Susan Dun - Northwestern University in Qatar

At NU-Q Dun teaches research methods in communication, persuasion and influence, health communication and the internship seminar. She has also taught theories of relational communication, academic success and social support. Dun’s central area of interest is health communication, especially the design of message interventions to encourage healthy behavior. She is currently directing a research project that is developing messages targeting unsafe driving behaviors in young male drivers. Dun received her PhD in communication from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993.

MIT 201 Research Methods in Communication
MIT 298 Undergraduate Seminar: Health Communication
MIT 205 Theories of Persuasion
MIT 349 Internship Seminar
MIT 099 Academic Success
Comm_St 241 Theories of Relational Communication
Comm_St 395 Special Topics: Social Support

Message-based interventions to change health behaviors, such as investigating Muslim women’s physical activity levels, their self-reported influences on their behaviors and their evaluation of sporting/physically active women
Message-based interventions to change driving behaviors in Qatar
Digital and health literacy in Qatar to guide health message campaigns
How Arabic users function in English language and Arabic language web environments

NPRP Grant Application: Women and physical activity in Qatar. With Klaus Schoenbach.

QNRF Undergraduate Research Experience Program for Chicken is for the Birds: Changing the Deadly Driving Behaviors of Young Qatari Men, 2014-2015

QNRF Undergraduate Research Experience Program for Development of a Survey-based Tool to Measure Digital literacy in Qatar, 2013-2014

QNRF Undergraduate Research Experience Program for Catalysts and constraints: Women's and girls' experience of physical activity and sport in Qatar. 2012-2013

Internal NU-Q Dean’s Research Grant for Digital literacy in monolingual and bilingual Arabic and Anglophone speakers. 2012-2013

Health, sport and physical activity

Dun, S. A. (2014, forthcoming). Role models in the media and women’s sport participation in Qatar. In M. Al Dabbagh & D. Abdelhady, (Eds.), Globalization and Gulf Women. Berlin: Gerlach Press.

Dun, S. A. (2014, forthcoming). Against all odds: Surmounting the challenges of the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In Andrea Talentino and Dikaia Chatziefstathiou, (Eds), International Sport. Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

Dun, S. A. (2014). No beer, no way! Football fan identity enactment won’t mix with Muslim beliefs in the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Alcohol Special Issue of the Journal for Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 6(2), 186-199.

Dun, S.A., & Kalaji, M. (2014). The unintended effects of international events hosting: Expanding opportunities for Muslim women in sport. In S. A. Dun, K. Spracklen, & N. Wise, (Eds.), Game Changer: The Transformative Potential of Sport. Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

Dun, S. A., & Brander, J. (2014, forthcoming). Is there an app to track that? The effect of mobile devices on the culture of fitness centres. In Sabine Bauman and Monica Flegel (Eds.), Cyber Cultures. Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

Dun, S. A., & Kalaji, M. (2013). Trickle down sports: International sporting events hosting changes attitudes towards Muslim women’s sports participation in Qatar. In S. A. Dun, M. Kalaji, & M. Stell, (Eds.), It’s How You Play the Game: International Perspectives on the Study of Sport. Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

Digital Media Use

Dun, S. A., & Kalaji, M. (2014, forthcoming). OMG did you hear about the fire??? User generated content circumvents traditional media and governmental controls in Qatar. In Sabine Bauman and Monica Flegel (Eds.), Cyber Cultures. Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

Dun, S. A., & Mutassem, D. (2014). Digital literacy in Arabic speakers: The role of bilingualism in effective use of Web resources. In D. Moser & S.A. Dun (Eds.), Digital Janus: Looking Forward, Looking Back. Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

Dun, S. A., & Al-Islam, Md. Rezwan (2014). Consuming media: Bangladeshi expat cyberculture in Qatar. In Anna Maj (Ed.) Post-Privacy Culture: Gaining Social Power in Cyber-Democracy. Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

Dun, S. A., & Al-Islam, Md. Rezwan (2013). Is cyber culture developing in Qatar? In Anna Maj (Ed), Cyberculture Now: Social and Communication Behaviours on the Web. Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

QNRF UREP annual best projects award finalist for “Catalysts and constraints: Women's and girls' experience of physical activity and sport in Qatar.”
Student Government Faculty Appreciation Award, NU-Q, 2010.
Faculty and Administrator Honor Roll, Associated Student Government Award, Northwestern University, 2002, 2004, 2005.
Kappa Delta Sorority Professor of the Month, Northwestern University, February 2003.