Communication as ...: Perspectives on Theory

Gregory J. Shepherd (Ph.D., University of Illinois) is Professor and Dean of the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. His primary scholarly interests are in communication theory and American pragmatism. He is a winner of the Central States Communication Association Outstanding Young Teacher Award, as well as a W. T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence. He is co-editor (with Eric Rothenbuhler) of Communication and Community (2001, LEA), and in addition to chapters in various edited volumes, his work has appeared in Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Communication Yearbook, Communication Studies, Southern Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Journal of Social Psychology, Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Research and Development in Education, and other scholarly publications. Jeffrey St. John (Ph.D., University of Washington) is Assistant Professor in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University. His published work includes essays on legal argument, critical rhetoric, the construction of self at sites of public controversy, and the reception of contested terms— including "tolerance" and "civility"— in public culture. He teaches undergraduate courses in public advocacy, free speech, communication theory, and political rhetoric, and graduate courses in communication theory and public deliberation. His current research projects include a mapping of the rhetorical geography of "moral values" voting patterns (with his colleague Jerry Miller) and a study of mimesis and public memory in contemporary fiction.