Erin Gangstad

Expertise and Activities

Erin Gangstad is a PhD candidate in Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her degree concentration is in Rhetoric, Politics, and Culture with a minor in Science and Technology Studies.

Erin’s research takes a historiographical approach to the rhetorics of health and medicine. Her dissertation traces historical discourses about America’s curative landscapes and analyzes changing notions of space, place, and health throughout 19th and 20th century America. In 2021, Erin was selected as a Holtz Summer Scholar, allowing her to travel to Alaska to conduct archival research for her dissertation.

Erin’s scholarship has been presented at numerous national and regional conferences including the National Association of Communication, the Rhetoric Society of America, and the Western States Communication Association. Her article, “Making Present, Making Absent: Exploring Medical Fundraising Imagery Through the National Tuberculosis Association Christmas Seals,” is forthcoming in Rhetoric of Health and Medicine.

In addition to her research, Erin is the Mellon-Morgridge Fellow supporting the Health and Inequality Constellation. She runs the Constellations Program’s social media platforms and also serves as a research assistant for Dr. Jenell Johnson. Erin is also Co-President of the UW Madison Graduate Student Chapter of the Rhetoric Society of America and a Future Faculty Partner in the UW Madison Teaching Academy.

View Erin’s CV here

Education

• M.A. Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2019
• B.A. Civic Communication and Media Studies, Willamette University, 2016

Courses

• CA100: Introduction to Speech Composition
• CA200: Introduction to Digital Communication
• CA260: Communication and Human Behavior
• CA317: Rhetoric and Health
• CA372: Rhetoric of Campaigns and Revolutions