Allison Prasch

Current and Future Projects

• Researching & writing a rhetorical history of the U.S. Capitol City (1789 – 1815), with specific emphasis on the relationship between race, place, and national identity
• Ongoing study of U.S. presidential foreign policy rhetoric, with a particular focus on representations of space/place

Expertise and Activities

My research and teaching focuses on U.S. presidential rhetoric, public address, foreign policy, space/place, and rhetorical history, theory, and criticism. In my first book, The World is Our Stage: The Global Rhetorical Presidency and the Cold War (University of Chicago Press, 2023), I examine how U.S. presidents used their rhetoric abroad as a persuasive strategy during the Cold War. Drawing on archival research from five presidential libraries, the Department of State, and the United States Information Agency and fieldwork in Europe, I show how five chief executives used their international tours—and, importantly, the widespread media coverage of such tours—as a way to extend the United States’ global influence, expand the reach of presidential power in foreign affairs, and bolster their own image at home and abroad. My current research considers how questions of race, place, geography, and identity shaped the early history of the U.S. capital city.

Education

• Ph.D. Communication Studies (Rhetoric), University of Minnesota, 2016
• M.A. Communication Studies (Rhetoric), University of Minnesota, 2011

Honors/Awards

• Vilas Associates Award, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2023-24
• Summer Humanities Research Fellowship, Institute for Research in the Humanities, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2023
• Michael Pfau Outstanding Article Award, Political Communication Division, National Communication Association, 2022
• First Book Program Award, Center for the Humanities, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2019
• Golden Anniversary Monograph Award, National Communication Association, 2017
• Outstanding Dissertation Award, American Society for the History of Rhetoric, 2016

Books

• The World Is Our Stage: The Global Rhetorical Presidency and the Cold War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2023.

Articles

• 2022. “‘An Empire for Liberty’: Reassessing US Presidential Foreign Policy Rhetoric.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 108.4: 357-381. [First author with Mary E. Stuckey].
• 2021. “A Tale of Two Presidencies: Trump and Biden on the National Mall.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 107.4: 472-479.
• 2021. “The Rise of the Global Rhetorical Presidency.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 50.2: 327-356.
• 2019. “Obama in Selma: Deixis, Rhetorical Vision, and the ‘True Meaning of America.’” Quarterly Journal of Speech 105.1: 42-67.
• 2017. “Saluting the ‘Skutnik’: Special Guests, the First Lady’s Box, and the Generic Evolution of the State of the Union Address.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 20.4: 571-604. [First author with Julia Scatliff O’Grady]
• 2017. “‘A Journey for Peace’: Spatial Metaphors in Nixon’s 1972 ‘Opening to China.’” Presidential Studies Quarterly 47.4: 646-664. [Co-author with Zoë Hess Carney]
• 2016. “Toward a Rhetorical Theory of Deixis.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 102.2: 166-193.
• 2015. “Retelling Watergate: Apologia, Political Eulogy, and Richard Nixon’s ‘Final Campaign.’” Southern Communication Journal 80.4: 271-292.
• 2015. “Maternal Bodies in Militant Protest: Leymah Gbowee and the Rhetorical Agency of African Motherhood.” Women’s Studies in Communication 38.2: 187-205.
• 2015. “Reagan at Pointe du Hoc: Deictic Epideictic and the Persuasive Power of ‘Bringing Before the Eyes.’” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 18.2: 247-276.

Book Chapters

• 2019. “Reading the Presidency In Situ: Obama in Cuba and the Significance of Place in U.S. Presidential Public Address.” Reading the Presidency: Advances in Presidential Rhetoric, Stephen J. Heidt and Mary E. Stuckey, eds. New York: Peter Lang, 44-64.
• 2018. “The Two Madam Secretaries: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Elizabeth McCord, and Mimetic Representations of 21^st Century Feminism.” Women, Feminism, and Pop Politics:From “Bitch” to “Badass” and Beyond, Karrin Vasby Anderson, ed. New York: Peter Lang, 223-244.

Selected Lectures, Media Appearances, & Public Scholarship

• “What Biden Can Learn from Another Elderly Statesman, Ronald Reagan.” Newsweek, April 25, 2023.
• “How a Presidency Reflects Our National Identity.” 8 O’Clock Buzz News Radio Interview, WORT 89.9, Madison, Wisconsin. March 3, 2023.
• “Analyzing the Political Rhetoric from Biden’s Second State of the Union Address.” Central Time, Wisconsin Public Radio News Interview. February 8, 2023.
• “Madison-area Leaders Await President Biden’s Visit to the Badger State.” NBC15 WMTV News Interview. February 7, 2023.
• “‘Freedom Will Triumph Over Tyranny’: Biden’s First State of the Union Echoes Themes from the Cold War.” The Conversation, March 2, 2022.
• “State of the Union Preview.” C-SPAN Interview, March 1, 2022.
• “Two Presidencies, Two Weeks, One Place: Trump and Biden on the National Mall.” Center for the Humanities, University of Wisconsin-Madison, March 19, 2021.
• “Inaugural Addresses.” Communication Matters Podcast, National Communication Association, January 28, 2021.
• “Visions and Views of America, as Told by Pres. Biden and 22-year-old poet.” NBC15 WMTV News Interview. January 21, 2021.
• “President-elect Joe Biden Plans to Start Term with ‘America United’ Theme.” NBC15 WMTV News Interview. January 21, 2021.
• “Staying with Unity Theme Essential for Biden.” Public News Network Radio Interview. January 19, 2021.
• “Rhetorical Reflections on the 2020 Presidential Election.” Roundtable Discussion, Rhetoric Society of America, November 6, 2020.
• “(Un)Norming the Presidency: Republicans, Democrats & the Paradox of Donald Trump.” Politics After Dark Lecture Series, Southern Methodist University School for the Arts, Dallas, TX. October 19, 2020.
• “When a President Gets Sick.” A Public Affair Radio Interview, WORT 89.9, Madison, Wisconsin. October 13, 2020.
• “Recapping the Vice Presidential Debate.” 6 O’Clock News Radio Interview, WORT 89.9, Madison, Wisconsin. October 8, 2019.
• “Gearing Up for the 2020 Presidential Election.” Crossroads of Ideas Lecture Series, University of Wisconsin-Madison. September 24, 2020.

Courses

Spring 2023

• CA 360 – Introduction to Rhetoric in Politics and Culture
• CA 969 – Rhetorics of Race, Place, and National Identity

Previous Semesters

• CA 610 – U.S. Presidential Rhetoric & Foreign Policy
• CA 610 – Rhetoric of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election
• CA 610 – Rhetoric of the Cold War
• CA 610 – Foreign Policy Rhetorics in a Global Era

Curriculum Vitae

• Prasch CV – March 2023

Office Hours

• Spring 2023 – W 1:00-3:00 pm or by appointment