Dr. Clarke Rountree

Professor Emeritus, Communication Arts

Contact

1310 Ben Graves Drive
Morton Hall
Room 038
Huntsville, AL 35899
Campus Map

256.824.6646
clarke.rountree@uah.edu

Biography

Dr. Clarke Rountree is a Professor of Communication Arts. He was born in Decatur, Alabama, finished his BA in Political Science at UAH, and went to the University of Iowa for an MA and Ph.D. in Rhetorical Studies. His primary areas of research are judicial argument (especially in U.S. Supreme Court cases) and political communication. He also has published on the rhetorical theory of Kenneth Burke, classical rhetorical theory, argument theory, and religious communication. He has two books on the Supreme Court, a 50th anniversary book on Brown v. Board of Education (Lexington Books, 2004) and an award-winning study of Bush v. Gore, the case that ended the election controversy in 2000 (Michigan State University Press, 2007). He is currently working on a book on overruling opinions in the Supreme Court and another on national rhetorics of the Syrian immigration crisis with Dr. Jouni Tilli of the University of Helsinki. In 2013 he published a two-volume, edited work on political communication entitled Venomous Speech (Praeger). He also has two books on the 43rd President, George W. Bush: A Biography (Greenwood Press, 2010) and The Chameleon President: The Curious Case of George W. Bush (Praeger, 2011). He has dozens of other articles in journals, book chapters, and proceedings.

Dr. Rountree has long ties to scholars studying the work of the most important rhetorical theorist of the 20th century, Kenneth Burke. As a graduate student he oversaw 12 hours of videotaped interviews with Mr. Burke, helped form the Kenneth Burke Society, co-created and co-edited KB Journal (the official journal of the society), and served in several posts for the society, including President from 2011-14. He is creator and series editor of Rhetoric, Law, & the Humanities, a book series with the University of Alabama Press launched in 2014. He is currently working on a book on overruling opinions in the Supreme Court and an edited volume on national rhetorics in the Syrian refugee crisis.

Dr. Rountree teaches courses in rhetorical theory, rhetorical criticism, legal argument, Burkeian theory and criticism, oral communication skills, and our senior capstone course.

Dr. Rountree teaches courses in rhetorical theory, rhetorical criticism, legal argument, Burkeian theory and criticism, oral communication skills, and our senior capstone course.

Curriculum Vitae


Education

  • Ph.D. Rhetorical Studies, University of Iowa, 1988
  • M.A. Rhetorical Studies, University of Iowa, 1985
  • B.A. Political Science, University of Alabama in Huntsville, 1983

Affiliations

  • Kenneth Burke Society
  • Rhetoric Society of Europe
  • National Communication Association
  • Southern States Communication Association

Expertise

  • Judicial Rhetoric
  • Political Rhetoric
  • Burkeian Rhetorical Theory
  • Argument Theory
  • Rhetoric and Race
  • Religious Discourse

Recent Publications

  • Coeditor. National Rhetorics in the Syrian Immigration Crisis: Victims, Frauds and Floods(with Jouni Tilli). Rhetoric and Public Affairs Series. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. Forthcoming (2019).

  • Editor. Venomous Speech: Problems with American Political Discourse on the Right and Left. New York: Praeger, 2013.

  • The Chameleon President: The Curious Case of George W. Bush. New York: Praeger, 2011.

  • George W. Bush: A Biography. Greenwood Biographies. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 2010.

  • Judging the Supreme Court: Constructions of Motives in Bush v. Gore. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2007.

  • Editor. Brown v. Board of Education at 50: A Rhetorical Perspective. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2004.