Dr. Brandon Bouchillon, the new West Chair of Excellence in Communication and Public Affairs, joined UTC at the beginning of the 2026 Spring semester. Photo by Angela Foster.
Dr. Brandon Bouchillon stepped into his new role as the West Chair of Excellence in Communication and Public Affairs in the Department of Communication at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a clear goal in mind.
He arrived ready to build on his research exploring the future of communication and how the field continues to evolve.
“There’s a lot of talk about how technology is terrible for us now,” he said. “The internet is ruining the world and social media is the worst thing ever to be introduced. I don’t dispute those things with my research but I push past these negative assumptions to look for targeted ways we can apply media to facilitate some good.”
The Tennessee native has taught around the country while developing his research focused on group texting, role-playing games and the beneficial applications of media.
“I tell my students, I’m a human being,” he said. “I have kids. I play soccer. I like to run. I have hobbies and interests just like they do, but I want to use this position in a way that’s affirming and edifying. I want to help this community learn to collaborate and build on the good work that’s being done already.”
One of Bouchillon’s studies, “Group Texting and Subjective Well-Being: Age and CMC Competence Shape the Emotional and Cognitive Benefits,” examines the virtues of group communication.
“Texting is not this deep heart-to-heart,” he explained. “Every time, it’s a steady drip of informal social support. It is cracking jokes with your friends. It’s take it or leave it, in that I can look and see what my mom sent this morning. I can make mistakes. It’s low-pressure in that way. My research shows that young people are really good at that.
“For students at UTC, it means group communication, study groups and cohort chats. Resident Life’s threads can be a good way of not just keeping tabs on your kids and seeing what’s happening, but making them recognize that they have support systems they can tap into and they can use their phone to do that.”
Rather than focusing on the history of communication, Bouchillon has shifted the focus of the West Chair to examine the industry’s future.
“I’m more interested in how things might develop over the next 25 and 50 years,” Bouchillon said. “In terms of new technology we’re introducing, I’m interested in AI. I’m interested in role-playing games. When we connect with people online, we might feel more trusting of different kinds of people from other walks of life.
“I find that it’s hard to talk with different kinds of people in person. We see people who look different from us. We tend to hunker down. We’re nervous. We wonder if we have common ground, but phones, games and even internet settings like social media make that a little bit easier. Those differences are less apparent at first, so it’s easier to overcome our initial fear and talk with different kinds of people.
“That can have beneficial outcomes on trust, empathy, feeling less lonely and less anxious, which I try to use and target with my research.”
He hopes his research will foster stronger bonds and build a better understanding within the UTC community.
“My goal is to shine a light on outcomes like trust and empathy and prejudice reduction, and things like role-playing games and group texting might be able to help us do,” Bouchillon said. “The more I talk with different kinds of people and meet people in my daily life, the better I feel about the state of affairs and the easier it is to bridge boundaries.”
Brandon Bouchillon teaches in the UTC Department of Communication.
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