Dr. Robert L. Rudd joined the faculty of the Department of Communication at Boise State University in 1985. He earned his B.S. in Communication from Boise State, and then went on to earn an M.A. in Telecommunication from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Telecommunication and Film from the University of Oregon. Early in his career he worked in advertising and has recently continued with some creative consulting and copywriting for local businesses. In addition to his teaching, Dr. Rudd's research has explored the realities of television, televised coverage of news, politics, and political candidates, and American cultural ideology and values as portrayed through baseball films.
Articles
Don't Bet On It... The Representation of Gambling in Baseball Cinema (with Marshall G. Most), Southern Communication Journal (1996)
This paper examines the role of baseball films in the game's ideological war on gambling....
Effects of Issue Specificity, Ambiguity on Evaluations of Candidate Image, Journalism Quarterly (1989)
Depth of Issue Coverage in Television News: Campaign ‘84 (with Marjorie J. Fish), Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media (1989)
A study of issue coverage in the evening newscasts of ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and...
Issues as Image in Political Campaign Commercials, Western Journal of Speech Communication (1986)
This paper examines the use of “issue” commercials as a means of developing a candidate's...
Books
Stars, Stripes and Diamonds: American Culture and the Baseball Film (with Marshall G. Most), Faculty Authored Books (2006)
This work treats baseball cinema as a separate film genre and explores the functions of...
Contributions to Books
Patriot’s Game? Images of American Nationalism in Baseball Films (with Marshall G. Most), The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2007-2008 (2009)
American Values: The Oppositional Discourse of Baseball Films (with Marshall G. Most), The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2005-2006 (2007)
Portrayals of Racial Minorities in Baseball Films (with Marshall G. Most), The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2003-2004 (2003)
Designated Heroes: Cinematic Reflections of Baseball’s Cultural Ideology (with Marshall G. Most), Reel Baseball: Essays and Interviews on the National Pastime, Hollywood, and American Culture (2003)
A primary function of sport in modern states is to express and to cultivate dominant...
Returning to the America That Was Meant to Be: The Cinematic Re-Emergence of Baseball’s Vision of Community (with Marshall G. Most), Reel Baseball: Essays and Interviews on the National Pastime, Hollywood, and American Culture (2003)
In 1984, an aging slugger by the name of Roy Hobbs captured the imaginations of...
Presentations