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About Ryan Skinnell

Dr. Skinnell is an expert in political rhetoric and public discourse, especially as they relate to authoritarianism, demagoguery, and extremism. He is also an SJSU faculty media expert in political speech, politics, and rhetoric and an OpEd Project Public Voices Fellow.

Dr. Skinnell has published six books, including Faking the News: What Rhetoric Can Teach Us About Donald J. Trump (2018) and Rhetoric and Guns (forthcoming 2022). He has also published more than 80 articles, book chapters, and op-eds for academic and non-academic audiences on topics ranging from demagoguery, fascist rhetoric, and contemporary political discourse to American education, bureaucracy, and faculty development. In 2019, he guest edited a special issue of Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Rhetoric’s Demagogue | Demagoguery’s Rhetoric, which considers the effects of demagogic rhetoric on contemporary world politics. He also regularly presents and runs workshops about rhetoric and writing for academic and non-academic audiences.

Positions

2015 - Present Assistant Professor, Rhetoric and Composition, San Jose State University Department of English and Comparative Literature
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2015 - Present Assistant Writing Program Administrator, San Jose State University
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2012 - 2015 Core Faculty, UNT-NUML Partnership to Enhance English, Linguistics, Literature, and Teaching, University of North Texas ‐ UNT-NUML
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2011 - 2015 Assistant Professor, Rhetoric and Writing, University of North Texas ‐ Department of English
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Curriculum Vitae




Grants

2018 - 2019 Rhetoric and Demagoguery
Office of Research, San José State University
Research, Scholarship, & Creative Activity Grant
$2,225
2017 - 2018 2nd Annual Education for Liberation Conference
College of Humanities & Arts, San José State University
Artistic Excellence Programming Grant
Colleague(s): Jennifer Johnson
$7,500
2017 - 2018 Bureaucracy: Object Lesson
College of Humanities & Arts, San José State University
Research, Scholarship, & Creative Activity Grant
2017 - 2018 Bureaucracy: Object Lesson
Emeritus & Retired Faculty Association (ERFA), San José State University
Faculty Research & Creative Activity Award
$2,500
2017 - 2018 Faking the News: What Rhetoric Can Teach Us About Donald J. Trump
Sybil Weir/John Galm
Sybil Weir/John Galm Endowment Award,
$2,500
2017 - 2018 Reinventing (with) Theory in Rhetoric & Writing Studies
College of Humanities & Arts, San José State University
Research, Scholarship, & Creative Activity Grant
$5,000
2017 Mapping the Digital in Rhetoric & Composition: An Empirical & Historical Study of the Forces that Shape Investment in Emergent Technologies
Conference on College Composition & Communication
Emergent Research/er Grant
Colleague(s): Dawn S. Opel, principal investigator
$9,876.89
2017 Rediscovering Literacy Education in Post-Reconstruction Normal Schools
Office of Research, San José State University
Research, Scholarship, & Creative Activity Grant
$5,000
2016 - 2017 Mapping the History of ‘The Digital’ in Rhetoric & Writing Studies
Emeritus & Retired Faculty Association (ERFA), San José State University
Faculty Research & Creative Activity Award
$2,500
2016 - 2017 Teaching with Engaging & Affordable Materials (TEAM) Grant
Affordable Learning Solutions & the Center for Faculty Development, San José State University
$1,500
2016 CCCC Summer Regional Conference
College of Humanities & Arts, San José State University
Signature Event Grant
Colleague(s): Cindy Baer
$7,500
2016 Making Spaces for Diverse Writing Practice
Conference on College Composition & Communication
Colleague(s): Cindy Baer
$7,000
2016 Toward a Working Theory of Institutional Rhetorics
Office of Research, San José State University
Research, Scholarship, & Creative Activity Grant
$5,000
2014 Bureaucracy & the Organization of Knowledge
Mellon Foundation
Colleague(s): Gabriel Cervantes, Dahlia Porter, & Kelly Wisecup
$4,000
2014 Bureaucracy & the Organization of Knowledge
University of North Texas College of Arts & Science, English, History, & Honors College
Colleague(s): Gabriel Cervantes, Dahlia Porter, & Kelly Wisecup
$2,750
2013 Institutionalizing Tenure: Institutional Rhetorics in American Higher Education
University of North Texas
Junior Faculty Summer Research Fellowship
$5,000
2012 Conceding Composition: Rhetoric, Writing, & Higher Education’s Credentials
University of North Texas
Junior Faculty Summer Research Fellowship
$5,000
2012 Harvard, Again: Reading Articulation & Accreditation in Composition’s History
University of North Texas
University of North Texas Small Grant
$1,500
2010 - 2011 University Graduate Dissertation Completion Fellowship
Arizona State University
$
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Professional Service and Affiliations

2017 - Present Review Editor, "Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society"
2017 - Present Mentor, Council of Writing Program Administrators Mentor Match Program
2017 - Present Directed Self-Placement Committee, San José State University
2016 - Present Policy Committee, San José State University
2016 - Present Graduate Committee, San José State University
2015 - Present Writing Requirements Committee, San José State University
2015 - Present Composition Committee, San José State University
2014 - Present Editorial Board Member, "Enculturation"
2014 - Present Editorial Board Member, "NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry"
2018 Educate for Engagement Innovation Strategic Planning Taskforce, San José State University
2018 James Phelan Award Judge, Graduate Critical Essay, San José State University
2017 - 2018 Conference Chair Member, 2nd Annual Education for Liberation Conference, San José State University
2016 - 2018 Research Committee, San José State University
2016 - 2017 Conference Chair Member, College Composition & Communication Regional Summer Conference, San José State University
2016 - 2017 Written Communication Core Competency Assessment Group, San José State University
2015 - 2017 English Credential Program Candidate Interviews, San José State University
2016 Writing Program Orientation Representative, San José State University
2015 - 2016 ENGL 100A / WST Subcommittee, San José State University
2013 - 2015 University Writing Committee, University of North Texas
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Honors and Awards

  • 2015 - Theresa J. Enos Anniversary Award for the best essay published in "Rhetoric Review"
  • 2015 - Commendation for Pedagogical Use of Special Collections, “Bureaucracy: A Love Story,” Friends of the UNT Libraries Board
  • 2014 - Recognized Teacher, UNT’s “Thank a Teacher” Program
  • 2012 - Recognized Teacher, UNT’s “Thank a Teacher” Program
  • 2008 - ASU Devils’ Advocates Apple Polisher Award for Teaching Excellence (ASU)
  • 2007 - Nominee, Nathan O. Freeman Award for Outstanding Graduate Student (CSUN)
  • 2006 - Mitchell Marcus Prize for Distinguished Graduate Student in English (CSUN)
  • 2006 - Nominee, President’s Associates Outstanding Graduate Student Award (CSUN)


Education

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2011 PhD, Arizona State University ‐ English
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2007 MA, California State University, Northridge ‐ English
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2001 BA, University of California, Santa Barbara ‐ English (Minor: History)
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Contact Information

Ryan Skinnell
Assistant Professor, Department of English and Comparative Literature
San José State University
408-924-4207



Single-Authored Books (1)

SJSU Author & Artist Celebration (5)

Edited Collections (5)

Edited Special Journal Issues (1)

Journal Articles (14)