about Brenda Dervin Wikipedia – Brenda Dervin | Wikipedia – Sensemaking | Google Scholar

This interview was supported by the COCIS Innovation Fund at Simmons University.