organizational stories

My primary area of specialization is organizational communication, so the chapters this week especially resonate with me. I was first introduced to the notion of organizational culture in graduate school at the University of Kentucky. While I was there, I took a course in the role of organized religion in Appalachia. As part of the class, students had access to data collected in the 1950s, including in-depth interviews and tapes of sermons given by ministers and lay members of the churches. My colleagues and I analyzed some of the data. We published our results of one study in the American Communication Journal.

In the article, Speaking for God: The Functions of Church Leader Storytelling in Southern Appalachia in the 1950s, we identified how speakers used stories in their sermons. We examined two different denominations, Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee and Southern Baptist. Speakers in both groups used stories in similar ways: manage meaning, reduce uncertainty, and encourage church member bonding. However, there were differences based on the speaker's status (minister or lay leader), with lay leaders focusing more on reducing listeners' uncertainty. I found this research particularly interesting because it provided a window into the Appalachian culture in the 1950s.

~ Professor Cyborg