A #PresentingACCUTE Interview

With the upcoming 2025 ACCUTE Conference at George Brown College from 30th May- June 2nd, we have been having an interview series of #PresentingACCUTE which focuses on some of the presenters in conversation with Gladwell Pamba, ACCUTE’s Coordination and Communications Assistant. Next up on the series is Carolyn Eckert, a PhD Candidate at the University of Waterloo. Her research interests include rhetorical discourse related to ethos, where trust, credibility, and expertise in crisis times are punctuated. Her research is grounded in her award-winning, decades-long career as a communications and marketing expert and, currently, as a professor in the Business Schools at Conestoga College and Humber College.

Tell us about what you’ll be focusing on in your presentation.

I will be focusing on pandemic rhetorics, using COVID-19 as a case study for analyzing the role of trust in political and public health risk communication, examining the use of appeals to fear, hope and social norms and Canadian responses to lockdowns, vaccination programs and pandemic fatigue leading to acts of protest, resistance and non-compliance. The outcomes of this research will include more focus on influencing over pure persuasion (building/sustaining trust), literacy and education efforts to improve the public’s evaluation/validation of online mis/disinformation (communication sources), and encouraging more fostering of partnerships with local news media because they play a critical role in supporting the efforts of political and public health professionals and communicators in building trust at the community level for seeking compliance in crisis situations.

Where did this work come from?

COVID-19 started as I was completing my Masters in English. One of my final courses introduced me to figural and stylistic analysis in rhetorical studies and discourse analysis. I used some early newspaper clippings to examine language and its impact on people’s actions (early on in COVID). This gave me some great ideas to consider for my PhD research, e.g. conspiracy, mis/disinformation, risk communication frameworks, etc.

What have you been reading or watching lately that you can recommend to your ACCUTE colleagues?

This might be a bit embarrassing, but my latest binge-watch was Madmen (on Netflix). I didn’t watch it when it came out and just assumed it wouldn’t be that interesting, but it was a fascinating study of people (character development), gender perceptions and socio-cultural expectations, and perhaps more intriguing for me, the birthplace of the ad agency, the advertising side of the marketing world (I teach Intro To Marketing at Humber and Conestoga Colleges.

Lastly, when you’re not researching, teaching, or studying literature what do you love to do?

I’m in the final stages of writing, editing and formatting my dissertation, with a plan to finish in the Winter term and graduate in Spring. However, I do have a puzzle on the go, and top of my list when my dissertation is done will be to read for pleasure. I would also like to go back to making jewelry (silver-smithing).