Dr. Laura Martinez

In our second installment of the COMversations podcast, hosts Kevin and Dave sit down with Dr. Laura Martinez. Laura joined the UNLV Department of Communication Studies in the summer of 2022 after completing her doctoral studies from Arizona State University. Laura is an expert in organizational communication with specific research interests surrounding circus. We'll hear what initially got her interested in circus as well as why she considers herself an old soul who just so happens to love mob films like The Godfather.

What is COMversations at UNLV?

In response to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the faculty and staff of the Department of Communication Studies began working from home and teaching online. Now that faculty and students are returning to campus and having more opportunities for face-to-face interactions, we almost feel like we need to re-introduce ourselves to our colleagues and students. The same is true for other schools and departments in the College of Urban Affairs and across the university. We believe that the best way to (re)introduce ourselves is by sharing the personal stories and backgrounds of our faculty and staff. The goal is to introduce each of our faculty and staff members to students, the public, and each other. Starting with these podcasts, we hope to build a podcasting network devoted to helping students and the public meet the people who teach the classes, conduct the research, and manage media operations. We also hope to get to know each other better and build a richer academic community. So lend an ear to the personal stories of the faculty and staff preparing students for a promising future.

Kevin Stoker

Welcome, everybody to the COMversation, stories from the faculty and staff for the Department of Communication Studies. And today we're really fortunate to have Dr. Laura Martinez join us. Laura, welcome.

Laura Martinez

Thank you. Thank you. I'm glad to be here.

Kevin Stoker

Dr. Martinez just got her PhD from Arizona State University in organizational communication. She does some really interesting work, and we're happy to have her join our podcast today. And first, Laura, we just kind of asked you a question about, you know, tell us what, what is it the kind of what's your passion, what really drives you? What makes it worthwhile getting up in the morning, every day for you.

Laura Martinez

So I, I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is circus because I just kind of stumbled into it. And it went from being a thing that I was very much a hobbyist, and then it transformed into this. It just kind of took over my whole life. So I would say anything related to circus, just circus culture. And here in Las Vegas, we have all of these amazing Cirque shows and Cirque du Soleil show. So I'm just fascinated by the human body and like in movement, and then how we have these like crazy structures in place that create these like wonderful spectacles. So that's a long answer.

Kevin Stoker

No, that's a great answer. That's really interesting. Do you find that? That it was kind of something that just kind of took over?

Laura Martinez

Yes, absolutely. So I started, I started doing circus because I saw someone on Instagram out of all things. Do it recreationally kind of do the acro, aerial acrobatics. And so I thought, well, I can I can try that I was looking for like a new workout. No, I, I didn't really have I hate the gym. So I thought this looks like something I could do. And very quickly, I realized, Oh, this is not something I can do. This is really, really difficult. And my first class, I could not get like a foot off the ground. And the coach at the time was like, just climb it like you would climb a rope like that, that helps in no way. No idea what that's like. And then I started meeting people there, and I just kind of came across this circus community. And what really drove me to it more than the physicality of it was, you got to hang out with people that you would not really know otherwise. Like, one of my best friends is a professional chef. So like people who like run in totally different circles that you know, come. The ability of circus to bring people together is what really drove me to it. And also, you always kind of hear about circus kind of attracting people who always feel like misfits, or you know, they don't fit in anywhere else in society. And that still stands true today, you can run a little weird, to be honest, definitely a little socially awkward.

Kevin Stoker

I find it interesting that what you really found fascinating about circus was almost the social aspect. And then as an organizational communication researcher, obviously you started asking questions about it.

Laura Martinez

Yes, yes. So the entirety of my dissertation project really came about from me being at the circus studio, and overhearing coaches, myself included, when somebody would say, Wow, this is really painful, because you got to imagine you're putting your whole body weight on an apparatus, and it's usually made out of metal or fabric. And, in response, coaches would say, well, circus hurts, like it was just so matter of fact, and it was so readily accepted. We're like, Okay, well, it hurts, so it's fine. And just that alone, that face alone, I thought was super interesting that you could tell that to someone. And that would completely change their behavior, you see, stop complaining about the pain, and you decide, well, as a member of this community, it's just kind of a thing, it's going to hurt. And I'm going to do it. And that's kind of how I get to be a circus person. So

Kevin Stoker

And isn't this kind of, you know, this is outside the norm of typical organizational communication research, which I found fascinating that you're doing something, this this little different little different type of organization, but you're almost looking at both a culture and a practice, so to speak.

Laura Martinez

Yeah, it was, I think I was I was really fortunate to be a part of the circus community when I did my research because so many people were already willing to talk to me. And I interviewed circus artists from all over the world because I was collecting data during COVID So everything was shut down. And it was so cool to see all of the similarities and how we had all been socialized, especially in terms of circus hurts. Just you know, someone that I was talking to in France, like had a very similar socialization that to me.

Dave Nourse

Laura, you just got to UNLV? Yes. came from the desert coming from Arizona. Tell us so what do you like about Las Vegas, obviously huge circus culture that surrounds Cirque du Soleil. But tell us a little bit about you and what you found appealing about coming to work here at UNLV.

Laura Martinez

Well, so honestly, when I moved to Arizona, cuz I'm from originally from California, I went to Arizona, and I thought, man, it's it's so hard to live here. Desert is so hard, it's not forgiving. So it was actually an I grew to love it, I genuinely became home for me, which I never thought I would say that and my friends will tell you the same thing. But so coming to Las Vegas, it was really nice and almost comforting to also move to a different desert. I feel that Las Vegas is a good blend between LA and Phoenix. So in a lot of ways, it feels like it was kind of made for me to be here, it was just it really fit in perfectly. One of the things I haven't been able to explore a lot of outdoor activities, because I've been here mostly in the summer. But it's nice to how compartmentalize the city is like, you could definitely be in the strip and do all of the, you know, Vegas traditional things. But you can also go weeks without even realizing that or like associating with the strip in any degree. And that's pretty cool. So it's just kind of like, we can choose to do this. And there's a flurry of activity, and there's the opportunity to do so much all the time. But you can also just chill at your house, and it's fine. And what I'm realizing is really cool is that so many people come to Las Vegas, so I'll probably get to see my friends more often.

Dave Nourse

Definitely a definite plus for living here. You're right. What was it about this position at the Department of Communication Studies that attracted you to UNLV.

Laura Martinez

So I loved I thought that it was just the perfect location for me to be able to research what I wanted to research there. So as a subset of organizational communication, I studied bodywork. And specifically in sports context, I thought, you know, Las Vegas, we have so many different teams, we have the circus community, there's like a beauty industry, there's a sex work industry. So there's so many opportunities for things to study here. So I really, and everyone has told me that it's kind of been the perfect position for me. And it's really exciting to grow this Orbcomm pathway that we have as well.

Kevin Stoker

Yeah, that's, that's an area we really want to grow. Because we think a lot of students will be interested in it. It's, it's a nice pathway into the industry and industry and jobs and everything else. So growing up in California, so did you do a lot of sports and things of that nature? What was it that kind of were there? You know, obviously, you just all of a sudden didn't show up at the gym and decide, hey, I want to do this. What was what you were, there was some foundation there, I'm sure.

Laura Martinez

So I grew up playing sports, I grew up playing basketball mostly. And I played basketball. In high school I played as a kid I played in in high school, and then like puberty kicked in, and there's actually getting out researching out. But there's research that suggests that most girls drop out of sports at around ages 15 like twice as fast as boys do, essentially. And it's because men tend to be more encouraged to continue in sports, whereas women tend to be given a choice like, well, you're either going to study or you're going to have to be a pro athlete, there's no in between. So I'm part of that statistic. Like I definitely dropped out of doing anything sports related around that age. And then after high school in college, I took on a full time job where I was sitting all day. And so I went from having a really active childhood to a very not active adulthood and probably became really self conscious about it. I think women in their bodies, especially when doing sports can feel self conscious as well. So I needed to change I just needed to do something active and I stumbled into Zumba first, but I'm a terrible dancer. I looked like an awkward grasshopper with like, having a stroke or something.

Kevin Stoker

Not only awkward grasshopper, but one

Laura Martinez

and then stuck because like I said it was I don't think I'm the best I know for sure I'm not the best aerialist but the community and just the sense of empowerment that you get from being able to do stuff and it's also really cool and people don't realize how strong I am. So people always ask me if I need help carrying something. I'm like, No, I got it. I'm cool. So it's cool.

Kevin Stoker

So tell me about organizational communication. Why organizational communication.

Laura Martinez

When I came to ASU when I went to ASU, I wanted to study with Dr. Sarah Tracy Who is just kind of this powerhouse of organizational communication as well as qualitative qualitative research. And I had come in with a background in intercultural and interpersonal calm. And I met with her the first semester. And I asked her to be my advisor, and she said, asked me again at the end of the semester. And also, I want to mentor someone who's going to contribute to like, qualitative research, but I really want to mentor someone who wants to contribute to org comm. And I thought, Okay, well, then I need to, like get my org comm game on. And eventually, as I, we didn't really have an Orbcomm pathway in my undergrad institution. So I hadn't really taken any or comm classes. And then as I got involved in the different conference divisions for our comm, and worked with Sarah, I was like, this is a really great area of our discipline, where you can really study any direction that you want to go, like you can make. You can study interpersonal contacts, you can study intercultural. And at the time, because I was working on the circus project, I was really getting into sports calm, as well as intercultural because of the whole community aspect. And it just just kind of came together as a really great option for me to focus on during my doctoral program. And now that I've become more involved, I was like, I don't think I would fit anywhere else quite as well as Orbcomm. did. That's cool.

Dave Nourse

Tell us a little bit about your teaching. What do you like to teach? I have a feeling it's going to be Orbcomm related, but maybe it'll surprise us. But tell us a little bit about what you'd like to teach. And maybe, you know, is there a particular teaching style that you've developed, or that you're working on developing.

Laura Martinez

So I do enjoy teaching Arkham very much. And it's really exciting to be able to talk about the stuff that I've researched, of course, but honestly, and I'll tell everyone, this, one of my favorite classes to teach has always been public speaking. And I say that because it's the class where I see so much growth in students, and they kind of have this like, moment of, oh, I can do this. And you can see so much growth between someone who comes in very shy, or even the people who come in very confident just the way that they're able to kind of like develop more of that critical thinking mindset. And getting in front of a class and having everyone stare at us can be very intimidating. And it's a very vulnerable thing. So what I've enjoyed most about it is and this is something I carry to all my classes, is just really fostering a safe environment where people can feel not judge like there. I always want my classes to be kind of this like breath of fresh air where it's like, I can walk in here, I can share my opinions, I know I'm not going to be attacked. And I kind of have that conversation with all my classes the first day, like I really care about fostering a safe environment. To I think there was a second part to that question,

Dave Nourse

I think you've answered it somewhat you have you really foster the safe environment where where people can, you know, feel comfortable in the classroom, whether it's with ideas, or maybe just expressing themselves, but anything else that you're you think about your particular teaching style,

Laura Martinez

I think I really focus on application. So I really care about bringing down these, you know, abstract theoretical concepts and bringing them down so that they are tangible and understandable and bringing them down to a real human level. I think for so many of us. You know, if I think back as a student, I can think of classes that I took that I thought I don't, why do I need to take this, I don't want to waste my time doing this. So even with those that are required for Ges, I always tell students like you, this is your time, this is your life that you this is your money that you're putting into this, I want you to walk out of here with more than cool, I can check a box like I really want you to deconstruct and analyze and apply to your day to day hopefully. And to me, that's what's so beautiful about calm and that's what drew me to calm in the first place that I was learning things that I thought, oh man, like everyone should take a GM class because now I can see things that I'm doing in conversation that are not okay or I can improve, you know, my quality of life in this aspect or I can improve my relationships in this aspect. So and then or can we do so much of really trying to bring down the theory to application so that we can also start to shift those structures and promote you know, well being and better discourses.

Kevin Stoker

Tell me a little more about your family, your background and everything you grew up in California. Tell us a little bit about you know, did you have siblings what was like?

Laura Martinez

So I'm an only child. I was actually born in without a Haida Jalisco. And then I my my mom got married and we moved out here so I grew up with just my parents. I always tell people that even as a child, I was very like mature for my age because I just hang out with adults all the time. We didn't do like playdates or anything like that. It's just me hanging out with my mom a lot of the time. So no siblings. But I have a lot of cousins, I have, like 18 cousins, my grandparents had eight kids. And most of them and their, you know, their kids are in Mexico still, but I got to go every now and then and visit. So you're bilingual than I am. Yes, I'm fluent in Spanish.

Kevin Stoker

That's awesome. So it's kind of interesting that you've chosen circus to be kind of your area, because it almost seems like it's, it's it's a group and a social setting. But it's also very individual too, isn't it? It is

Laura Martinez

it is. I think here in Las Vegas, I would say at least, I have not stumbled upon the community as much. I think because you have so many dedicated professionals, you go into the gym, and everyone's kind of in their zone. And there's the Las Vegas circus Center, which a lot of the performers on the strip go train there. So I'm still kind of looking for that community. I think I can find it more easily and more of the recreational areas because people are there to socialize. But you're right. And it's it is very individual. So it requires a ton of discipline.

Kevin Stoker

So if we're going to ask you, you know, say, Okay, as you know, there's obviously the things I probably asked you this when you're interviewing with us, the things that are on your CV and things about you that people would notice, right from the get go. But what would be a surprise, what would be something unique about Laura, that, that you wouldn't know? Unless you really knew you? Well?

Laura Martinez

Well, so one of the things that surprised people is that I have tattoos, and that's usually because they're on the inside of my forearms. So it's it's not a thing that is like super obvious, which I kind of like as well. But I don't think you have to know me super well, to know that. I would say that. I am incredibly dorky. Like I do believe I am 80 years old inside. I just I prefer quiet night in. I love old movies like I have seen old movies more than new movies. I love the godfather. I love the whole like mob family idea. I wish I could be. Yeah, I don't know. I think I'm super dorky and a little bit awkward. I think I put out in front of very calm and collected but I'm kind of a nerd.

Kevin Stoker

So what what's your favorite old movie?

Laura Martinez

Oh, I would say the godfather. Godfather. I would say the

Kevin Stoker

godfather for sure would be number two.

Laura Martinez

There is a there's a French movie called the umbrellas of Cherbourg. And it's a I watched it in high school. And I was like the only this is this is why I'm the way I am. I was the only person in a classroom full of high school students who was actually excited for this movie. I was like, This is so cool. We get to learn about French cinema. And it's just like this love story. Whatever the teacher at the time, he pitched it as Greece like the French version of Greece. And it wasn't. It was it was a lot more tragic. It's not funny. There's no sing another is actually thing. But it's with them Catherine det done. So who's the famous French actress? Yeah, that one comes to mind, I think, I think because it had a really big impact in my life. I like old movies that no, that's great. That's great. That is great. I'm sure I have more to the pressure.

Dave Nourse

So tell us what you're working on now. Like, what are some of the projects you're working on? Either today, or you're planning on working on over the next year? So

Laura Martinez

yes, yes. So right now I'm currently mining my dissertation for publication. So it ended up being around 180 pages and journal articles. So what like 2530. So I have my work cut out for me for the next little bit. I think for sure, we can get two papers, one of them is already under review. And and then I'll start working on another one. But I still have about 30% of my data set from my desk that I haven't touched because there was not space for it if I wanted to graduate in time. And that part really focused on how circus can heal trauma and build resilience. And there's a lot of focus right now in our discipline on kind of the social construction of resilience. And that's something that I'm really interested in just kind of how we can speak resilience into existence, essentially. And I think circus especially is a really great way to do that. And I've seen that be fostered. And I think it's really cool to have it interconnected with like physical pain, and like physicality and just pushing your body to the limits, which is very similar to other sports context, but with separate circus is that you have that performance aesthetic. So you have to do really hard stuff, but you have to look like it's not hard at all. Anyway, so that's kind of forthcoming. So I still have that's the part that's not written out yet. And then beyond that, I still want to keep working with the circus community I know there's, there's something called social circus where they teach circus to kind of like at risk youth. And that's something that I've been wanting to get involved in more, and that'll be the next project.

Dave Nourse

That sounds fantastic.

Kevin Stoker

Yeah, that's great. You know, I guess if you're gonna say something, what every students should know about you before they take your class, what would it be?

Laura Martinez

I would say, I mean, it sounds cheesy, but come prepared to work hard and to learn a lot, but also to walk away with some application of what you're learning that you could definitely use in your day to day and, you know, kind of think about, you know, long after the class is over, at least that's my hope.

Dave Nourse

Well, I think we know who to call if we need something moved.

Kevin Stoker

If you have to grow a pie together.

Dave Nourse

That's exactly right. So if we need to if we need to move something, and there's some balancing that's involved, we will not call on the grasshopper who's having a stroke, but instead we will call on you Laura.

Kevin Stoker

That concludes our COMversation from communication studies today.

Dave Nourse

Laura, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.