Dr. Melanie Loehwing

Overview

Summary:

Dr. Melanie Loehwing is an associate professor and the coordinator of the Communication Studies Concentration in the Department of Communication, as well as a Dean’s Administrative Faculty Fellow for the College of Arts & Sciences and a Research Fellow at the Social Science Research Center. She received her PhD in Communication and Culture from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Education:

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Communication and Culture, Indiana University Bloomington, 2011
• Master of Arts (M.A.), Communication and Culture, Indiana University Bloomington, 2005
• Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Communication and Culture, Indiana University Bloomington, 2004

Research interests:

Dr. Loehwing’s research looks at the relationship between rhetorical practice and democratic culture, focusing specifically on forms of civic speech like advocacy, protest, and deliberation. She is particularly interested in civic speech relating to economic inequality and political polarization. She draws on rhetorical and democratic theory to analyze social and political advocacy movements, such as Food Not Bombs, the Homeless World Cup, the Homeless Person’s Memorial Day, Occupy Wall Street, and #RhodesMustFall. Her research has been published in a variety of journals and edited volumes, including the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Philosophy & Rhetoric, Enculturation, the Journal of Southern African Studies, and Communication and Media Ethics. Her book, Homeless Advocacy and the Rhetorical Construction of the Civic Home, was published in the Rhetoric and Democratic Deliberation series at Penn State University Press. Her book was awarded the 2019 National Communication Association’s Diamond Anniversary Book Award, which is given to the most outstanding scholarly book published in the preceding two years. She is also the recipient of the National Communication Association’s Stephen E. Lucas Debut Publication Award and the Midwest Political Science Association’s Review of Politics Award.