Education

• Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006

Research Interests

Dr. Harrigan’s research centers on the intersection of communication, culture, family, and identity, with the goal of understanding how members of discourse-dependent families communicatively construct and negotiate personal and relational identities.

Publications

• Harrigan, M. M., & Miller-Ott, A. (in press) The multivocality of meaning making: An exploration of the discourses college aged daughters voice in talk about their mothers. Journal of Family Communication.
• Harrigan, M. M. (2010). Exploring the narrative process: An analysis of the adoption stories mothers tell their internationally adopted children. Journal of Family Communication, 10, 24-39.
• Harrigan, M. M., & Braithwaite, D. O. (2010). Discursive struggles in families formed through visible adoption: An exploration of dialectical unity. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 38, 127-144.
• Soliz, J., Ribarsky, E., Harrigan, M. M., & Tye-Williams, S. (2010). Family communication with gay and lesbian family members: Implications for relational satisfaction and outgroup attitudes. Communication Quarterly, 58, 77-95.
• Harrigan, M. M. (2009). The contradictions of identity-work for parents of visibly adopted children. Journal of Social and Personal Relationship, 26, 634-658.
• Schrodt, P., Braithwaite, D. O., Soliz, J., Tye-Williams, S., Miller, A., Norman, E. L., & Harrigan, M. M. (2007). An examination of everyday talk in stepfamily systems. Western Journal of Communication, 71, 216-234.
• Suter, E. A., Lamb, E. N., Marko, M., & Tye-Williams, S. (2006). Female veteran’s identity construction, maintenance, and reproduction, Women and Language, 29, 10-15.
   
  

  Awards and Honors

  Teaching Honors and Awards

  • Honoring Geneseo Teachers Inductee Awarded by the Teaching and Learning Center at SUNY Geneseo (2009)
  • Cooper Award Recipient Awarded by the Central States Communication Association (2006)
  • Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award Recipient Awarded by Syracuse University (1999)

  Research Honors and Awards

  • Top Papers in Interpersonal Communication Panelist Eastern Communication Association (2012, 2009, 2006)
  • Sandra Petronio Dissertation Excellence Award Family Communication Division of the National Communication Association (Fall, 2008)
  • Warren F. and Edith R. Day Dissertation Fellowship Recipient, Awarded by Graduate Studies University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2006)
  • Research Grant Recipient, Awarded by the Center for Great Plains Studies University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2004)

Affiliations

• National Communication Association
• Eastern Communication Association