Director of Debate & Speech & Professor of Rhetoric

Chair of Communication Studies (2010-2013), 

Director of Debate & Speech, Associate professor, Southern Methodist University, 

PhD-Kansas (1994) 

Expertise: Public speaking and presentation, communication, argumentation, debate, public policy and rhetoric. 

Purpose: Researching and teaching to help individuals find their voice in the world. 

Major Instructional Clients: 

United States Holocaust Museum Washington DC 2006 -2007  I taught, coached, and evaluated holocaust survivors for the purpose of improving their ability to present their personal stories in public. 

Rwandan Government— Spring 2017 With two academic colleagues on site at ALARM [African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries] I trained more than 50 Rwandan security force members on techniques for resolving conflicts within communities using non violent argument techniques pioneered by Civil Rights advocate James Farmer Jr. 2019 Collaboration with US State Department/ US Embassy and iDebate Rwanda

Bush Institute in the George W. Bush Presidential Center 2012-present I worked with the Human Freedom component to train international human rights advocates for Burma and North Korea. 

Dallas Urban Debate Alliance 2008-present I host and assist with an extensive public communication program directed at DISD middle school and high school students. Students learn to argue, research, and think critically about current issues.  Hosted the 2023 National Urban Debate Championship at SMU.

Major Academic Books: 

The Presidential Rhetoric of Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, and Calvin Coolidge: The Centennial of the Modern American Presidency. Lexington Studies in Political Communication (2023).

Political Campaign Communication 10th edition with Robert Denton, Bob Friedenberg, Judith Trent. Lexington Studies in Political Communication (2023).

Debate as Global Pedagogy:  Rwanda Rising.  Lexington Studies in Political Communication (2019).

James Farmer Jr.: the Great Debater. Lexington Studies in Political Communication: Lexington Books. (2017). 

with Robert E. Denton. Social Fragmentation and the Decline of American Democracy: The End of the Social Contract. Macmillan/ Palgrave. (2017). 

The Rhetoric of Genocide: Death as a Text. Rowman & Littlefield. (2014). Winner of the top book in Forensics (Rohrer) award for 2015. 

Popular Publications: 

Major contributor at American Thinker [Americanthinker.com]. I have published more than 50 editorials in this leading political commentary site. 

"The Southern Methodist Influence on King's I Have a Dream Speech," https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/08/28/the-southern-methodist-influence-on-mlks-i-have-a-dream-speech/

"King's 1966 Speech at SMU," https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/02/21/commemorating-mlks-1966-speech-at-smu/

“How Dallas can model a new approach to race relations,” The Dallas Morning News— Viewpoint, July 14, 2017, https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/07/13/dallascan-model-new-approach-race-relations.

“Changing American Political Debates,” NPR affiliate KERA in Dallas, news commentary, KERA.org, October 30, 2008.

Major Student Speech & Debate Coaching Work: 

National Champions in novice policy debate, international public debate, persuasive speaking, impromptu speaking and rhetorical criticism: 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2013, and 2016.