Top Paper Award at NCA 2023

Dr. Hammonds presented his paper - Public Speaking and Theatre: A History, A

Hope - at the National Communication Association's annual conference in National Harbor, MD on Friday, 11/17/23. The essay, originally written during the last semester of Dr. Hammonds' doctoral studies, was selected for the Top Student Paper panel and ultimately awarded second place in the division of Theatre, Film, and New Multimedia. The paper traces how speech education in the US splinted from one field (English & Language) into multiple traditions such as Public Speaking, Rhetoric, and Theatre. By surfacing the similarities and differences in these traditions, Dr. Hammonds makes the argument that contemporary speech teachers can design more effective and inclusive lessons by incorporating the best theories and practices from each field, rather than staying within narrow disciplinary silos. An expanded and updated version of the paper presented at NCA has been contracted for inclusion in the upcoming Routledge Handbook of Public Speaking: Research and Theory (Munz, Mckenna-Buchanon, & Wright, 2024).

Below are photos from the conference.

Kyle his partner, Liv, enjoying National Harbor after a day of conferencing

Kyle with his mentor, cultural philosopher Eric Kramer, at NCA 2023

Kyle holding the 2nd place paper award for the division of Theatre, Film, & New Multimedia