COURSES
CA 181 Honors Public Speaking
CA 260 Introduction to Human Communication
CA 263 Advanced Speech Composition
CA 270 Great Speakers and Speeches
CA 570 Classical Rhetorical Theory
CA 576 Principles of Rhetorical Criticism
CA 675 The Rhetoric of Women's Social and Political Discourse, 1635-1850

ACTIVITIES
My scholarship focuses on rhetoric, gender, and political culture. My first book, Signatures of Citizenship: Petitioning, Antislavery, and Women's Political Identity (University of North Carolina Press, 2003) explores how American women who petitioned against slavery not only contributed to the abolitionist movement, but also renegotiated their status as citizens. In my present book project, Encountering Esther: Appropriations of the Jewish Queen, I am collecting and analyzing examples of appropriations of the Old Testament heroine Esther in order to explain why this tale possesses such enduring appeal. I will approach the Book of Esther not as biblical literature, as it is usually read, but rather as an instance of rhetorical theory which, though conveyed in narrative form, recommends persuasive strategies and rhetorical ethics for peoples struggling to survive within structures of oppression.

DEGREES

• Ph.D., Communication Arts, Rhetoric, 1997 University of Wisconsin-Madison
  
• M.A., Communication Arts, Rhetoric, 1992 University of Wisconsin-Madison
  
• B.A., Double Major in Journalism and Communication Arts, Certificate in Women's Studies 1989 University of Wisconsin-Madison
  

MAJOR HONORS/AWARDS

• Visiting Professor and Research Fellow, Women’s Studies in Religion
  Program, Harvard University
• National Communication Association 2004 James A. Winans-Herbert A.
  Wichelns Memorial Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Rhetoric and Public Address for "Signatures of Citizenship"
• National Communication Association Public Address Division 2004 Marie
  Hochmuth Nichols Award for "Signatures of Citizenship"
• Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award, 2003
• Vilas Research Fellowship, 2003-2004
• Mark H. Ingraham Distinguished Faculty Award, College of Letters and Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, October 2002
• National Communication Association Golden Anniversary Monograph Award, 2001 (for "Unveiling Esther as a Pragmatic Radical Rhetoric")
• National Communication Association Karl R. Wallace Award, 2001 (outstanding young public address scholar)
• Lilly Teaching Fellowship, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1999
• Cheris Kramarae Dissertation Award, Organization for the Study of Language, Communication and Gender, 1998
• Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Faculty Development Grant, University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School, summer 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001
• American Association of University Women American Fellowship for Dissertation Completion, 1995-1996
  

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Signatures of Citizenship: Petitioning, Antislavery, and Women's Political Identity. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.

"Signatures of Citizenship: The Rhetoric of Women's Antislavery Petitions," Quarterly Journal of Speech 88:2 (May 2002): 147-168.

"Unveiling Esther as a Pragmatic Radical Rhetoric," Philosophy and Rhetoric 33:3 (2000): 193-220.

Susan Zaeske, "The 'Promiscuous Audience' Controversy and the Emergence of the Early Woman's Rights Movement," Quarterly Journal of Speech 81:2 (May 1995): 191-207.