Samentha Sepúlveda, Ph.D.
In a few words...
Dr. Sepúlveda examines how the human species communicates about, with and for other species of animals. She does this primarily through a critical lens to isolate instances of speciesism and other overlapping systems of oppression.
Selected Publications
Sepúlveda, S. (2023).“I wouldn’t fall for that!” Exploring social influence and group decision making. Communication Teacher, 37(4), 278-282. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2023.2182902
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Sepúlveda, S., & Plec, E. (2021). Of rats and women: A cross-species read of space and place. (pp. 119-142).In A. E. George (Ed.) Feminism and Gender in Critical Animal Studies. Lexington Publishers.
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Riforgiate, S. E., & Sepúlveda, S. (2021). Managing and being managed by emotions. (pp. 511–528). In F. Cooren & P. Stücheli-Herlach (Eds.) Handbook of management Communication. De Gruyer Mouton.
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Sepúlveda, S. (2019). Review of abstinence cinema: Virginity and the rhetoric of sexual purity in contemporary film. [Review of the book Abstinence cinema, by C. R. Kelly]. Women & Language, 42(1), 125-128.
About Samentha
Academic History
Dr. Sepulveda earned a B.A. and M.A. (Communication, Media and Theatre) from Northeastern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. (Communication) from the University of Milwaukee Wisconsin.
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While at UWM, for her comprehensive exams, she developed and coined Critical Species Theory of Communication. This theory bridges and expands upon Critical Race Theory and Critical Animal Studies. This work is currently under review for publication.
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Her dissertation consisted of a two-part study that relied on qualitative research methods to examine the stories of animal shelter employees and volunteers—stories about animal shelters, animal sheltering, and shelter animals—to analyze communication processes that shape staff- identity, organizational-identity, and organizational identification. This project was guided by the communicative constitution of organizations (CCO) approach, which frames communication as not simply something that happens within an organization, but rather argues organization happens in communication. Furthermore, contributing to internatural communication research, this project explored identity and identification from a “more-than human” perspective. Relating CCO and internatural communication to research in this dissertation provided support for how communication is not only central to animal shelter organizations, but the organizing of shelter animals, and perceptions of animal identity as an organized state. Please click to learn more about this research.
