Vanessa Bravo
Associate Professor of Strategic Communications | Elon University
Elon, NC, UNITED STATES
Vanessa Bravo is an expert in government-diaspora relations, migration and public diplomacy.
Biography
Dr. Vanessa Bravo received her bachelor's degree from Universidad de Costa Rica and her master's degree and doctorate from the University of Florida. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Florida from 2001-03 and also spent 14 years as a journalist and editor at newspaper La Nacion (Grupo Nacion) in Costa Rica in positions such as online editor and features editor. She served as strategic communications director at Paniamor Foundation from 1997-98.
Dr. Bravo has had her work published in Public Relations Review, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, International Journal of Communication, Public Relations Inquiry, Rising Powers Quarterly, Mortality: Promoting the Interdisciplinary Study of Death and Dying, Global Media Journal (American Edition), Revista Internacional de Relaciones Públicas (Universidad de Málaga, Spain) and Palabra Clave (Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia). She has authored book chapters in Cases in Public Relations Ethics (Oxford University Press); Communication and Community (Hampton Press) and International Public Relations and Public Diplomacy: Communication and Engagement (Peter Lang). Bravo has presented research papers at AEJMC, ICA, ISA, and IPRRC, among others.
Dr. Bravo taught at the University of Florida as a doctoral student and instructor from 2008-2011 and at the Universidad de Costa Rica in 2005. She received the Susan Roschwalb Grant for research in international public relations from AEJMC in 2011 and the 2010-2011 Latin American Studies Doctoral Teaching Award from the Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida.
She came to Elon in 2011, where she has served as adviser to Elon's chapter of PRSSA and to the International Living and Learning Community from 2012 to 2016. She eceived the Elon School of Communications' Faculty Excellence in Research Award in 2017.
Areas of Expertise (6)
Public Diplomacy
Government-diaspora Relations
Public Relations
Interpersonal Communications
Journalism
Migration
Media
Publications:
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Accomplishments (4)
Faculty Excellence in Research Award
2017 Elon School of Communications
Susan Roschwalb Grant
2011 AEJMC
Latin American Studies Doctoral Teaching Award
2010 - 2011 Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida
Fulbright Scholar
2001 - 2003 University of Florida
Education (3)
University of Florida: Ph.D.
University of Florida: M.A.
Universidad de Costa Rica: B.A.
Links (2)
Media Appearances (4)
Hispanic professors at Elon reflect on representation
Elon News Network
2019-09-27
Originally from Costa Rica, Vanessa Bravo received both her master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Florida. Bravo has released publications focusing on the lives of immigrants in the U.S. She said her interviews with undocumented women in North Carolina have particularly affected her. “It was very touching to learn about women in the community being very afraid … feeling as if they’ve done something wrong when they’re just trying to give their kids some opportunities,” Bravo said...
Failing to report ethnicity on arrest forms is a problem for Latino Americans, research shows
Elon News Network
2019-08-05
Vanessa Bravo, associate professor of communications at Elon, with specializations in government-diaspora relations and migrations, said leaving out ethnicity on arrest forms leaves the door wide open to the possibility racial profiling. “If they really are counted as white, then they become invisible, for example, to understand,” Bravo said about Latino Americans...
The Elon Experience from the eyes of Latino / Hispanic students
Elon News Network
2018-09-26
One of Elon’s 2018-2019 institutional priorities is to have an unprecedented university commitment to diversity and global engagement. This includes objectives and initiatives for efforts focused on global engagement, such as the Latino/Hispanic working group led by Sylvia Munoz, associate director for the Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education (CREDE), and Vanessa Bravo, associate professor of communications...
‘When did you consider yourself an American?’
Elon News Network
2018-03-28
Vanessa Bravo, assistant professor of communications, had a smoother process as a immigrant from Costa Rica. “My process was absolutely perfect, smooth from beginning to end. No challenges, no problems, no delays and it only took me eight years to become a US citizen,” Bravo said. “It is not a short process, it is not an easy process and even if it goes perfectly well, it takes many many years.”...
Articles (5)
Coping with dying and deaths at home: How undocumented migrants in the United States experience the process of transnational grieving
Mortality
Vanessa Bravo
2017 This qualitative study explores the way in which a group of 12 undocumented migrants from Latin America who live in the United States have experienced the process of coping with dying and with deaths in their home countries. The paper argues that the grieving process is unique for a group like this, where the undocumented status means that the migrants cannot go back home to help the dying, support the ones left behind, or receive consolation. The sadness and the guilt experienced in the process have particular characteristics when you are undocumented in a host country, and the mechanisms used to cope with the situation are different than if you are at home or away but are free to travel back and forth. One avenue for coping, for instance, is the use of communication technologies to create the illusion of ‘being there’, even when that is not an option.
The role of public relations in ethnic advocacy and activism: A proposed research agenda
Public Relations Inquiry
Vanessa Bravo
2016 This essay proposes a research agenda for exploring public relations’ role in ethnic advocacy and activism, as a way to build the field’s knowledge of ethnic public relations. To highlight the potential contribution of public relations to ethnic organizations, and to describe the particular challenges that ethnic public relations faces in societies that sometimes marginalize ethnic groups and issues, this article describes two advocacy efforts by Latino-serving organizations, one in favor of immigration reform and the other in response to the offensive statements against Mexican immigrants stated by politician and entrepreneur Donald Trump. Additionally, the authors propose a research agenda for exploring how public relations is used by ethnic organizations to advance their goals.
El Salvador and Costa Rica’s State–Diaspora Relations Management
International Journal of Communication
2014 Through a case study that includes 20 in-depth interviews with key informants, this qualitative study compares the state–diaspora relations of two Central American countries, one where the state considers the diaspora a key transnational public (El Salvador), and one where the state interacts at a low level with its diaspora and does not consider this group a priority in its policies (Costa Rica). This article also offers eight propositions for studying state–diaspora relations, a model of the main factors that influence the strength of the state–diaspora relationship in Central America, and implications for international public relations.
Communicating External Voting Rights to Diaspora Communities. Challenges and Opportunities in the Cases of El Salvador and Costa Rica/Comunicando los derechos de votación en el …
Revista Internacional de Relaciones Públicas
V Bravo
2013 This paper fills a gap in the literature of international public relations by exploring the challenges that home governments face when trying to convey information about newly established political rights to diaspora communities located in host countries. It does so by analyzing the cases of El Salvador and Costa Rica, two Central American countries that will offer external voting rights (absentee vote) to their citizens, for the first time, in the national elections of 2014.
Engaging the Diaspora: El Salvador and Costa Rica's Use of Social Media to Connect with Their Diaspora Communities in the United States
Global Media Journal
V Bravo
2012 This study explores the public diplomacy efforts of the Central American nations of El Salvador and Costa Rica to connect and engage with their diaspora communities in the United States using social media and other web-based communications. This qualitative case study revealed two distinct patterns of social media use. Costa Rica is using social media spaces mainly as electronic newsletters, as one-way communication outlets to inform about its foreign policy. El Salvador is using social media to foster dialogue with its migrants and to build longterm relationships with the diaspora. Comparatively speaking, El Salvador’s has a more sophisticated or effective social media strategy than Costa Rica for engaging its diaspora community. The analysis reflects on why these two patterns of social media use may have formed and suggests recommendations for ways in which El Salvador and Costa Rica can improve social media engagement with their diaspora communities located in the United States. These two cases suggests that the distinct social media style is linked to the level of development of each country’s political system and the perception that each nation state.
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