My research centers on disability representation in media and its impact on public attitudes. I analyze media content for authentic portrayals of disability and also produce videos that spotlight real stories from disabled individuals. These positive and accurate representations have the power to reduce stigma and shift societal perceptions. One of my early projects, “I Am…Abled,” was filmed in 2011 at the University of Texas at El Paso and features three disabled students, Isaac, who is blind; Elisa, who has lupus; and Joann, who has cerebral palsy, sharing their lived experiences and identities.
This project holds special meaning for me. Isaac Valencia, a brilliant scholar, advocate, and dear friend, passed away from COVID-19. His voice, spirit, and unwavering commitment to disability justice continue to inspire my work and the work of so many others. I carry his memory with me in every project that centers disabled voices and challenges ableism.
As a mixed-methods scholar, I use both quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine how media shapes attitudes and behaviors, especially around issues of prejudice, stereotyping, and systemic bias. My work spans settings such as physician-patient communication, public health messaging, and educational environments. I integrate frameworks like positive deviance, media literacy, entertainment education, and the Health Belief Model to investigate and challenge institutionalized prejudice. My quantitative research often includes advanced statistical modeling to explore indirect, conditional, and reciprocal effects of media messages on belief and behavior outcomes.
Currently, my research emphasizes the creation and implementation of media content designed to influence behavior and reduce bias, especially around disability identity and access.
In addition to my disability-focused scholarship, I have contributed to interdisciplinary research on environmental risk and community resilience. As a co-author on a NASA-affiliated project presented at the 2013 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, I helped explore how rural communities in Montana perceived and attributed the impacts of extreme wildland fires. This work (Carroll, Paveglio, & Kallman, 2013) focused on the social and psychological dimensions of environmental disasters, emphasizing how local knowledge, place attachment, and policy narratives shape community recovery.
I have also been deeply involved in federal equity initiatives supporting multimarginalized students through TRIO Student Support Services (SSS), TRIO Upward Bound, TRIO Talent Search, and the AANAPISI grant (Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions). Through this work, I’ve developed programming, led strategic planning, and advocated for the holistic support of students navigating ableism, racism, classism, and other structural barriers, ensuring that access to education is matched with belonging and success.
I also served as a Research Assistant with the Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living (CHRIL), a national center funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90DP0075-01-00). The CHRIL brings together researchers and disability advocates from Washington State University, the University of Kansas, George Mason University, and the Independent Living Research Utilization program at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital. Our work focused on understanding how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) affects working-age adults with disabilities.
During my time with CHRIL, I contributed to multiple grant-funded projects and served as the coordinator for the Disability Stories Project, a national digital archive capturing personal stories about disability, healthcare access, and health policy. The project sheds light on how insurance coverage, or lack thereof, shapes disabled people’s decisions about employment, program participation, and long-term independence.
Publications and Presentations
Refereed Journal Publications
Colorado, K, Cupples, L., Kallman, D., & Kennedy, J. (2021). Disability stories: Personal perspectives of people with disabilities on navigating the U.S. healthcare system. Disability & Society. doi:10/1080/09687599.2021.2004879.
Kallman, D. (2017). Integrating Disability: Boomerang Effects when using Positive Media Exemplars to Reduce Disability Prejudice. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 64(6), 644-662. doi: 10.1080/1034912X.2017.1316012.
Manuscripts Under Review
Hewa, J., Kallman, D., & Peterson, J. C. (Under Review). Teaching Change by Changing Teaching:Introducing Communication for Social Change through Empowering Pedagogy. Communication Teacher, Critical Communication Pedagogy and Social Change.
Kallman, D. & Funaiole, A. (Under Review). Perception and acceptance of the meningitis vaccine and booster among college students: An Application of the health belief model. Journal of Health Communication.
Book Chapters
Kobzar, I., Kallman, D., & Stefani, W. (2017). Navigating with disabilities in the U.S. healthcare system. In D.Baker (Ed.), Disability and U.S. politics: Participation, policy, and controversy (Volume 2). Santa Barbara,CA: ABC-CLIO.
Austin, E. W., Kallman, D., & Kistler, M. (2017). Media-Literacy approaches for improving youth and family health. In B. De Abreau, P. Mihailidis, A. Lee, J. Melki, & J. McDougall (Ed.), The International Handbook ofMedia Literacy Education. London: Routledge.
Dura, L., Kallman, D., Boyd, C., Ayala, P., Diaz, A., Molinar, J., Singhal, A. (In Publication). Positive deviance as action-based research: Tackling complex social problems on the US-mexico border. In A. Singhal (Ed.), Positive deviance: A new paradigm for social, organizational, and behavioral change.
Refereed Abstracts
| Austin, E., Deen, M.K., Austin, B., Kaiser, C.K., Kallman, D., Edwards, Z., Stefani, W., Kistler, M., Cohen, M., Johnson, B., Parker, L., & Power, T. (2018). Foodmania: Effects of a Curriculum Using Media Literacy as the Catalyst to Improve Parent-Child Discussion and Food Behaviors. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 50, S116. |
Kaiser, C. K., Kallman, D ., & Bailey, R. L. (2015). Seeing uncertainty: Investigating the role of visibility in the processing of disability. Psychophysiology, 52, Supplemental Issue 1, S108.
Austin, E W., Shultz, J. Armstrong, Cohen, M., Parker, L., Calodich, S., Price, C., Viebrock, M., Lain, M., Kistler, M., Kallman, D. et al. (2014). Audience-Driven Curriculum Design to Enhance Youth and Parent Media Skills and Food Behaviors: Year 2 of 5. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 46, 4 S189.
Carroll, M., Paveglio, T., & Kallman, D. (2013). Exploring local perceptions and attributions of “extreme” wildfire impacts in Rural Montana. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. San Francisco, CA.
Refereed Conference Papers and Posters
Austin, E., Dean, M.K., Austin, B., Kaiser, C.K., Kallman, D., Edwards, Z., Stefani, W., Kistler, M., Cohen, M., Johnson, B., Parker, L., & Power, T. (2018, July). Foodmania: Effects of a curriculum using media literacy as the catalyst to improve parent-child discussion and food behaviors. Poster presented at the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB), Minneapolis, MN.
Edwards, Z., Brandt, C., & Kallman, D. (2018, May). FoodMania: Kids & food in a marketing driven world. Poster presented at the National Health Outreach Conference, Bloomington, MN.
Bailey, R., Brown, J.R., Kaiser, C.K., & Kallman, D. (2018, May). Signaling uncertainty: Visible disabilities as an honest signal. Paper presented at the international Communication Association, Prague, Czech Republic.
Kaiser, C.K., Austin, E. W., Power, T., Kistler, M., Austin, B., Edwards, Z., Kallman, D. (2017, November). Nutrition focused media literacy empowers families to make healthier food choices in a marketing saturated environment. Paper presented at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA.
Kallman, D., Kistler, M., Kaiser, C.K., Austin, E.W. (2017, November). Exploring participant engagement in a supplementary facebook curriculum. Poster presented at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA. Awards: Outstanding Student Abstract.
O’Donnell, N., Kallman, D., & Stefani, W. (2017, August). Instagram as a tool for communicating sexual health: Future recommendations and unanswered questions. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago, Illinois.
Austin, E. W., Deen, M.K., Cohen, M., Johnson, B. K., Kaiser, C.K., Austin, B., Kistler, M., Edwards, Z., Kallman, D., Power T., Parker, L. (2017, July). Stage 2 field testing of a family-based media literacy and nutrition program to prevent childhood obesity. Poster presented at the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, Washington, DC.
Kallman, D., Kistler, M., Kaiser, C.K., & Austin, E.W. (2017, July). Exploring participant engagement in a supplementary Facebook component to the FoodMania curriculum. Poster presented at the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, Washington, DC.
Kallman, D. & Hewa, J. (2016, June). Teaching change by changing teaching: Introducing participatory methods of teaching in graduate and undergraduate seminars. Poster presented at the International Communication Association, Fukuoka, Japan.
Austin, E., Muldrow, A., Kallman, D., & Pinkleton, B. (2016, June). Exploring the associations across adolescence of perceived desirability for alcohol advertising and skepticism about advertising . Hybrid poster and paper presented at the International Communication Association, Fukuoka, Japan.
Kallman, D. (2015, March). Breaking the language barrier in intercultural communication: Speech codes theory and Everything is Illuminated . Paper presented at the Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association 2015 Annual Conference, Seattle, WA.
Kallman, D. & Hewa, J., (2015, November). Teaching change by changing teaching: Introducing communication for social change through empowering pedagogy . Paper presented at the National Communication Association Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Kallman, D. (2015, November). Life without boundaries: A positive deviance inquiry of communication behaviors that influence academic success of learning disabled university students . Paper presented at the National Communication Association Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Kaiser, C.K., Kallman, D., & Bailey, R. L. (2015, October). Seeing uncertainty: Investigating the role of visibility in the processing of disability . Poster presented at the Society for Psychophysiological Research 55th Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Kallman, D. (2015, August). Access Denied: Consequences of able-bodied students communication apprehension toward students with disabilities . Poster presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Francisco, CA. Awards: AEJMC Graduate Student Interest Group’s 2015 Carson B Warner Award for excellence in poster design
Kallman, D. (2015, August). Integrating disability: Increasing and improving the portrayal of people with disabilities with positive media images . Poster presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Francisco.
Kallman, D. & Funaiole, A. (2015, May). Perception and acceptance of the meningitis vaccine among college students. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Annual Conference, San Juan, PR.
Kallman, D. & Hewa, J. (2015, February). Teaching Change by changing teaching: Introducing Communication for social change through empowering pedagogy. Paper accepted to the New Voices, New Perspectives Student Conference at the University of North Texas. Denton, TX. Awards: Top Graduate Student Paper Division (Conference canceled due to weather)
Austin, E W., Shultz, J. Armstrong, Cohen, M., Parker, L., Calodich, S., Price, C., Viebrock, M., Lain, M., Kistler, M., Kallman, D. et al. (2014, June). Audience-Driven Curriculum Design to Enhance Youth and Parent Media Skills and Food Behaviors: Year 2 of 5. Poster presented at the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior National Conference, Milwaukee, WI.
Tan, A., Alghaithi, S., Curtis, C. Kallman, D., Liang, C., Moody, C., Pande, S., Sauerbier, R., Stuart, K., Yang, C., & Zearott, S. (2014, August). Effects of mediated exemplars on implicit prejudice toward Hispanics. Poster presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Conference, Montreal , CA.
Carroll. M.S.,Paveglio, T., & Kallman, D. (2013, December). Exploring local perceptions and attributions of extreme wildfire impacts in Rural Montana. Paper presented at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA.