WELCOME!
I’m Dr. Ryan Skinnell, Professor of Rhetoric & Writing, Director of First-Year Writing, and Chair of the Department of English & Comparative Literature at San José State University.
I am an expert in political rhetoric and popular discourse, which means I study how people argue about politics in public. I’ve published seven books and more than 100 essays, articles, and reviews in a variety of outlets, including The Washington Post, Newsweek, and Common Dreams.
BOOKS / SPECIAL ISSUES
CURRENT PROJECTS
Hitler’s Rhetorical Playbook: Persuasive Strategies for Tyranny and Genocide examines how Hitler used rhetoric to persuade millions of people to support, or at least acquiesce to, Nazism. Forthcoming from Univ. of Tennessee Press.
Dr. Skinnell’s Extravaganza of Rhetoric Stickles is a catalogue of my graphic design work, mostly related to rhetoric, writing, and pedagogy.
Rhetorical Monsters is a podcast series (in development) that discusses people in history who have used good rhetoric to terrible, damaging, sometimes deadly ends.
PUBLIC SPEAKING
“Rhetoric, Demagoguery, and Democracy,” Rotary Club of San Jose, San Jose, CA. (Apr. 2022)
Dr. Ryan Skinnell 