Academic Research

RESEARCH INTERESTS

I am an expert in political rhetoric and popular discourse, which means I study how people argue about politics in public. My current research focuses on authoritarianism, demagoguery, and democracy–especially about Nazis and fascists. I am also an SJSU faculty media expert in political speech, politics, and rhetoric; a founding member of the Write to Vote Project; and a 2020-2021 Op-Ed Project Public Voices Fellow.

I have published six books, including Faking the News: What Rhetoric Can Teach Us About Donald J. Trump (2018) and Rhetoric and Guns (2022). I have also published more than 100 articles, essays, and reviews for academic and non-academic audiences on topics ranging from demagoguery, fascist rhetoric, and contemporary political discourse to American education, bureaucracy, and faculty development. In 2019, I co-edited a special issue of Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Rhetoric’s Demagogue | Demagoguery’s Rhetoric, which considers the effects of demagogic rhetoric on contemporary world politics. I also regularly give talks and run workshops about rhetoric and writing for academic and non-academic audiences.

Click here for my full curriculum vitae

“Donald Trump’s (Rhetorical) Gender Gap.” Women’s Research and Resource Center, California State University, Northridge. (Oct. 2018)

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

“Root Causes and Structural Problems; or, Why ‘Current Trends’ in English PhDs Are More Than Seventy Years Old”
ADE Bulletin
2024

“Why Are There So Many English PhDs, Anyway?“
College English
2023

“Sleuthing Towards Bethlehem: Hitler’s Theory of Reading & Learning, & the Enduring Appeals of Confirmation Bias.”
The Charge for Change
Parlor Press
2023

“Teaching Literature as Equipment for Living Democratically“
Routledge Companion to Literature & Social Justice
Routledge
2023

RECENT PRESENTATIONS

“The Führer’s Rhetorical Finishing School.” International Society for the History of Rhetoric. University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Jul. 2025

“Weimar’s Rhetorical Revival and Its Lessons for the Digital Age.” Rhetoric in Society #9 Conference, Rhetoric Society of Europe. Zagreb, Croatia. Jun. 2025

“Maybe ChatGPT Can Finally Drag Writing Instruction Kicking and Screaming into the 1970s.” Conference on College Composition & Communication. Baltimore, MD. Apr. 2025

“Hiding in Plain Sight: The Rhetorical Force of Being Unbelievable.” Rhetoric Society of America. Denver, CO. May 2024