Sean O'Rourke, Furman University Rate Professors

Sean O'Rourke

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School: Furman University
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Department: Communication
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Location: 3300 Poinsett Hwy
Greenville, SC - 29613
Dates at Furman University: November 2004 - July 2019
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Biography

Furman University - Communication

Director, Center for Speaking & Listening, Sewanee: The University of the South; Professor, Rhetoric & American Studies
Higher Education
Sean Patrick
O'Rourke
Sewanee, Tennessee
Animated by the ideal of the university as an enduring public good. Deep and abiding commitment to the values of liberal education adapted to the unique needs of twenty-first century students. Primary concern for the communication arts of an engaged citizenry – freedom of speech, robust and responsible debate, reasoned deliberation, impassioned protest and dissent, constructive argument in controversy – at the center of democratic civic life. Related interests in law and legal studies.

Educational leadership through administration, scholarship, mentoring, and service. Strengths in collaborative decision-making, faculty governance, and democratic procedures; success in organizational change, curriculum design and development, mentoring students and junior faculty, and shaping long-term vision; strong record of cultivating vigorous and stimulating intellectual climates, interdisciplinary collaborations, student/faculty scholarship and close connections between university campuses and their surrounding communities.

Scholarship and teaching focused on rhetoric, legal rights, and protest movements. Particular expertise in honors and humanities teaching, undergraduate research and scholarship, public/civic engagement, and study away. Scholarship and public commentary available on academia.edu.

Experience

Vanderbilt University
Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Communication Studies Department
American and Southern Studies affiliate faculty.

Fellowships: Summer Research Fellow, 1996, 1994; Lilly Fellow, 1994-95; National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Fellow, 1993.

Courses Taught: Rhetoric in Civic Life, Freedom of Speech, Rhetoric of the American Experience, British Public Address, Public Speaking, Rhetoric of the Mass Media, Rhetoric of Law & Justice, Seminar in Modern Rhetorical Paradigms.

Scholarship: Essays and reviews in Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Rhetoric Review, Canadian Journal of Rhetorical Studies/La Revue Canadienne d'études, Southern Communication Journal, Communication Reports, American Journal of Legal History, Journal of the Early Republic, Rhetorica, Legal Studies Forum, Free Speech Yearbook, Encyclopedia of Rhetoric & Composition, Presidents as Orators, and other publications.

Grants: Research grants from Vanderbilt Research Council; Teaching grants from NEH, Lilly Foundation, and Provost's Initiative on Technological Innovation in Teaching.

Civic Engagement Activities: Essays in national and regional magazines and newspapers; interviews for national newspapers and radio stations; lectures and talks for local schools; classes and workshops with government agencies and NGOs.

Awards & Honors: Awards for Research & Teaching (see below).
Furman University
Chair, Communication Studies
Duties: managed half-million dollar annual department budget; designed and developed department curriculum; conducted long-term planning; scheduled courses; recruited, hired, and evaluated faculty and teaching staff; coordinated efforts of television studio, media lab, debating society, and undergraduate research programs; led department resource review; designed and implemented department’s enrollment management plan; administered department's involvement in university's study away programs; supervised department tenure, promotion, and merit evaluation standards and procedures.

Accomplishments: Cultivated democratic policies and procedures for shared faculty governance; crafted department vision and mission statement; improved quantity, quality, and diversity of department faculty; led SACS accreditation, assessment, and review; piloted department’s external review; guided curriculum revision and semester conversion; implemented department mentoring program for new and junior faculty; dramatically improved department’s record of undergraduate research and scholarship; raised funds and increased resources for student and faculty travel, media lab, and debating society; initiated department convocation; enhanced advising and assistance program for students interested in graduate and professional schools; revised and instituted department library acquisition policy; created, edited, and published biannual department newsletter; enhanced quality and quantity of department’s scholarly productivity; expanded department's study away opportunities; nurtured and enriched department’s public engagement activities.

Scholarship: Essays and reviews in Advances in the History of Rhetoric, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Women’s Studies in Communication, International Encyclopedia of Communication, Readings in Propaganda and Persuasion, Classical Rhetorics & Rhetoricians, and other publications.

Awards & Honors: Awards for Inviting Diversity and Teaching (see below).
Furman University
Professor of Rhetoric
Interdisciplinary Humanities Minor faculty; Interdisciplinary Ancient Greek & Roman Studies Minor faculty; Interdisciplinary African & African Diaspora Studies Minor faculty.

Fellowships: Cothran Fellow, 2015-16, 2013-14; Lilly Fellow, 2011-12, 2005-06; Piper Ethics Fellow, 2006-07.

Courses Taught: Rhetoric in the Age of Protest, 1948-1973, African American Protest, U.S. Public Address I & II, History of Rhetoric I & II, Rhetorical Criticism, Ethics of Rhetoric, Humanities Seminar, Introduction to Rhetoric, Argumentation, Persuasion, Public Speaking.

Scholarship: Essays and reviews in Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Controversia, Southern Communication Journal, Advances in the History of Rhetoric, Free Speech Yearbook, Carolinas Communication Annual, Young Scholars in Writing, and other publications.

Grants: Research grants from South Carolina Humanities Council, Alliance to Advance Liberal Arts Colleges, Mellon Foundation, South Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities, Associated Colleges of the South, Furman Advantage; Teaching grants from Lilly Foundation, Humanities Development Fund, Furman Advantage.

Civic Engagement Activities: Essays in national and regional magazines and newspapers; interviews for regional television and radio stations; lectures and talks for local and regional schools, libraries, and museums; classes and workshops with government agencies, NGOs, for-profit companies, and seniors.

Study Away: Director, Furman-in-Edinburgh Program, 2011, 2016; Director, Rhetoric of Social Activism Program in the San Francisco Bay Area, 2010-present. Co-Director, Furman-in-Italy Program, 2007.

Awards & Honors: Awards for Teaching, Mentoring, Outreach, & Service (see below).
University of the South
Director of the Center for Speaking & Listening; Professor of Rhetoric & American Studies
Sean worked at University of the South as a Director of the Center for Speaking & Listening; Professor of Rhetoric & American Studies
University of the South
Brown Foundation Fellow & Distinguished Visiting Professor of Rhetoric
Courses Taught: Rhetoric in the Age of Protest, 1948-1973.
Oregon State University
Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Speech Communication Department
Director of Graduate Studies 1988-91: Recruited young scholars to the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies program; helped build interdisciplinary rhetoric program; advised all department graduate students in their first term at O.S.U. and assisted them in the formation of graduate committees; adjudicated department graduate student grievances; coordinated department graduate program with other Liberal Arts College departments.

Coordinator of Graduate Teaching Assistants, 1988-91: Recruited and hired graduate teaching assistants; managed teacher-training for all graduate teaching assistants; scheduled and coordinated graduate teaching assignments with faculty course directors of the Argumentation & Critical Thinking, Public Speaking, and Introduction to Communication courses; designed and administered course assessments; conducted graduate teacher evaluations and reviews; offered coursework in university teaching and the art of the lecture.

Courses Taught: Rhetoric of Revolutionaries & Reactionaries, Freedom of Speech, History of Rhetoric, U.S. Public Address, Introduction to Rhetoric, Argumentation & Critical Thinking, Public Speaking, Communication Education, The Art of the Lecture.

Grants: Research grants from OSU Library; Teaching grant from Bill of Rights Education Collaborative.

Civic Engagement Activities: Essays in national and regional magazines and newspapers; interviews for local radio stations; lectures and talks for local schools; classes and workshops with government agencies and NGOs.

Awards & Honors: Awards for Teaching (see below).

Education

University of Oregon
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Rhetoric & Public Address
Jewett Research Prize, 1982-83; 1984-85.
Humboldt State University
Master of Arts (MA)
Rhetoric & Public Address
University of Oregon School of Law
Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD)
Constitutional Law, Legal History, Legal Philosophy
Alumni Scholar, 1982-1986. U.S. Debate Team Member, New Zealand Tour, NCA-CIDD, 1984.

Positions

Rhetoric Society of America
Board of Directors, 2004-2006.
Life Member.
Rhetoric Society of America
Board of Directors, 2004-2006.
Life Member.
Rhetoric Society of America
Board of Directors, 2004-2006.
Life Member.
American Society for the History of Rhetoric
President, 1996-97; Vice-President, 1995-96; Board of Directors, 2011-14, 2001-03, 1995-97, 1992-93.
Rhetoric Society of America
Board of Directors, 2004-2006.
Life Member.
American Society for the History of Rhetoric
President, 1996-97; Vice-President, 1995-96; Board of Directors, 2011-14, 2001-03, 1995-97, 1992-93.
Rhetoric Society of America
Board of Directors, 2004-2006.
Life Member.
American Society for the History of Rhetoric
President, 1996-97; Vice-President, 1995-96; Board of Directors, 2011-14, 2001-03, 1995-97, 1992-93.
Rhetoric Society of America
Board of Directors, 2004-2006.
Life Member.
American Society for the History of Rhetoric
President, 1996-97; Vice-President, 1995-96; Board of Directors, 2011-14, 2001-03, 1995-97, 1992-93.