University of Pittsburgh Faculty Experts Available to Discuss President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address

PITTSBURGH-The following University of Pittsburgh faculty experts are available to discuss President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address.

Gordon R. Mitchell, associate professor of communication in Pitt's Department of Communication in the School of Arts and Sciences, focuses his research on the theory and praxis of argumentation, with a program specializing in public address and argument, rhetoric of science, and critical pedagogy. As director of the William Pitt Debating Union, Mitchell convenes public forums, supports intercollegiate student debating, conducts debate outreach initiatives, and helped organize the Schenley Park DAWG (Debate Authors Working Group). Mitchell also works with the University Center for International Security Studies, where his projects elucidate the communicative dimensions of missile defense, preventive warfare, and intelligence. He is author of "Strategic Deception: Rhetoric, Science and Politics in Missile Defense Advocacy" (Michigan State University Press, 2000), which won the James A. Winans-Herbert A. Wichelns Memorial Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Rhetoric and Public Address from the National Communication Association. Contact Gordon Mitchell at gordonm@pitt.edu.

Gerald R. Shuster, an expert in presidential rhetoric and political communication in Pitt's Department of Communication, is primarily interested in the political arena from a communications perspective, evaluating communications theories and concepts in campaigns by the strategies candidates and political parties use. Shuster's expertise includes the modern presidency, from John F. Kennedy to the current president in terms of their rhetorical styles and strategies as evidenced in their public comments and speeches and the impact of both as they attempt to achieve particular objectives with Congress and other audiences. Shuster frequently provides the media with commentary on political issues, campaigns, and events, as well as analysis of presidential addresses, including an Obama campaign speech in the "Washington Post"(www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2008/02/26/GR2008022600417...). He also has done several interviews for New Zealand radio and has been quoted in the "Philadelphia Inquirer," "Cleveland Plain Dealer," "Baltimore Sun," "Arizona Republic," and the national environmental publication "Greenwire," among others. Contact Gerald Shuster at ges3@pitt.edu.

Barbara Warnick, professor of communication_ and chair of Pitt's Department of Communication, is author of "Rhetoric Online: Persuasion and Politics on the World Wide Web" (New York: Peter Lang, 2007). Her research focuses on new media-interactive, digital communications-and what the shift from traditional mass media to new media means for rhetorical analysis and criticism. In her current research, Warnick questions how persuasion as a form of social influence occurs in new media environments. She also explores how the modes of communication in new media environments are shaped and constrained by the media in which they are communicated. Her commentary has appeared nationally, most recently in an op-ed piece in the "San Francisco Chronicle" (www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/29/INGP7R7KGS1.DTL&hw=w...).

Contact Barbara Warnick at bwarnick@pitt.edu.

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