Donovan Stuart Bisbee
Lecturer Doc Sch
Weissman School of Arts and Sciences
Department: Communication Studies
Areas of expertise: Presidential Rhetoric, Free Speech, the Supreme Court
Email Address: donovan.bisbee@baruch.cuny.edu
> View CV- Biography
- Teaching
- Research and Creative Activity
- Honors and Awards
- Service
Donovan Bisbee is a Lecturer and Director of Oral Communication Courses in the Department of Communication Studies at Baruch College, CUNY. He earned a B.A. in Rhetoric and English at Wabash College and an M.A. and PhD in Communication from the University of Illinois.
His research focuses on how legal and constitutional arguments circulate in public life. Although legal discourse is characterized by a technical vocabulary and professional training, arguments about rights, justice, and the bounds of state power shape public discourse and address audiences far beyond courtroom doors. Recently, this research has focused on interbranch conflicts in the U.S. federal system. In executive-judicial conflict, presidents have tended to expand executive authority by clashing with the Supreme Court over the authority to interpret the Constitution. As an extension of this research program, he focuses on the presidency and the judiciary as rhetorical institutions and the presidential rhetoric of Jackson, Lincoln, and FDR.
At Baruch, he offers courses in Persuasion, Free Speech, Rhetorical Theory and Criticism, and Visual Rhetoric. He also directs the Department’s oral communication courses, including COM 1010, COM 2020, and COM 3021.
Education
Ph.D., Communication, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign United States
M.A., Communication, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign United States
B.A., Rhetoric, English, Wabash College Crawfordsville United States
| Semester | Course Prefix | Course Number | Course Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2024 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Speech |
| Fall 2024 | PHI | 3045 | Comm Law and Free Speech |
| Summer 2024 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Speech |
| Summer 2024 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Speech |
| Summer 2024 | PHI | 3045 | Comm Law and Free Speech |
| Summer 2024 | PHI | 3045 | Comm Law and Free Speech |
| Spring 2024 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Speech |
| Spring 2024 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Speech |
| Spring 2024 | PHI | 3045 | Comm Law and Free Speech |
| Spring 2024 | PHI | 3045 | Comm Law and Free Speech |
| Fall 2023 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Speech |
| Fall 2023 | PHI | 3045 | Comm Law and Free Speech |
| Summer 2023 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Speech |
| Summer 2023 | PHI | 3045 | Comm Law and Free Speech |
| Spring 2023 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Spch |
| Spring 2023 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Spch |
| Spring 2023 | PHI | 3045 | Comm Law and Free Speech |
| Spring 2023 | PHI | 3045 | Comm Law and Free Speech |
| Fall 2022 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Spch |
| Fall 2022 | PHI | 3045 | Comm Law and Free Speech |
| Fall 2022 | COM | 3170 | Visual Rhetoric |
| Summer 2022 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Spch |
| Spring 2022 | COM | 3170H | Honors: Visual Rhetoric |
| Spring 2022 | COM | 3170 | Visual Rhetoric |
| Fall 2021 | COM | 2020 | Introduction to Business Com |
| Fall 2021 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Spch |
| Fall 2021 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Spch |
| Fall 2021 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Spch |
| Spring 2021 | COM | 1010 | Speech Communication |
| Fall 2020 | PHI | 3045 | Comm Law and Free Speech |
| Fall 2020 | COM | 3070 | Persuasion |
| Fall 2020 | COM | 1010 | Speech Communication |
| Fall 2020 | COM | 1010 | Speech Communication |
| Fall 2020 | COM | 3045 | Comm Law & Free Spch |
| Spring 2020 | COM | 3070 | Persuasion |
| Spring 2020 | COM | 1010 | Speech Communication |
Journal Articles
Bisbee, D. (2018). Driving the Three-Horse Team of Government: Kairos in FDR’s Judiciary Fireside Chat. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 21(3). 481-522.
Book Chapters
(2023). A Nation at the Edge of the Precipice: The Senate Debate over Henry Clay's 1850 Compromise Measure. Public Debate in the Civil War Era East Lansing, MI. Michigan State University Press. In Progress.
Presentations
Bisbee, D. (2019, November 30). “Surviving Interbranch Conflict: From Bank Wars to Brett Kavanaugh,”. 105th National Communication Association Convention. Baltimore, MD: National Communication Association.
Bisbee, D. (2019, November 30). A Fearful Commotion which Threatens to Shake the Foundations of Our Union’: The Bank War, Constitutional Argument, and Conspiracy. 105th National Communication Association Convention. Baltimore, MD: National Communication Association.
Bisbee, D. (2019, February 28). Crisis, Kairos, and Constitutional Interpretation. American Society for the History of Rhetoric Conference. Austin, TX: American Society for the History of Rhetoric.
Bisbee, D. (2018, November 30). Forgetting the Forgotten War: The Advertising Council and the Korean Conflict, 1950-1953. 104th Annual National Communication Association Convention. Salt Lake City, UT: National Communication Association.
Bisbee, D. (2018, June 3). Towards a Definition of Constitutional Crisis". Rhetoric Society of America Conference. Minneapolis, MN: Rhetoric Society of America.
Bisbee, D. (2016, November 11). The Battleground of Citizenship: Citizens United, Corporate Personhood, and Rights. 102nd Annual National Communication Association Conference. Philadelphia, PA: National Communication Association.
Bisbee, D. (2016, May 27). The Viability of Precedent: Social Movement Discourse and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Rhetoric Society of America Conference. Atlanta, GA: Rhetoric Society of America.
Bisbee, D. (2015, November 21). Interpreter in Chief: Andrew Jackson's Veto Message and Coordinate Constitutional Authority. 101st Annual National Communication Association Convention. Las Vegas, NV: National Communication Association.
Bisbee, D. (2015, November 19). Beyond the Pettiness of Politics: The Supreme Court and Strategies of Transcendence in Robes. 101st Annual National Communication Association Convention. Las Vegas, NV: National Communication Association.
Bisbee, D. (2014, November 30). Saddling the Four Horsemen: Kairos in FDR's Judiciary Fireside Chat. 100th Annual National Communication Association Convention. : National Communication Association.
Bisbee, D. (2014, May 31). Cross that Street into the Twenty-First Century: Political Cartoons and the Boy Scouts of America's Policies of Exclusion. Rhetoric Society of America Conference. San Antonio, TX: Rhetoric Society of America.
Bisbee, D. (2014, April 30). A 'Morally Straight" Future: Online Rhetorical Resistance to the Boy Scouts of America's Membership Policy. 84th Annual Southern States Communication Association Convention. New Orleans, LA: Southern States Communication Association.
Bisbee, D. (2013, November 30). 'Through a Glass Darkly': George W. Bush's Selective Vision of the Reagan Legacy. 99th Annual Communication Association Convention. Washington, D.C.: National Communication Association.
Reviews
Bisbee, D. (2019,January 1). The Rhetorical Invention of Diversity: Supreme Court Opinions, Public Argument, and Affirmative Action. Quarterly Journal of Speech.
Bisbee, D. (2019,October 1). Andrew Jackson: A Rhetorical Portrayal of Presidential Leadership. Presidential Studies Quarterly.
Research Currently in Progess
Bisbee, D.(n.d.). A Fearful Commotion Which Threatens to Shake the Foundations of our Union: The Bank War, Interpretive Authority, and the Jacksonian Constitution. In Progress.
| Honor / Award | Organization Sponsor | Date Received | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruth S. and Charles H. Bowman Award | Department of Communication, University of Illinois | 2019 | This award recognizes the outstanding overall graduate student in the Department based on research, teaching, and service |
| Jesse Delia Award | University of Illinois Department of Communication | 2018 | This award recognizes the best scholarly article published by a graduate student |
| Nina Baym Dissertation Fellowship | Graduate College, University of Illinois | 2018 | This fellowship recognizes the top nominee from the Humanities in the yearly competition. |
| Doctoral Honors Seminar | National Communication Association | 2017 | |
| Ruth Anne Clark Award | University of Illinois Department of Communcation | 2017 | This award supports graduate student research |
| Stafford L. Thomas Award | University of Illinois Department of Communication | 2015 | This award recognizes the outstanding graduate student in the department on the basis of their service |
| James L. Golden Award | National Communication Association | 2014 | This award recognizes the best student essay submission in rhetoric by an M.A. student to the National Communication Association Convention. |
College
| Committee Name | Position Role | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major Declaration | Committee Member | Present | |
| Search Committee: Full-Time Lecturer (3 Positions) | Committee Member | 1/1/1970 | |
| Search Committee: Full-Time Lecturer (2 Positions) | Committee Chair | 1/1/1970 |
Professional
| Organization | Position Role | Organization State | Organization Country | Start Date | End Date | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Address Division, National Communication Association | Reviewer, Conference Paper | 1/1/2014 | Present | |||
| Communication and Law Division | Reviewer, Conference Paper | 1/1/2015 | 12/31/2017 |