Eric James

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Eric James

Professor of Communication Studies

College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Bio

Dr. James' research interest in organizational culture stems from his experience working for several large organizations including America Online, eBay, and Fastenal. He studies Organizational Communication, Identity and Wellness. He is particularly interested in the ways in which work shapes our sense of self and its consequences as he discusses in a . His most recent research interests look at the extreme fitness discourse in the workplace.

Degree

PhD in Organizational Communication

Texas A&M University

MA in Communication Studies

University of North Texas

BA in Spanish & Communication Double Major

University of New Mexico

Published Works

  • James, P. E., Kendall, E. B. (2025). The Communication of Productive Fitness: How CrossFit Shapes a Branded Self Through the Embodiment of Exceptionalism . (). SpringerNature. https://link.springer.com/book/9783031910456
  • James, P. E., Zanin, A., Damon, Z. (2023). Blue-Collar and Healthy Worker Identities: How Parallel Ideal Worker Identities Sustain Unobtrusive Control on the Shop-Floor. Management Communication Quarterly.
  • Butcher, T., James, P. E., Bloom, P. (2023). Extreme Wellness at Work: Whose body counts in the rise of exceptionalist organisational fitness cultures. Organizationhttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/13505084221131633.
  • James, P. E., Gill, R. (2018). Neoliberalism and the Communicative Labor of CrossFit. Communication & Sport.
  • James, P. E., Zoller, H. (2018). Resistance Training: (Re)shaping Extreme Forms of Workplace Health Promotion. Management Communication Quarterly, 0. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318917696990.
  • James, P. E., Zoller, H. (2017). Healthy Workplace. Wiley-Blackwell,
  • Richardson, K. B., James, P. E. (2017). The Role of Occupational Identity in Negotiating Traumatic Experiences: The Case of a Rural Fire Department. Journal of Applied Communication Research.
  • James, P. E. (2016). A critical scholar goes consulting: Critical—interpretive approaches. (). Kendall Hunt.
  • Barbour, J., James, P. E. (2015). Collaboration for Compliance: Identity Tensions in the Interorganizational and Interdisciplinary Regulation of a Toxic Waste Storage Facility. Journal of Applied Communication Researchhttps://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2015.1083601.

Research Interests

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles


Butcher, T., James, E. P., & Bloom, P. (2023). Extreme wellness at work: Whose body counts in the rise of exceptionalist organisational fitness cultures. Organization, 30(3), 453-472. https://doi.org/10.1177/13505084221131633


James, E. P., & Zanin, A.C., Damon, Z. (2023). Blue-collar and healthy worker identities: How parallel ideal worker identities sustain unobtrusive control on the shop-floor. Management Communication Quarterly, 37(3), 542-571.https://doiorg.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/08933189221134116


James, E. P., & Gill, R. (2018). Neoliberalism and the communicative labor of CrossFit. Communication & Sport. DOI: 10.1177/2167479517737036 (online first)


James, E. P., & Zoller, H. (2018). Resistance training: (Re)shaping extreme forms of workplace health promotion. Management Communication Quarterly, 32(1), 60-89. doi/10.1177/0893318917696990


Richardson, B. K. & James, E. P. (2017). The role of occupational identity in negotiating traumatic
experiences: The case of a rural fire department. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 45, 313-332. doi: 10.1080/00909882.2017.1320573


Translated for a general audience in NCA’s Communication Currents: http://bit.ly/2jgvAfT


Barbour, J. B., & James, E. P. (2015). When collaboration becomes compliance: Interorganizational
identity tensions in the regulation of a toxic waste storage facility. Journal of Applied
Communication Research, 43, 363-384. doi: 10.1080/00909882.2015.1083601. Awarded Bill Eadie Distinguished Scholarly Article Award (2017).



Other


James, E. P. & Zoller, H. (2017). Healthy workplace. In C. R. Scott & L. K. Lewis (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.


James, E. P. (2016). A critical scholar goes consulting: Critical—interpretive approaches. In. C. Engstrom and J. Frye (Eds.). Tales from the field of qualitative communication consulting. Kendall Hunt.

Teaching Interests

Students First - Always.