Dr. Jason Black

Dr. Jason Edward Black (he/him) is professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Dr. Black acknowledges that the land upon which he dwells is located on the traditional territories of the Catawba, Waxhaw, Cheraw, and Sugeree peoples, past and present. He honors with gratitude the people who have stewarded this land throughout generations and commits to labor that centers Indigenous cultures.

His research program is located at the juncture of rhetorical studies and social change, with an emphasis on Indigenous resistance, LGBTQIA2S+ community discourses, and Black liberation. His work in these areas has appeared in the Quarterly Journal of Speech; Rhetoric & Public Affairs; Argumentation & Advocacy; Southern Communication Journal; American Indian Quarterly; American Indian Culture and Research Journal; Canadian Journal of Native Studies; Cultural Studies<=>Critical Methodologies; Western Journal of Communication; Communication Quarterly; Enculturation; Advances in the History of Rhetoric; Kenneth Burke Journal; International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics; Canadian Journal of Native Studies; and numerous book chapters. 

Black is co-editor, along with Kathleen J. Turner, of “Reframing Rhetorical History: Cases, Theories, and Methodologies” (Univ. of Alabama Press, 2022).

Black is co-author, along with Andrew C. Billings, of “Mascot Nation: The Controversy over Native American Representations in Sports” (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2018).

Black is co-editor, along with Casey Ryan Kelly, of “Decolonizing Public Address: Indigenous Rhetoric and the Struggle for Self-Determination” (Peter Lang, 2018).

Black is the author of “American Indians and the Rhetoric of Removal & Allotment” (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2015).

Black is co-editor, with Charles E. Morris, III, of “An Archive of Hope: Harvey Milk’s Speeches and Writings” (Univ. of California Press, 2013).

Black is co-editor, with Greg Goodale, of “Arguments about Animal Ethics” (Lexington Books, 2010).

Black and Morris are working on a second book related to the multi-part Harvey Milk project “An Archive of Hope” titled “Milk Delivery.” A book contract has been secured with Ohio State Univ. Press.

Black is currently writing a book titled “Mascotting Indigenous Canada” (Univ. of Toronto Press), a project connected to his Fulbright Research Chair assignment in Transnational Studies in the Centre for Canadian Studies, Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario (winter/spring 2020).

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Communication (rhetoric and public address), Univ. of Maryland, 2006; M.A. in Communication (rhetorical studies), Wake Forest Univ., 2002; B.S. magna cum laude in Communication Studies (legal/political emphasis), Florida State Univ., 1998.

EXTERNAL FUNDING & RECOGNITION

Dirksen Congressional Grant (2022), Hagley Museum Fellowship (2021), Fulbright Research Chair in Canadian Studies (2020), NEH Summer Stipend (2019), Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society (2018), SSCA Osborn Teacher-Scholar Award; Outstanding Book Award, NCA Communication & Sport Division; Outstanding Book Award, NCA American Studies Division; Alpha Chi Omega Professor of the Year, UNCC, 2018; Top Faculty Award, Alabama Communication Association, 2017; Outstanding Article Award, Critical/Cultural Studies Division, National Communication Association, 2016; Betty Jo Welch Award for Continuing and Outstanding Service, Carolinas Communication Association, 2016; Presidential Research Award, Univ of Alabama, 2016; Gender Studies Scholar of the Year, Southern States Comm. Assn., 2015; UA Alumni Association’s Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award, 2013; Knox Hagood Faculty Award, UA CIS, 2008; Janice Hocker Rushing Early Career Award, Southern States Communication Association; Wrage-Baskerville Award in Public Address, National Communication Association, 2004; Owen Peterson Award in Rhetoric & Public Address, Southern States Communication Association, 2004.

COURSES

Graduate-only courses: Contemp. Rhetorical Theory, Rhetorical Criticism, Critical/Cultural/Rhetorical Theories, and Rhetoric & Social Change.

Combined graduate and undergraduate courses: Canadian/U.S. Social Change, Critical Whiteness Studies, African American Rhetoric, Rhetoric/Race & the Law, War & Protest Rhetoric, Rhetoric and the Law, and Native American Rhetoric.

Undergraduate-only courses: Rhetoric & Society, Rhetorical Theory, African American Rhetoric, Rhetorical Criticism, Rhetoric & Social Protest, Communication and Public Advocacy, Critical Decision Making, Public Speaking, and Capstone Seminar.

ADMINISTRATION

Executive Director, Carolinas Communication Association (2016-2021); Chair of Communication Studies, UNC Charlotte (2016-2021); Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Students, UA CIS (2010-2013); Undergraduate Director, UA Department of Communication Studies (2008-2011)