Kristina Scharp

Kristina M. Scharp researches the experience of marginalization through three interrelated processes (the three “Rs”). Remaking disrupts taken-for-granted assumptions that foster inequity. Resistance challenges hegemonic structures and ideologies. Resilience illustrates the ways people cope with and respond to the major disruptions in their lives. She most often examines these three “Rs” in the contexts of relational distancing, complicated health diagnoses, and disenfranchised student populations.

Scharp has over 100 publications, for which she has received Distinguished Article Awards, Early Career Awards, and Teaching/Mentoring Awards. She chairs the Award Committee for the International Association for Relationship Research, the Early Career Award Committee for the International Communication Association, and currently serves in the leadership rotation for the Central States Communication Association. Finally, she has served as associate editor for the Journal of Social and Personal Relationship and Communication Monographs as well as editor for a special issue of the Journal of Communication.

Most recently, Scharp has co-authored two theories: the Theory of Communicative Disenfranchisement (TCD) and Communicative Relational Distancing Theory (CRDT), as well as developed a new qualitative method: Thematic Co-Occurrence Analysis (TCA). She also has two co-edited books forthcoming in 2026: the "Handbook of Communication" and "Reconciliation: The Final Step in Achieving Nonviolent Social Change." These projects collectively contribute to better understanding the process of marginalization and those groups most disenfranchised by it.

Ph.D., Communication Studies, University of Iowa
M.A., Communication Studies, University of Iowa
B.A., International Studies & German, University of Richmond

Family Communication & Relationships Lab