Aubrey Studebaker
Rhetoric, Politics, and Culture
Teaching Assistant
608-263-3997
6067 Vilas Hall
M. Aubrey Studebaker is a PhD student studying Rhetoric, Politics, and Culture in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a critical scholar, Aubrey’s research focuses on how power is communicated and ideologies are reified through various rhetorical tools that sustain increasingly violent manifestations across popular and niche cultures. Her master’s thesis, “Onward, Christian Soldiers: The Material Rhetoric of Becoming Fascist in Parachurch Scouting Organizations,” looks at children’s collective, embodied, and affective repetitions of mythical reality. Aubrey’s other recent and ongoing projects examine the ways in which white, masculine, Christian conservatives wield victimhood and construct memory narratives of innocence to justify their defenses of the status quo.
Research Interests: affect theory; antifeminism; argumentation; Christian nationalism; conservative rhetoric; cultural studies; fascism; indoctrination; networked misogyny; public memory; queer studies; victimhood; white masculinity.
Education
M.A. Communication, University of Arkansas, 2025
B.A. Communication Studies, Young Harris College, 2022
Publications
Hatfield, J. E., Whiteside, A., Studebaker, M. A., & McBride, M. (in press). Archiving visual social media ephemera: A study of digital memorial images circulated after the suicide of a trans teenager. International Journal of LGBTQ+ Youth Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/29968992.2025.2547708
Studebaker, M. A. & Whiteside, A. (2025). Parasitic public memory: #ReclaimTheRainbow and the symbology of conservative victimhood. Communication, Culture and Critique 18(1), 31–38. Https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcae053
Studebaker, M. A. (2024). “I can smell marijuana on you:” Olfactory argumentation and Black criminality in cases of police brutality. Argumentation and Advocacy 61(2), 226–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511431.2024.2443301
Studebaker, M. A. (2024). Book Review, Lesbian death: Desire and danger between feminist and queer by Mairead Sullivan. Cultural Studies 38(6), 946-949. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2024.2345109
Guitar, J., Bleam, S., Studebaker, M., Urash, S., & Perkins, M. (2023). Respondents and activists: Citizen roles in formulating congressional committee hearings as public spectacle. In R. X. Browning (Ed.), Power and politics in the media: The year in C-SPAN research. (Vol. 9, pp. 151-186). Purdue University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.10984426.11
Guitar, J. & Studebaker, M. (2023). Abstructing AOC: Reifying the reactionary rhetoric of patriarchal ideology. Communication and Democracy 57(1), 27–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/27671127.2023.2197987
Guitar, J., Bleam, S., Thomas, J., Studebaker, M., & George, M. (2022). Congressional hearings as public spectacle. In R. X. Browning (Ed.), Political rhetoric and the media: The year in C-SPAN research. (Vol. 8, pp. 115-154). Purdue University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv33t5gjm.11
Presentations
Studebaker, M. A. (2025, November). “Say her name”: White necropolitical reconfigurations of Laken Riley’s Death. Paper to be presented at the National Communication Association Convention, Denver, CO. Top Student Paper Panel.
Neville-Shepard, R., & Studebaker, M. A. (2025, July). Witnessing Democratic Trauma: Multimodal Argument and the Brown v. Board of Education Museum’s “Hall of Courage.” Paper presented at the Alta Argumentation Conference, Alta, UT.
Hatfield, J. E., Whiteside, A., Studebaker, M. A., & McBride, M. (2025, June). Archiving visual social media ephemera: A study of digital memorial images circulated after the suicide of a trans teenager. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Convention, Denver, CO.
Studebaker, M. A. (2024, November). “I can smell marijuana on you:” Olfactory argumentation and Black criminality in cases of police brutality. Paper presented at the National Communication Association Convention, New Orleans, LA. Top Paper Panel. James L. Golden Outstanding Student Essay in Rhetoric Laureate.
Studebaker, M. A., & Whiteside, A. (2024, November). Parasitic public memory: #ReclaimTheRainbow and the symbology of conservative victimhood. Paper presented at the National Communication Association Convention, New Orleans, LA.
Studebaker, M. A. (2024, April). Picturing the Global South through a Western lens: A postcolonial critique of modern missionary visual rhetoric. Paper presented at the Southern States Communication Association, Frisco, TX.
Studebaker, M. A. (2022, November). Transforming the hungry and hopeless: A postcolonial critique of modern missionary narrative rhetoric. Paper presented at the National Communication Association, New Orleans, LA. James L. Golden Outstanding Student Essay in Rhetoric Laureate.
Guitar, J., Bleam, S., Studebaker, M., Urash, S., & Perkins, M. (2022, October). Respondents and activists: Citizen roles in formulating congressional committee hearings as public spectacle. Paper presented at the Center for C-SPAN Scholarship and Engagement Conference, West Lafayette, IN.
Guitar, J. & Studebaker, M. (2022, April). Abstructing AOC: Reifying the reactionary rhetoric of patriarchal ideology. Paper presented at the Southern States Communication Association Convention, Greenville, SC.
Guitar, J., Bleam, S., Thomas, J., Studebaker, M., & George, M. (2021, October). Congressional hearings as public spectacle. Paper presented at the Center for C-SPAN Scholarship and Engagement Conference, West Lafayette, IN.
Courses Taught
CA 100: Introduction to Speech Composition (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
SPCH 10003/COMM 1313: Public Speaking (University of Arkansas)
Awards
Top Graduate Student Researcher in Communication, 2025. Recognized by the Department of Communication, University of Arkansas, for excellence in research.
Excellence in Research Award, 2025. Awarded by the Graduate-Professional Student Congress, University of Arkansas, for demonstrating outstanding academic rigor, innovation, and discovery.
National Scholar, 2025. Recognized by the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards, University of Arkansas, for academic achievements, research, and community involvement.
James L. Golden Outstanding Student Essay in Rhetoric Laureate, 2024. Recognized by the National Communication Association for work on the history, theory, or criticism of rhetoric.
Arnold First Amendment Research Excellence Award, 2024. Awarded by the Department of Communication, University of Arkansas, for research interest in communication, politics, and First Amendment issues.
Richard S. and Kay Kelley Arnold Graduate Fellowship, 2023. Awarded by the Department of Communication, University of Arkansas, for research interest in communication, politics, and First Amendment issues.
James L. Golden Outstanding Student Essay in Rhetoric Laureate, 2022. Recognized by the National Communication Association for work on the history, theory, or criticism of rhetoric.
Charles R. Clegg Outstanding Scholar Award, 2022. Awarded by Young Harris College to the student with the highest cumulative grade point average upon graduation.
Distinguished Undergraduate Research Scholar Award, 2022. Awarded by Young Harris College for notable research endeavors, leadership skills, and contributions to knowledge.
McCollough Scholar Award, 2019. Awarded by Young Harris College to study abroad independently at Wesley House in Cambridge, England.
Presidential Scholarship, 2018. Competitive four-year-scholarship awarded by Young Harris College to students who exhibit a strong commitment and academic excellence.