Christopher Wernecke
Assistant Professor
Christopher J. Wernecke, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies. Drawing from his personal experience as a young cancer patient, Dr. Wernecke's primary research area resides at the intersections of health and medicine rhetoric, political rhetoric, and media studies as he seeks to uncover the ideological power of cancer discourse in America.
Dr. Wernecke's peer-reviewed research can be found in Critical Studies in Media Communication, Communication and Democracy, the Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric, the Howard Journal of Communications, the Western Journal of Communication, and the Southern Communication Journal.
Education
Ph.D. in Public Communication, Georgia State University
M.A. in Communication Studies, Texas State University
B.A. in Political Science, DePaul University
Specialization in Teaching
COM 200: Research Methods
COM 301: Rhetorical Theory
COM 305: Communication Theory
COM 355: Rhetorical Analysis
Research Interests
In addition to cancer and health rhetoric, Dr. Wernecke's research interests include examining: (1) resistance and anti-racist rhetorics in public address and popular culture, (2) historical and contemporary American political and social movement discourse, and (3) multimodal and digital rhetorics of the American presidency, particularly within presidential museums and other post-presidential contexts.
Honors & Awards
2024 - Top Paper Panel in Rhetorical & Communication Theory, National Communication Association
2021 - Top Paper Panel in American Society for the History of Rhetoric Interest Group, Southern States Communication Association
2019 - Carol K. Winkler Outstanding Teaching Award, Georgia State University
2019 - Robert Bostrom Young Scholar Award, Southern States Communication Association