Hammonds Wins Top Paper at National Communication Association

Dr. Hammonds recently visited the National Communication Association (NCA) convention. The conference was held in New Orleans, LA this year. He was awarded 1st Place on the "Top Papers" panel for the Theatre, Film, & New Multi-Media division. This was Dr. Hammonds' first top paper award after starting as a full time professor for the University of Texas - Dallas. His paper was titled "Malicious Movie Talk" and it traced the historical development of the philosophical problem of "evil rhetors" from Socrates to present-day internet influencers. The paper focused on influencer film critics using manipulative speech to share hateful ideas. A full, expanded version of this paper is available in Dr. Hammonds book, Interpreting and Transmitting Kynicism in Joker. In addition to receiving the paper award, Dr. Hammonds also chaired a paper panel on teaching with fandom. The panel included his frequent co-author, Dr. Caleb George Hubbard, and prolific fan studies scholar, Dr. Ashley Hinck. He also presented on a panel about public speaking pedagogy and shared thoughts on how to advance future speech curricula based on his essay in the Routledge Handbook of Public Speaking. Recommendations in the presentation included drawing on theatre practices (e.g., physical and vocal exercises) and theories (communicative contexts, empathy, speaking personaes, performativity), which have been recently disconnected from public speaking instruction, to enhance future lessons on speech. Beyond his work at & for the conference itself, Dr. Hammonds also connected with other scholars and enjoyed exploring the city of New Orleans. Notably, he co-presented with Dr. Garret Castleberry - with whom he frequently collaborates on the Special Topics in Media podcast - and spent time with his friend and academic mentor, Dr. Eric Kramer. Much of Dr. Hammonds' research and writing draws from theories and concepts developed by Kramer, which typically blend frameworks from phenomenological philosophy with communication and [cross]cultural studies.

... With Caleb George Hubbard (Left) & Ashley Hinck

... With Eric Kramer (Center) and Garret Castleberry