William Benoit
One of the nation’s leading communication researchers, William L. Benoit, will deliver his own spin about political communication at 7 p.m. Oct 20 in Schroeder Hall, room 138, on the ISU campus.
Benoit will speak about the data he has collected concerning the nature of the humorous attacks on Donald Trump made by Republican candidates during the 2016 primaries. This event is free for all attendees and refreshments will be provided.
He is best known for developing image restoration theory and the functional theory of political campaign discourse. After 24 years at the University of Missouri, Benoit has been a professor of communication at Ohio University for the past eight years. Among his students at Missouri were current ISU School of Communication faculty, Megan Hopper, John McHale, and Joseph Blaney.
Blaney believes Benoit knows the political communication landscape.
“Dr. Benoit is the most productive scholar in the communication discipline” said Blaney. “Politics is a great fodder of humor, and the use of humor in political campaigns is an important topic for scholars in communication.”
McHale values all he learned from Benoit.
“My experiences working with Bill Benoit have been some of the greatest learning experiences of my life” said McHale. “Bill has always been generous about inviting aspiring scholars to share in his work. He taught me much about the writing process.”
This event is sponsored by the Harold K. Sage Foundation and Illinois State University’s Foundation Fund in cooperation with ISU’s School of Communication.
