The Department of Rhetoric & Communication Studies is delighted to announce our 2025 award winners.
Ethan Vroom received the Leadership Award. Claire Binkley and Emma Walsh were Academic Achievement Award winners.
Congratulations, Ethan, Claire, and Emma!
Photos: Claire Binkley and Emma Walsh (left) and Dr. Barney with Ethan Vroom (right)
With its innovative bridging between an emphasis on critical/ethical thinking and a focus on the practical role of communication in public life, the Department of Rhetoric Communication Studies empowers students to find fulfilling careers and professional and educational experiences across a wide diversity of subjects. Our RHCS students have gone on from UR to make exciting, creative, and vital contributions to civic culture.
Ben Pettis, assistant professor of rhetoric and communication studies, presented "Rumors of Twitter's Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated: Examining the Persistence and Perseverance of Academic Twitter" at the Cinema and Media Studies in Solidarity with Palestine (CMSSP) conference.
Ben Pettis, assistant professor of rhetoric and communication studies, published “The two lives of Chuck Norris” in The Conversation about what happens when internet culture turns both celebrities and regular people into memes.
Taylor Arnold, professor of data science and statistics, and Lauren Tilton, professor of digital humanities and director of UR’s Center for Liberal Arts and AI, received a grant to support their research to develop AI models that analyze film and television. The funding is part of a larger award from Schmidt Sciences and includes collaboration with colleagues at UC Berkeley and Bowdoin College.
Ben Pettis, assistant professor of rhetoric and communication studies, published a book review of Move Slowly and Build Bridges: Mastodon, the Fediverse, and the Struggle for Democratic Social Media in Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies.
A belief in academia’s role in promoting the common good leads Jepson Scholar Daniel Polonia to pursue a master’s in higher education at the University of Oxford.
With 400+ presenters across 30 disciplines, the annual University of Richmond event transforms campus into a forum for discovery, creativity, and collaboration.
Maurantonio is one of 31 ACE Fellows selected for the 2026–27 academic year.
Rhetoric and communications studies professor Ben Pettis, an expert on social media, is quoted.
Rhetoric and communication studies professor Ben Pettis authored this piece.
Lauren Tilton, digital humanities professor and director of UR’s Center for Liberal Arts and AI, is quoted in this feature on CLAAI.
Lauren Tilton, digital humanities professor and E. Claiborne Robins Professor of Liberal Arts, is quoted.
The University of Richmond's Scholarship Repository shares faculty publications with a world-wide audience. The map below shows where articles from RHCS faculty are being read around the globe.
Mailing Address:
Department of Rhetoric & Communication Studies
402-C Weinstein Hall
231 Richmond Way
University of Richmond, VA 23173
Phone: (804) 289-8263
Fax: (804) 287-6496
Department Chair: Paul Achter
Academic Administrative Coordinator: Robin Mundle