J. Kevin Barge
  • Interim Sociology Department Head
  • Professor

Biography

Kevin Barge (Ph.D., University of Kansas, 1985) is the Interim Head of the Sociology Department at Texas A&M University. He is a Professor of Communication at Texas A&M University and an Associate with the Taos Institute. He is also a member of the planning team for the Aspen Conference, a community of engaged organizational communication scholars focused on developing practical theory and collaborative research that bridge academic-practitioner interests.  He is the 2016 recipient of the Gerald M. Phillips Award for Distinguished Applied Communication Research given by the National Communication Association as well as the 2017 recipient of the Central States Communication Hall of Fame Award.  He is a former president of the Central States Communication Association.

Kevin’s major research interests center on developing a social constructionist approach to leadership, articulating the connections between appreciative practice and organizational change, as well as exploring the relationship between discourse and public deliberation, specifically practices that facilitate communities working through polarized and polarizing issues. Other research interests include investigating the role of reflexivity in leadership and management practice, examining ways to develop effective academic-practitioner collaborations, and developing practical theory.

He has published articles on leadership, dialogue, and organizational change in The Academy of Management ReviewManagement Communication QuarterlyHuman RelationsCommunication TheoryJournal of Applied Communication Research, and Communication Monographs. Kevin has served on a number of national and international editorial boards for journals such as Management Communication QuarterlyJournal of Applied Communication ResearchHuman Relations, and Journal of Management Studies.

Courses Taught at Texas A&M

  • COMM 305: Theories of Communication
  • COMM 324: Communication Leadership and Conflict Management
  • COMM 447: Communication, Group Processes and Collaboration
  • COMM 620: Communication Theory
  • COMM 631: Group Communication
  • COMM 632: Communication and Conflict
  • COMM 637: Organizational Communication Seminar: Leadership and Communication
  • COMM 637: Organizational Communication Seminar: Collaborative Research Methods

Research Interests

  • Communication & Media Science
  • Organizational Communication

Educational Background

  • Ph.D. University of Kansas

Selected Publications

    • Barbour, J. B., Gill, R., & Barge, J. K. (2018). Organizational communication design logics: A theory of communicative intervention and collective communication design. Communication Theory, 28, 332-353.
    • Barge, J. K. (2017). Making the case for academic and social impact in organizational communication research. In P. Salem & E. Timmerman (Eds.), Transformative practices and research in organizational communication (pp. 235-254)Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
    • Barbour J. B., Ballard, D. I., Barge, J. K., & Gill, R. (2017). Making time/making temporality for engaged scholarship. Journal of Applied Communication Research45, 365-380.
    • Hedman, E., & Barge, J. K. (2017). Facilitating team reflexivity about communication. Small Group Research48, 255-287.
    • Barge, J. K. (2016). Crossing boundaries between communication activism research and applied communication. International Journal of Communication, 10, 400-408.
    • Barge, J. K.  (2015).  Consulting as collaborative co-inquiry.  In G. Bushe & R. Marshak (Eds.), Dialogic organizational development:  Theory and practice (pp. 177-196).  San Francisco:  Berrett-Koehler.