Dr. Braedon Worman joined the Communication Studies Department in 2024. Prior to arriving at PLNU, Dr. Worman taught at Fresno Pacific University as well as several community colleges in Central California. He loves to show students the link between the quality of one’s communication and the quality of one’s life. Dr. Worman earned his B.A. in Communication, B.A. in Philosophy-Religious Studies, and M.A. in Communication from CSU Fresno (Fresno State). He earned his Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
As a communication scholar, Worman is interested in how people communicate their beliefs, values, and identities within the contexts of interpersonal and family relationships. For his dissertation, he studied the communication of conservative Christian parents and their adult children with differing religious beliefs and values, with the aim of uncovering the larger societal discourses present and competing in their talk about these differences. He has studied such communication from various theoretical lenses and from the perspectives of both parents and their adult children.
Prior to working in higher education, Worman served in youth ministry. He has been a pastor and/or served in youth leadership roles in four different church communities. His wife, Rachel, is a PLNU grad (class of 2015), and the two met serving in youth ministry together.
Education
- Ph.D., Communication Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- M.A., Communication, California State University, Fresno
- B.A., Communication, California State University, Fresno
- B.A., Philosophy-Religious Studies, California State University, Fresno
Courses Taught
- Principles of Human Communication – COM 1000
- Professional Speaking for Career Settings – COM 3060
Experience in Field
- Adjunct Professor of Communication Studies, Fresno Pacific University, 2023-2024
- Adjunct Professor of Communication Studies, Clovis Community College, 2023-2024
- Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Communication Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2018-2023
- Adjunct Professor of Communication Studies, Merced College, 2022
- Adjunct Professor of Communication, Fresno City College, 2016-2018
- Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Communication Studies, California State University, Fresno, 2015-2017
Awards and Honors
- Diana Carlin Research Fellowship Grant Recipient, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of Communication Studies (2021)
- Worman, B. G. (2020, November). When to reveal: The development and utilization of privacy rules by individuals in exclusivist Christian families that have adopted significantly different religious beliefs. Paper presented to the Religious Communication Association for the 2020 Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN. *
- Top Four Student Paper
- Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program Fellowship, California State University (2018)
- Worman, B. G. (2018, November). What and how to reveal: The development and utilization of privacy rules by individuals in exclusivist Christian families that have adopted significantly different religious beliefs. Paper presented to the Religious Communication Association for the 2018 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT. *
- Top Five Student Paper
- Graduate Dean’s Medal Finalist, California State University, Fresno, Department of Communication (2017)
- Graduate Net Initiative Fellowship, California State University, Fresno, Department of Communication (2016)
Dissertations, Presentations, and Publications
- Worman, B. G. (2023). Discursive struggles reflected in the communication of conservative Christian parents and their adult children with differing religious beliefs and values (Publication No. 59) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Nebraska-Lincoln]. Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1077&context=commstuddiss
- Oliver, B. M., Braithwaite, D. O., Waldron, V. R., Hall, R., Hackenburg, L., & Worman, B. G. (2022). Protector and friend: Turning points and discursive constructions of the stepparent role. Family Relations, 1-20. http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12642
- Worman, B. G., & Kartch, F. (2022). “I never had a coming out experience”: The development and utilization of privacy rules regarding the content and manner of revelations of significantly different religious beliefs to exclusivist Christian family members. Journal of Communication and Religion, 45(2), 116-133. https://doi.org/10.5840/jcr202245218
- Worman, B. G., & Cardwell, M. E. (2021, November). Family communication and the co-development of religious and ethnic-racial identity: A constructivist grounded theory approach. Paper to be presented to Research in Progress Roundtables, National Communication Association for the 2021 Annual Conference, Seattle, WA.
- Worman, B. G. (2020, November). Communicative privacy management of conservative Christian parents whose children have differing religious beliefs. Paper presented to Research in Progress Roundtables, National Communication Association for the 2020 Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
- Oliver, B. M., Braithwaite, D. O., Waldron, V. R., Hall, R., Hackenburg, L., & Worman, B. G. (2020, November). Protector and friend: Turning points and the discursive construction of the stepparent role. Paper presented to the Family Communication Division, National Communication Association for the 2020 Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
- Worman, B. G. (2018, November). Who knows what I believe? The development and utilization of privacy rules by individuals in exclusivist Christian families that have adopted significantly different religious beliefs. Paper presented to the Family Communication Division, National Communication Association for the 2018 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.
- Worman, B. G. (2017, April). You gotta have faith: Communication privacy management in exclusivist Christian families regarding a significant change in religious belief. Paper presented to the Central California Research Symposium for the 2017 Annual Symposium, Fresno, CA.
- Worman, B. G. (2016, November). Repent or perish: A narrative criticism of Jesus’s and of Luke’s use of the barren fig tree parable. Paper presented to the Spiritual Communication Division, National Communication Association for the 2016 Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
