• I am a rhetorical theorist and critic with interests in Christianity, classical rhetorical theory, gender and sexuality, digital media, as well as scholarship on teaching and learning.

    I earned my Ph.D. and M.A. in Communication Arts and Sciences from the Pennsylvania State University in 2017 and 2013, respectively. My Ph.D. included an emphasis in Rhetorical Studies and a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. My B.A. is in Communication (emphasis in Rhetoric and Leadership, with a minor in English) and was earned at Pepperdine University in 2011.

    My research has been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric, Communication Teacher, Critical Studies in Media Communication, and Rhetoric Review. Likewise, my research has been included in multiple edited collections, including Supernatural Youth in Media, The Routledge Handbook of Queer Rhetoric, A New Handbook of Rhetoric: Inverting the Classical Vocabulary, and Rhetoric of the Protestant Sermon in America: The Pulpit at the Turn of the Millennium.

  • One of my primary research areas is in Christian rhetoric. My current research in this area is attuned to rhetorical departures from the faith, particularly excommunication and deconversion.

    I am currently working on an article-length exploration of Jon Steingard’s deconversion from Christianity. Steingard was the lead singer of the prolific contemporary Christian music band, Hawk Nelson, until his departure from the faith. Published on Instagram in 2020, Steingard’s declaration: “I am finding that I no longer believe in God,” caused a firestorm of discussion and debate in both Christian- and non-Christian circles alike. My analysis examines Steingard’s deconversion through attention to his rhetorics of apistia (unbelief) and metanoia (regret, transformation of one’s heart and mind).

    This essay is planned as a first step into a larger book-length project on rhetorical departures from Christianity, tentatively titled Departure Rhetorics: Deconversion, Excommunication, and Escape from Christianity.

    My previous research has often explored the intersections of rhetoric and Christianity, including scholarship on ancient Christian figures such as Mary Magdalene, on the discovery of ancient Gnostic texts, on queer Christian rhetorics of “coming out,” and on the neoliberal digital rhetorics of Christian mission.

  • I am also interested in popular media and how these media rhetorically shape our cultural understandings of faith, gender, and sexuality.

    My research has regularly explored the rhetorical power of popular media. I have published scholarship attuned to media such as television, memes, social media and the Internet, art, music, and music videos.

    Much of my current research is focused on music, including ongoing projects on both country music and Christian music. I am also pursuing new research on both video games and artificial intelligence platforms, with particular attention to each medium’s utility in the undergraduate Communication classroom.

  • My research embraces the enduring utility of classical rhetorical concepts and argumentation frameworks as methodological tools for analysis of popular media.

    Much of my research utilizes classical theories of rhetoric and argumentation. I am especially interested in enthymemes, including their rhetorical functions in music and in artificial intelligence.

    In addition to my work with classical argumentation, my research has explored classical rhetorical concepts such as kairos (appropriateness, opportunity) and metanoia (regret, transformation of one’s heart and mind), as found in my studies of The Magicians and Brandan Robertson, as well as other, less frequently studied classical terms, including anthos (bloom, flower), agnostos (unknown, unknowable), and apistia (unbelief).

  • I am also interested in scholarship on teaching and learning (SoTL), including the role that social media, AI, and video games can play in undergraduate Communication classrooms.

    I am committed, in addition to my research outlined previously, to scholarship on teaching and learning. My previous SoTL research has focused on developing effective assignments and pedagogies for courses in Public Speaking, including articles on ekphrasis and civic communication and on Pinterest’s utility for teaching invention (co-authored with Michele Kennerly).

    I am currently working on two SoTL projects. The first, which has emerged out of my development of a new Communication and Media Studies and general education course on video games, explores the ways that the playing of video games can assist undergraduate students in developing problem-solving skills, particularly those related to unpacking complex issues of community concern. The second, which I plan to pilot as part of my fall courses in Modern Communication and Introduction to Leadership, explores the ways that enthymemes and classical argumentation theory can be introduced to undergraduate students through ChatGPT.