Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice for Empowerment

Srinivas Raj Melkote has been a Professor in the fields of media and communication for more than 30 years. Professor Melkote is currently in his 31st year at the School of Media and Communication in Bowling Green State University, Ohio, USA. He has taught at universities in India, US, and Jamaica. He served as a Fulbright Professor at Manipal University in India and is currently a Fulbright Specialist. Professor Melkote has researched and published extensively on a range of issues ranging from the role of communication in directed social change, participatory communication, international communication, health communication, communication strategies for HIV/AIDS prevention, mass communication theory, quantitative research methods, media effects, and communication pedagogy. His book Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice for Empowerment, 2nd edition (coauthored with Dr Leslie Steeves) is a core text for courses on media and communication in directed social change in colleges around the world. Professor Melkote’s current interests are examining the role of media and communication in achieving empowerment and social justice. His work in social change communication examines the roles of globalization, economics, politics, and hegemonic discourse in sustaining and widening the inequality gaps between people in societies around the world.

H. Leslie Steeves is a Professor and Senior Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon, USA, where she has taught for 27 years. Professor Steeves’ current research centers on two areas and their intersection: communication and information technologies in developing countries (particularly in sub-Saharan Africa) on one hand, and gender and communication on the other. Her recent publications additionally examine entertainment and tourism representations of Africa. Her research has been published in numerous journals, including Journal of Communication; Communication, Culture & Critique; Communication Theory; International Communication Gazette; and Critical Studies in Media Communication. She is guest editor of a special issue of Communication, Culture & Critique on “Africa the Media and Globalization.” Professor Steeves recently completed a film, Give a Laptop, Change the World: The Story of the OLPC in Ghana (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfVrTSq_iKc). She has also coauthored (with Professor Srinivas Raj Melkote) Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice for Empowerment, 2nd edition (SAGE India, 2001), and published Gender Violence and the Press: The St. Kizito Story (1997). Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies as well, and she serves on several journal editorial boards. In 2013, Professor Steeves received University of Oregon Martin Luther King Jr Award (for promoting cultural diversity and social justice on campus). She has received two Fulbright Scholar grants for teaching and research in Kenya and Ghana, and she directs an annual study abroad program in Ghana.