department of english
Associate Professor
of Communication
sarah leblanc
Meet Sarah LeBlanc
Associate Professor of Communication
Sarah LeBlanc is a communication scholar focusing on women’s sexual and reproductive health education and communication. She obtained her doctorate in communication in 2012 and a post-master's certificate in sexual and reproductive health from Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health. Additionally, she is affiliated faculty with the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program.
Dr. LeBlanc’s research began focusing on the dark side of family communication, examining the death of an uncle and detailing her grief after her father and mother died. She then moved into maternal health communication. Her research examined the media’s portrayal of post-partum depression, new moms' perception of stigma communication, and how new moms negotiate their identity during the postpartum period. She and her co-authors published a postpartum piece in the Southern Communication Journal and the Ohio Communication Journal. Along with colleagues from Stephen F. Austin, she published many pieces about academic and mom identity during COVID-19.
Today, Dr. LeBlanc’s efforts focus on menstrual communication. Specifically, she examines the various stages of silence surrounding menstruation, the extent of period poverty, and menstruation education. She published a piece on school nurses and menstruation in Women’s Health. She has two pieces in press, one with the Qualitative Journal in Medicine and Healthcare and The Handbook of Health Communication and Popular Culture. Dr. LeBlanc has various menstruation pieces in her pipeline, including pieces about her engagement with the community about menstrual health. She has received three grants to assist with her engagement and menstrual research. Finally, she is collaborating with others on research centering on women academics with ADHD.
Dr. LeBlanc is the recipient of numerous teaching and research of awards, including the Featured Faculty Award from the Office of Academic Affairs at Purdue University Fort Wayne (2025), the Michael T. Marsden Paper Award for Taking Back the P-Word: Princess Leia Feminism, An Autoethnography for best article in The Popular Culture Studies Journal (2018), the Students’ Choice for Teaching Excellence Award at Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne (2018), and the John T. Warren Mentor Award from the Central States Communication Association (2025).
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Communication, the University of Missouri
M.A., Speech Communication, the University of North Carolina Greensboro
B.A., Speech Communication and Rhetoric, George Mason University, VA
COURSES TAUGHT AT PURDUE FORT WAYNE
COM 12000: Introduction to Communication Technology and Communication Fields
COM 30800: Applied Communication
COM 31300: Introduction to Health Communication
COM 51200: Interpersonal Theories
COM 57600: Health Communication
IDIS 10605: Introduction to the Liberal Arts