Culture, gender and health inequalities; critical health communication; global health communication; health equity; South and South East Asia
Iccha Basnyat is an Associate Professor in the Global Affairs Program and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Communication. Dr. Basnyat received her B.A. in Communication from the University of Utah, MPH from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and Ph.D. in Communication from Purdue University. Before joining Mason, Dr. Basnyat taught in the Department of Communication & New Media at the National University of Singapore for a decade and in the School of Communication at James Madison University.
Dr. Basnyat's primary area of research examines the intersections of gender, culture, and health inequalities in transnational contexts through an interdisciplinary approach. Specifically, she explores structural limitations/access, structural violence, stigma, social support, power, gender roles, race/class injustices, and inequalities surrounding marginalized and vulnerable women's health and health risks. As secondary research areas, she examines (i) health information seeking, exchange, and dissemination and (ii) the impact of pandemic on health behaviors, information seeking, and health messaging.
Dr. Basnyat is an associate editor for the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication and Frontiers in Communication: Health Communication section. She recently co-edited the 5-volume Wiley International Encyclopedia of Health Communication. She serves on the editorial boards of Communication Monographs, Health Communication, and Journal of Applied Communication Research. She served as the first Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Chair in the Health Communication Division of the National Communication Association (NCA). She currently serves a three-year term on the Research Council for NCA and the Applied/Public Policy Research Awards Committee for the International Communication Association (ICA). Recently, she was invited as an external expert for the World Health Organization's (WHO) guidance development on Learning and Capacity Building in Health Emergencies.
Edited Book
Ho, E. Y., Bylund, C. L., van Weert, J., Basnyat, I., Bol, N., & Dean M. (Five Volume Eds.). (2023). The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication. Wiley-Blackwell.
Selected Journal Publications
Zhao, X., & Basnyat, I. (2022). Gendered social practices in reproductive health: A qualitative study exploring lived experiences of unwed single mothers in China. Sociology of Health & Illness, 43, 1237-1253. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.13292
Basnyat, I., & Chang, L. (2021) Barriers of seeking and receiving family support for caregivers of people with Dementia in Singapore. Dementia. 20, 2278-2293. DOI: 10.1177/1471301221990567
Zhao, X., & Basnyat, I. (2021) Lived Experiences of Unwed Single Mothers: Exploring the Relationship between Structural Violence and Agency in the Context of Chinese Reproductive Health Discourse. Health Communication. 36, 293-302. DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2019.1683953
Basnyat, I. (2020) Exploring Interlinkages of Gender, Power & Health in the Entertainment Establishment Based Bars and Restaurant Settings in Kathmandu Nepal. Qualitative Health Research, 30, 1409–1418, DOI: 10.1177/1049732320913854.
Basnyat, I. (2020). Stigma, Agency & Motherhood: Exploring the Performativity of Dual Mother-Female Sex Workers Identities in Kathmandu, Nepal. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 13, 98-113. DOI: 10.1080/17513057.2020.1735486.
Basnyat, I. (2017). Theorizing the Relationship between Gender and Health through a Case Study of Nepalese Street-Based Female Sex Workers. Communication Theory, 27, 388-406. DOI:10.1111/comt.12114.
Basnyat, I. & Chang, L. (2017). Examining Live-in Foreign Domestic Helpers as Coping Resource for Family Caregivers of People with Dementia in Singapore. Health Communication, 32, 1171-1179, DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2016.1220346.
Chang, L., & Basnyat, I. (2017). Exploring Family Support for older Chinese Singaporean women in a Confucian society. Health Communication. 32, 603-611. DOI. 10.1080/10410236.2016.1146568.
Basnyat, I. (2017). Structural Violence in HealthCare: Lived Experience of Street-based Female Commercial Sex Workers in Kathmandu. Qualitative Health Research. 27, 191-203. DOI. 10.1177/1049732315601665.
Basnyat, I. (2014). Lived Experiences of Street-based Female Sex Workers in Kathmandu: Implications for Health Intervention Strategies. Culture, Health & Sexuality. 16:9, 1040-1051. DOI: 10.1080/13691058.2014.922620.
GLOA 388: Global Health and Development
GLOA 450/COMM 304: Foundations of Health Communication
GLOA 599/COMM 620: Health Communication
GLOA 600: Global Competencies
Fall Topic: Globalization
Spring Topic: Global Health & Globalization
GLOA 615/COMM 690/COMM 890: Critical Perspectives on Health Communication
GLOA 720: Capstone Research Seminar