Dr. John Rountree
Dr. John Rountree
Assistant Professor of Communication StudiesArts and CommunicationBiography
Dr. John Rountree is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies in the Department of Arts & Communication and the Assistant Director of the Center for Public Deliberation at UHD. He earned his Ph.D. in Communication Arts & Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University in 2019. Dr. Rountree does research at the intersection of rhetoric and democratic deliberation. Specifically, he studies the internal communication processes of democratic discussion in a variety of contexts and formats, including congressional town hall meetings, legislative debates, citizen review panels, and citizens' assemblies. In recent work, Dr. Rountree has joined with other researchers across the country to assess the Citizens' Initiative Review and the Oregon Citizens' Assembly. At UHD, he teaches courses in rhetoric and deliberation, such as Rhetoric & Public Address (Comm 3325) and Communication and Public Decision Making (Comm 1309).
Degrees Earned
Ph.D. in Communication Arts & Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University
M.A. in Human Communication at Georgia State University
B.A. in English at Auburn University
Courses Taught
Comm 3325: Rhetoric & Public Address
Comm 1306: Beginning Public Speaking
Comm 1309: Communication and Public Decision Making
Comm 3304: Advanced Public Speaking
Experience Qualifications
Dr. Rountree holds a Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University in Communication Arts & Sciences with a focus on rhetorical studies. He has published research in Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Studies in Philosophy and Education, and The Oxford Encyclopedia of Communication Studies. He has participated in multiple research teams observing and assessing deliberative events, including the 2016 Citizens' Initiative Review in Oregon, the 2018 Citizens' Initiative Review in Massachusetts, and the 2020 Oregon Citizens' Assembly on COVID-19 Recovery. His experience also extends to helping organize and host deliberations as a faculty associate with the Center for Public Deliberation at UHD, most notably in helping to organize and run the regular Candidate Meet & Greet that puts students in conversation with local political leaders. As a faculty member, he engages students in civic learning through analysis of public discourse and creative design of public discussion processes.
More Information
Academic Journal Articles
Rountree, J. (Forthcoming). Judging technical claims in democratic deliberation: A rhetorical analysis of two Citizens' Initiative Reviews in Oregon. Western Journal of Communication.
Rountree, J. (2018). Gridlock and rhetorics of distrust. Rhetoric& Public Affairs 21(4), 607-638.
Rountree, John. (2018). Jürgen Habermas in communication studies. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication.
Rountree, C. & Rountree, J. (2015). Burke's Pentad as a guide for symbol-using citizens. Studies in Philosophy and Education34(4), 349-362.
Book Chapters
Rountree, J. (2013). A sampling of troubling political discourse. In C. Rountree (ed.), Venomous Speech: Problems with American Political Discourse on the Right and Left, 413-430. Santa Barbara: Praeger.
Public Research Reports
Gastil, J., Broghammer, M., Rountree, J., & Burkhalter, S. (2019). Assessment of Three 2018 Citizens' Initiative Review Pilot Projects. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University.
Gastil, John, Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Soo-Hye Han, and John Rountree. Assessment of the 2016 Oregon CIR. State College, PA: The Pennsylvania State University, 2017.
Conference Presentations
Rountree, J. & Lawrence, W.Y. (November 2020). The deferential persona in deliberative facilitation. National Communication Association Conference (asynchronous virtual format).
Rountree, J. (November 16, 2019). Policy argumentation in congressional town hall meetings. National Communication Association Conference, Baltimore, MD.
Rountree, J. (November 9, 2018). The creation of a deliberative ideal: The historical emergence of congressional town meetings. National Communication Association Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.
Rountree, J. (May 3, 2018). Congressional town meetings: Rhetoric, citizenship, and participatory democracy. Rhetoric Society of America Conference, Minneapolis, MN.
Rountree, J. (March 31, 2018). Direct, indirect, and eclipsed engagement: Lay deliberation in the Citizens' Initiative Review. Camp Rhetoric Conference, State College, PA.
Rountree, J. (March 27, 2017). Deliberation, dissent, and visibility in the U.S. House of Representatives. Communication Association Conference, Minneapolis, MN.
Rountree, J. (November 12, 2016). Pathologies of distrust: Intransigence over the DC Voting Rights Act. National Communication Association Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
Rountree, J. (May 27, 2016). Obamacare in the crisis of government shutdown: Congressional attempts to redefine the Affordable Care Act through 2013 budget negotiations. Rhetoric Society of America Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Rountree, J. (November 21, 2015). Object and text in public policy rhetoric. National Communication Association Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Rountree, J. (April 16, 2015). Legislation as a framework for action. Central States Communication Association Conference, Madison, WI.
Rountree, J. (November 21, 2014). Speaking through "my little dog Fala" to transcend the political circus. National Communication Association Conference, Chicago, IL.
Rountree, J. (July 19, 2014). NASA's constructions of authority in allaying 2012 doomsday fears. Kenneth Burke Society Conference: Attitudes toward Technology/Technology's Attitudes, St. Louis, MO.
Rountree, C. & Rountree, J. (May 24, 2012). Toward the next phase in Pentadic scholarship: Theorizing,applying, and extending Burke's Grammar of Motives. Rhetoric as Equipment for Living Conference: Kenneth Burke, Culture and Education, Ghent, Belgium.
Book Reviews
Rountree, J. (2020). Review of Science communication online: Engaging experts and publics on the internet by A. R. Mehlenbacher. Southern Communication Journal 85(3), 207-208.
Invited Talks
Rountree, J. (May 4, 2020). Judging technical claims in democratic deliberation: A rhetorical analysis of two Citizens' Initiative Reviews in Oregon. Research talk given to the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, University of Canberra, AU.