Contact Information
702 South Wright Street
Urbana IL 61801
Research Interests
Health Communication, Qualitative Methods, Identity, d/Discourse, Health Disparities
Research Description
I study communication about health and illness in familial and therapeutic relationships. My current research explores how people labor for credibility and care in these contexts. From a critical perspective, I consider how such labor is shaped by and is shaping raced, classed, and gendered discourses of deservingness that contribute to health inequity. My long-term goal is to help researchers and practitioners cultivate a health care landscape that is more just and responsive to difference.
Education
M.A., Communication, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
B.A., Communication, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Courses Taught
Instructor of Record
- CMN 101: Public Speaking
- CMN 232: Introduction to Intercultural Communication
- CMN 260: Introduction to Health Communication
- CMN 336: Family Communication
Faculty Extender
- CMN 507: The Future of Work in Health Communication
- CMN 595: Communication and Health Disparities
Highlighted Publications
Babu, S., Thompson, C. M., & Haque, Z. (2026). Negotiating multiple cultures of care: South Asian women’s meanings and dilemmas related to health talk. Health Communication, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2026.2625982
Babu, S., Koven, M., Thompson, C. M., & Makos, S. (2025). (Re)making scales: Communicative enfranchisement in women’s narrative discourses about health dismissal. Health Communication, 40(6), 1090-1100. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2386716
Thompson, C. M., Babu, S., & Makos, S. (2023). A grounded theory of credibility work and illness: Explication and application to the case of women on trial in health care. Communication Research, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231184318