Professor Jay Baglia was the 2025 recipient of the Top Paper Award from the Activism, Communication Ethics, and Social Justice Division of the Central States Communication Association for “Case Studies of Chemical Toxicity: Narrative, Human Rights, and Environmental Health." In 2023 he received the Ellis-Bochner Personal Narrative & Autoethnography Award for his essay, “The Ontology of Oncology: Navigating Cyborgs and Assemblages through Cancer Treatment."
Baglia also received the 2022 Spirit of DePaul Award for notable service to the community and the 2021 Quality Instruction Council's Excellence in Teaching Award.
Jay is a full professor in the College of Communication with a teaching and research focus in health communication, feminist theory, and performance studies. He has taught at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Southwestern University near Austin, TX, San José State University in California and Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. For Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), in Allentown, Pennsylvania, he developed curriculum and assessment tools for the Department of Family Medicine Residency Program, planned and facilitated workshops in the Teaching Leader Series, and served as study coordinator for the Cultural Awareness Implementation Team baseline assessment group.
His academic preparation includes a BA in communication from the University of South Florida. He earned an MA from USF in 1999, concentrating on gender communication in organizations. For his doctoral studies, Baglia focused on gender communication, performance theory, and health; he received his PhD from USF in 2003.
In 2005, Baglia published The Viagra Ad Venture: Masculinity, Media, & the Performance of Sexual Health with Peter Lang Publishing. Baglia received the Distinguished Book Award for The Viagra Ad Venture from the National Communication Association in 2012.
Along with co-editor Rachel E. Silverman, Dr. Baglia published a volume of pregnancy loss narratives, Communicating Pregnancy Loss: Narrative as a Method for Change, in Peter Lang's Health Communication Series in 2015. Both The Viagra Ad Venture and Communicating Pregnancy Loss won the OSCLG Outstanding Book Award (in 2006 and 2015, respectively).
Baglia has published over three dozen articles, chapters, encyclopedia entries, and book reviews in journals such as Family Medicine, Health Communication, Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare, Cultural Studies <> Critical Methodologies, Women & Language, Liminalities, Text & Performance Quarterly, and the Journal of Dramatic Theory & Criticism. Examples of some of his publications can be found below.
He has made over 100 presentations at academic conferences. and is currently on the editorial boards of Health Communication, Women's Studies in Communication, Text & Performance Quarterly, and Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare, among others.
Jay is an experienced facilitator, public speaking coach, editor, and expert at employing qualitative methods for the development of curriculum and assessment in medical schools and residencies.
In his spare time, he enjoys spending time parenting, traveling, playing tennis, rooting for the New York Mets (a labor of love), and strumming guitar with the QuaranTones.
Select Publications
Academic Journal Articles
- “Rigor and Academic (Re)socialization: The Faculty Role in Student Success Curriculum," Journal of Communication Pedagogy. Co-authored with Kendra Knight, Elissa Foster, & Stephanie Grau (2025)
- “Student Engagement in the Communication Classroom: An Intervention to Encourage Student Success," Journal of the Association for Communication Administration. Co-authored with Elissa Foster, Kendra Knight, & Stephanie Grau (2025)
- “Healthful, Heartful, & Hopeful Narrative in Medicine: An Autoethnographic Performance," Liminalities. Co-performed with Nicole Defenbaugh & Elissa Foster (2024).
- “The Ontology of Oncology: Navigating Cyborgs and Assemblages through Cancer Treatment," Health Communication. (2023)
- “Unmasked: Iconography and the COVID-19 Pandemic," Liminalities. Co-authored with Robin Hoecker (2023).
- “Difficult Case Consultation: An Intervention for Interprofessional Health Communication," Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare. Co-authored with Elissa Foster (2021)
- "A Nurse's Touch," Health Communication. (2021)
- "Toxicity," in E. Ho, C. Bylund, & J. van Weert (Eds). The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication. Wiley.
- "Organizational Whistleblowers," in E. Ho, C. Bylund, & J. van Weert (Eds). The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication. Wiley.
- “Mad Men as Health Communication: Health-related Themes in the Hit AMC Television Series." Health Communication. Co-authored with Elissa Foster (2014)
- “Slaying the Assessment Dragon: One Department's Efforts to Tame the Beast and Survive as the Knights in Shining Armor." Journal of Association for Communication Administration. Co-authored with Mary Eicholtz (2013)
- “Dueling Dualisms: Are Women in the Western at Home on the Range?" Cultural Studies < > Critical Methodologies. (2012)
- “A Process for Generating Developmentally-appropriate Competency Assessment." Family Medicine. Co-authored with Elissa Foster, Drew Keister, & Nyann Biery et al. (2011)
- “Transforming Emergency Medicine through Narrative: Qualitative Action Research at a Community Hospital." Health Communication. Co-authored with Eric Eisenberg & Joan Pynes (2006)
- “Performing the "Really Real": Cultural Criticism, Representation, and Commodification in The Laramie Project." Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism. Co-authored with Elissa Foster (2005)
Books
Book Chapters
- “Sexual Health and Popular Culture," In C. Beck (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Health Communication and Popular Culture (pp. 69-83). Routledge (2024).
- “Billable (H)ours: Autoethnography, Ambivalence, and Academic Labor in a Healthcare Organization." In Andrew Herrmann (Ed). International Handbook of Organizational Autoethnography (pp. 191-208). Co-authored with Nicole Defenbaugh & Elissa Foster. Routledge. (2020)
- “Beginning Again: Diagnosis as Breach, Survival as a New Normal," In C. Kiesinger & L. Peterson (Eds.) Narrating Midlife: Crisis, Transition, & Transformation (pp. 107-130). Lexington Press. (2019)
- “A Couple Manages the Uncertainties of Dementia & Decline." In A. du Pre & E. Berlin Ray (Eds.) Real-life Scenarios: A Case Study Perspective on Health Communication (pp. 91-94). Co-authored with Sean Sullivan. New York: Oxford University Press. (2018)
- “Introduction: The Politics of Pregnancy Loss." In R. Silverman & J. Baglia (Eds.) Communicating Pregnancy Loss (pp. 1-15). New York: Peter Lang Publishing. (2015)
- “Melancholy Baby: Time, Emplotment, & Other Notes on Our Miscarriage." In R. Silverman & J. Baglia (Eds.) Communicating Pregnancy Loss (pp. 197-209). New York: Peter Lang Publishing. (2015)
- “Afterword: How to Do Things with Stories." In R. Silverman & J. Baglia (Eds.) Communicating Pregnancy Loss (pp. 295-304). New York: Peter Lang Publishing. (2015)
- “The Communication Efforts of Negotiating Unmarried Life: Friction and Flexibility." In S. Marrow and D. Leoutsakis (Eds.) More than Blood (pp. 84-94). Co-authored with Elissa Foster. Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt. (2013)
- “Assessing Baseline Cultural Sensitivity Among Employees at a Hospital System: A Mixed Methods Approach." In R. Ahmed & B. Bates (Eds.) Medical Communication in Clinical Contexts (pp. 145-166). Co-authored with Anthony Nerino, Judith Sabino, & Jarret Patton. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt. (2012)
OpEd Publications
Social Media Audio