B.A., University of Montana
M.A., University of Montana
Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Amherst

My teaching philosophy is centered upon the belief that students will learn more when they engage in the classroom and provide their own analysis and understanding of the material. In order to make this a reality the classroom must be a safe supportive environment in which students feel comfortable to take part in the discussion of various topics. I believe that an effective teacher can conduct a serious class in terms of student learning while keeping the environment fun and conducive to new opinions and ideas. As educators, I believe that we have the responsibility and opportunity to engage with students, not because it takes the stress of being a teacher off of your shoulders but because it makes the learning experience beneficial to all parties involved. I truly believe that even as educators our students too always have something to teach us.

My research primarily focuses on the integration of communication and culture. Using and developing ethnographic studies of communication I am interested in notions of identity, place, action, feeling, and relationships as they are constructed and find use amongst those communities that value and believe in the significance of these kinds of communicative practices. I am especially interested in how people communicate the above in intercultural encounters and cross-culturally.

My current research includes two disparate kinds of communication with little overlap. One line includes a focus on Native American Communication and Culture and includes amongst other projects an investigation of a Blackfeet (Amskapi Piikuni) discourse of identity that finds use in the Native America Speaks program as run out of Glacier National Park, MT during the summer tourist seasons. The second line of research concerns the increasing appearances of politicians and in particular presidential candidates on late-night talk shows including how politics is “done” and how more and more politics is encompassed by late-night talk show’s entertainment goals.

Selected Publications

• Carbaugh, D., & Grimshaw, E. (2021). Blackfeet Discourses about Dwelling-in-Place: Our Homeland, a National Park. In Andersson, R. H., Cothran, B., & Kekki, S. (Eds.), Bridging Cultural Concepts of Nature, (pp. 203-227). Helsinki University Press.
• Carbaugh, D., & Grimshaw, E. (2021). ‘Two different kinds of life’: A cultural analysis of Blackfeet discourse. In Gordon, C. (Ed.), Approaches to Discourse Analysis, (pp. 21-36). Georgetown University Press.
• Reijven, M. H., Grimshaw, E., & Dori-Hacohen, G. (2020). “That’s Not Funny!” Identity and the organization of interaction on USA entertainment-political interviews. Discourse, Context & Media, 35, 100386.
• Grimshaw, E., & Reijven, M. H. (2020). “We have a big crowd”: The different referents of the first-person plural in US presidential candidates’ talk on entertainment-political interviews. In Kirner-Ludwig, M. (Ed.), Fresh Perspectives on Major Issues in Pragmatics. (pp. 61-81). Routledge
• Miyose, C. Y., & Grimshaw, E. (2019). Ua mau ke ea o ka ‘āina i ka pono: Cultural appropriation of the Hawaiian language in Hawaii Five-0. PRism, 15(1), 1-17.

More About Me

How long have you been at NCWU?
Since 2021

What's your favorite class that you teach?
Interpersonal Compilation & Culture

What are your research & teaching interests?
Native American Communication & Culture, Intercultural Communication

What is a fun fact or an interesting hobby of yours?
I speak some Arapaho, played college lacrosse and I enjoy rock climbing