To view a PDF of my CV, Click Here.
Education
Ph.D, Penn State University
Communication Arts and Sciences, Spring 2018
Dissertation: Rhetoric and the Making of Algorithmic Worlds
Advisor: Rosa Eberly
Specializations: Digital Media, Rhetorical Criticism, Publics and Political Discourse, History of Technology
M.A. Penn State University
Communication Arts and Sciences, Spring 2014
M.A. Thesis: Convergence Rhetorics: Negotiating Digital and Offline Identities
Advisor: Rosa Eberly
B.A. Ripon College, Spring 2012
Communication and Politics & Government; Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Employment
Assistant Professor, University of the Pacific
Department of Communication, 2024-present
Assistant Professor and Director of Debate, University of Denver
Department of Communication Studies, 2022–2024
PIT-UN Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley
Algorithmic Fairness and Opacity Group, School of Information, 2021-2022
Visiting Assistant Professor (Lecturer), University of the Pacific
Department of Communication, 2019-2021
Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, Penn State University
Department of Communication Arts & Sciences, 2018-2019
Publications
Book Manuscript
Algorithmic Worldmaking
University of Alabama Press, February 2025.
Edited Works
Speech and Debate as Civic Education
Eds J. Michael Hogan, Jessica A. Kurr, Michael J. Bergmaier, and Jeremy D. Johnson. University Park: Penn State University Press, 2017.
“Speech and Debate as Civic Education.”
Eds. J. Michael Hogan, Jessica A. Kurr, Jeremy D. Johnson, and Michael J. Bergmaier. Communication Education 65, no. 4 (2016).
Book Chapters
“On Shifting the Stasis of Online Argument.”
Co-authored with Michael Steudeman. Teaching Demagoguery and Democracy, ed. Michael J. Steudeman, Intermezzo Online Press, 2021.
“Algorithm.”
In Eds. Michele Kennerly, Samuel Fredrick, and Jonathan Abel, Information: Keywords. New York: Columbia University Press, 2021.
“Timescape 9/11: Networked Memories.”
In Ed. Carol Winkler, Networking Argument. New York: Routledge, 2019.
“Ethics, Agency, and Power: Toward an Algorithmic Rhetoric.”
In Eds. Amber Davisson and Aaron Hess, Theorizing Digital Rhetoric. London: Routledge, 2017.
“Isocratean Tropos and Mediated Multiplicity.”
Co-authored with Rosa Eberly. In Eds. Damien Pfister and Michele Kennerly, Ancient Rhetorics and Digital Networks. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2018.
Book Reviews
Networked Media, Networked Rhetorics: Attention and Deliberation in the Early Blogosphere, by Damien Pfister. Quarterly Journal of Speech 102, no. 3 (2016): 328-332.
Rhet-Ops: Rhetoric and Information Warfare, edited by Jim Ridolfo and William Hart-Davidson. Rhetoric Society Quarterly 50 (2020).
Other Press
“The Geopolitical Rhetorics of Networked Mapping.”
Digital Doxa Blog, March 2020
Sweetland Digital Rhetoric Collaborative blog, April 2018.
Service
Disciplinary Service
Editorial Board, Studies in Debate and Oratory.
Reviewer, International Journal of Communication.
Reviewer, Journal of Written Communication.
Reviewer, Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric.
Reviewer, National Communication Association
Critical and Cultural Studies Division; Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division; Public Address Division.
Departmental & University Service
Graduate Teaching Mentor
Department of Communication, University of the Pacific, 2019-2020 & 2024-Present. Created a department-wide TA training site and mentored graduate TAs.
Director, DU Debate Team
September 2022-June 2024. Instructed and coached students in British Parliamentary Debate. Planned travel to tournaments, international debates, and tournament hosting. Engaged in recruitment and development of team.
Doctoral Advisor
March 2023-Present. Advised dissertation for Katelyn Johnson, Department of Communication Studies. Anticipated defense 2025.
Colloquium Committee Chair
University of Denver, October 2022-June 2024. Re-started departmental colloquia, providing intellectual engagement for faculty members. Facilitated speakers, planned dates and times, and organized committee.
Faculty Senate Representative
University of Denver, September 2022–June 2024. Represented Communication Studies, provided input, and voted on agenda items. Served on Academic Planning sub-committee.
SPARK 2023 Planning Committee
University of Denver, December 2022–April 2024. Helped plan campuswide event concerning free expression. Served on sub-committee for classroom free expression.
Braver Angels Initiative
October 2022–June 2024, University of Denver. Served as faculty coordinator for nationwide program investigating the role of debate on college campuses and on student attitudes.
Faculty Online Teaching Consultant
University of the Pacific, Fall 2020. Participated in workshops and developmental activities and mentored other faculty in implementing sustainable and effective online teaching practices.
Master’s Thesis Advisor
Department of Communication, University of the Pacific. Andrew Morgan: “God of War: Masculinity and Fatherhood through Procedural Rhetoric,” Defended August 2020.
Selected Presentations
“Centering the Public.”
Part of panel, “After Technoliberalism,” National Communication Association Conference, National Harbor, MD, November 2023.
“‘Flash Doomsday’: Science Education, Communication, and Preservation in Digital Formats.”
Part of panel “Access Denied: Technical Infrastructure and the Negotiation of Rhetorical Gatekeeping,” National Communication Association Convention, Seattle, WA, Nov. 2021.
“Algorithmic Worldmaking.”
Invited presentation for Digital Rhetoric and Public Life course, Wabash College, March 2021.
“Navigation and Networked Infrastructures.”
Presentation on panel “After the Computational Turn: Survival through Critical Infrastructure Interventions,” National Communication Association Convention, Baltimore, MD, Nov. 2019.
“Google’s ‘Ground Truth’ and the Rhetoric of Anti-Conservative Bias.”
Invited presentation at Digital Rhetoric/Digital Media in the Post-Truth Age, University of Alabama, March 2019.
“Searching for Robert Fisher: Unmasking Misogyny on Reddit.”
Presented to the Rhetoric Society of America Conference, Minneapolis, MN, May 2018.
“Tay – Zo: Microsoft’s AI Chat Bots and Rhetorical Reflexivity.”
Presented to the Rhetoric Society of America Conference, Minneapolis, MN, May 2018.
“Algorithms, Rhetoric, and Political Controversy: Tracing the Effects of Automation on Public Discourse.”
Invited presentation at Ripon College, April 2018.
“Algorithmic Architects: Rhetoric’s Kosmos and Rick Santorum.”
Presentation for Penn State Center for Democratic Deliberation, April 2017.
“Kosmos in Cosmos: Communicating Scientific Order in Primetime Television.”
Presented at the Rhetoric Society of America Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, May 2016.
“The ‘Public Good’ and ‘Public Interests’ of Communication: Debating the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s Net Neutrality Policies.”
Presented at the Rhetoric Society of America Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, May 2016.
Honors & Awards
Carroll C. Arnold Award for Scholarly Excellence
Department of Communication Arts & Sciences, Penn State University, Spring 2018.
Michael Calvin McGee Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Award
Alta Argumentation Conference, Summer 2017.
Nancy and Joseph Birkle Student Engagement Award
Center for Democratic Deliberation, Penn State University, Spring 2016.
McNair Scholar
Program designed to promote doctorate studies for students from underrepresented groups.
Grants and Funding
Center for Humanities and Information Dissertation Fellowship.
Included full-year teaching release for dissertation work, 2017-2018.
Center for Democratic Deliberation Dissertation Fellowship.
Included Spring 2017 teaching release for dissertation work, 2016-2017.
University Graduate Fellowship, Penn State University.
Included full-year teaching release, 2012-2013.