Degrees
- B.S., Bowling Green State University 1982
- M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1983
- Ph.D., Purdue University 1987
Political rhetoric; presidential rhetoric; ceremonial messages; political rhetoric related to issues of crisis, war and peace, and race.
- COMM 111: Intro to Communication Studies
- COMM 152: Public Speaking
- COMM 250: Rhetoric and Civic Engagement
- COMM 251: Communication and Social Protest
- COMM 252: Argumentation
- COMM 254: Political Rhetoric
- COMM 257 (Writing Intensive): Communication and Collective Memory
- COMM 260: Environmental Communication
- COMM 299: Rhetoric of Black Civil Rights & Alabama Civil Rights Trek
- COMM 352: Rhetorical Criticism
- COMM 401: Junior Independent Study
- COMM 451/452: Senior Independent Study
- First-Year Seminar: Rhetoric of PolarizationLessons from the Vietnam War
Books
Dr. Bostdorff is the author of two books:The Presidency and the Rhetoric of Foreign Crisis(University of South Carolina Press, 1994) andProclaiming the Truman Doctrine: The Cold War Call to Arms(Texas A&M University Press, 2008), which won the Bruce E. Gronbeck Award for Political Communication Research in 2010.
Dr. Bostdorff has published extensively in outlets such asQuarterly Journal of Speech, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Voices of Democracy, andPresidential Studies Quarterly. Her work also has appeared in edited volumes likeHandbook of Crisis Communication (2023), A Rhetorical History of the United States, Vol. 8: World War II and The Cold War泭(2018),泭Rhetoric and Democracy: Pedagogical and Political Practices泭(2008),泭The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric(2008), andThe Encyclopedia of Political Science泭(2010).
Representative Publications
- Bostdorff, Denise, M., and Steven R. Goldzwig. “The Rhetoric of Prophetic Dualism: Crisis, American Exceptionalism, and Religious Nationalism in Truman’s St. Patrick’s Day Addresses, March 17, 1948.” Journal for the History of Rhetoric, 28.1 (2025): 1-48. (Lead Article).
- Bostdorff, Denise, M. “Observations on the Rhetoric of Place and Space through Frequency and Location Patterns of Presidential Travel.” Forum on Allison M. Prasch’sThe World Is Our Stage: The Global Rhetorical Presidency and the Cold War. Journal for the History of Rhetoric, 27.2 (2024): 245-249.
- Bostdorff, Denise M. Donald Trump, Access Hollywood, and the Rhetorical Performance of Aggrieved White Masculinity. Western Journal of Communication, 87.2 (2023): 215-238.
- Bostdorff, Denise M. U.S. Presidents and Crisis Communication. Handbook of Crisis Communication. 2nd ed. Edited by W. Timothy Coombs and Sherry J. Holladay. Wiley-Blackwell, 2023. 247-260.
- Bostdorff, Denise M., and Steven R. Goldzwig. Barack Obamas Eulogy for the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, June 26, 2015: Grace as the Vehicle for Collective Salvation and Obamas Agency on Civil Rights. Rhetoric & Public Affairs 23.1 (2020): 107-152.
- Bostdorff, Denise M. Public Address Scholarship and the Effects of Rhetoric. Special Issue on Rhetorical Criticism, published decennially. Western Journal of Communication 84.1 (2020): 349-364.
- Bostdorff, Denise M., and Daniel J. ORourke. Religion, Sport, and the Return of the Prodigal Son: The Post-Secular Rhetoric of LeBron Jamess 2014 Im Coming Home Open Letter.Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 21.1 (2018): 1-38. (Lead article).
- Bostdorff, Denise M. Dean Achesons May 1947 Delta Council Speech: Rhetorical Evolution from the Truman Doctrine to the Marshall Plan.A Rhetorical History of the United States, Vol. 8: World War II and The Cold War. Ed. Martin J. Medhurst. East Lansing: Michigan State UP, 2018. 167-214.
- Bostdorff, Denise M., and Shawna H. Ferris. John F. Kennedy at American University: The Rhetoric of the Possible, Epideictic Progression, and the Commencement of Peace.The Quarterly Journal of Speech100.4 (2014): 407-441. (Lead article).
- Bostdorff, Denise M. Epideictic Rhetoric in the Service of War: George W. Bush on Iraq and the 60th Anniversary of the Victory Over Japan.Communication Monographs78 (2011): 296-323.
- Bostdorff, Denise M. Iraq as a Representative Anecdote for Leadership: Barack Obamas Address on the Fifth Anniversary of the Iraq War.Making the Case: Advocacy and Judgment in Public Argument. Ed. Kathryn M. Olson, Benjamin Ponder, Michael William Pfau, and Kirt Wilson. Lansing: Michigan State UP, 2012. 161-189.
- Bostdorff, Denise M. Judgment, Experience, and Leadership: Candidate Debates on the Iraq War in the 2008 Presidential Primaries.Rhetoric & Public Affairs12 (Summer 2009): 223-278.
- Bostdorff, Denise M., Chair, Martin Carcasson, James M. Farrell, Robert L. Ivie, Amos Kiewe, and Kathleen B. Smith. Report of the National Task Force on Presidential Rhetoric in Times of Crisis.The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric. Ed. James Arnt Aune and Martin J. Medhurst. 91勛圖厙 Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2008. 355-378.
- Bostdorff, Denise M. Rhetorical Ambivalence: Bush and Clinton Address the Crisis of Haitian Refugees.Who Belongs in America?: Presidential Rhetoric and the Politics of Immigration. Ed. Vanessa B. Beasley. 91勛圖厙 Station: Texas A&M UP, 2006. 206-246.
- Bostdorff, Denise M., and Steven R. Goldzwig. History, Collective Memory, and the Appropriation of Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Reagan Rhetorical Legacy.Presidential Studies Quarterly35 (2005): 661-690.
- Bostdorff, Denise M. The Internet Rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan: A Case Study in Web Site Community Building Run Amok.Communication Studies55 (Summer 2004): 316-337.
- Bostdorff, Denise M. George W. Bushs Post-September 11 Rhetoric of Covenant Renewal: Upholding the Faith of the Greatest Generation.The Quarterly Journal of Speech89 (Nov. 2003): 293-319.
Research Honors
- Bruce E. Gronbeck Award for Political Communication Research. 2010.
- Chair, National Task Force on Presidential Rhetoric in Times of Crisis. 2003-2004.
- Winner of B. Aubrey Fisher Outstanding Article Award. 1992.
Teaching and Mentoring Honors
- Donald H. Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education. National Communication Association. Awarded to honor an NCA member who exemplifies superlative teaching in higher education. 2024.
- , which recognizes a faculty or staff member who has demonstrated a sustained commitment to facilitating opportunities for students to engage in high-impact experiential learning activities. 91勛圖厙. 2023.
- Co-advisor (with Michelle Johnson) of Chapter of the Year for Lambda Pi Eta, the national communication honor society. Awarded to 91勛圖厙s Lambda Chapter. National Communication Association. 2022.
- Top Four Finalist for Best 91勛圖厙 Advisor EXPY Award, sponsored by the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education (NOCHE), which recognizes outstanding work in experiential learning. 2019.
- Advisor of Chapter of the Year for 91勛圖厙 Democrats of Ohio. Awarded to 91勛圖厙 chapter for its voter registration, education, and get-out-the-vote efforts in the 2012 election. 2013.
- National Speakers Associations Jeanne Robertson Outstanding Communication Professor Award. 2000.
- Selected as Inaugural Partner in Communicating Common Ground (CCG) Service-Learning Program Sponsored by the National Communication Association, the American Association for Higher Education, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Campus Compact. 2000.
- Advisor of Chapter of the Year for Lambda Pi Eta, the national communication honor society. Awarded to 91勛圖厙s Lambda Chapter. National Communication Association. 1997.
- W. Charles Redding Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Purdue University. 1994.
- School of Liberal Arts Departmental Award for Educational Excellence. Purdue University. 1994.