Department of Communication

Gordon R. Mitchell

Associate Professor of Communication; Director of the William Pitt Debating Union; Deputy Director, Ridgway Center for International Security Studies
PhD, Northwestern University

1109 Cathedral of Learning
Phone: 412-624-8531
E-mail: gordonm@pitt.edu

Gordon Mitchell focuses on the theory and praxis of argumentation, with a research program specializing in public address and argument, rhetoric of science, and critical pedagogy. As director of the William Pitt Debating Union, Mitchell convenes public forums, supports intercollegiate student debating, conducts debate outreach initiatives, and organizes the Schenley Park DAWG (Debate Authors Working Group). Mitchell also works as a senior research associate with the University of Pittsburgh’s Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies, where his projects elucidate communicative dimensions of missile defense, preventive warfare, and intelligence.

Graduate Courses Taught

Selected Publications

"The US Obesity 'Epidemic': Metaphor, Method, or Madness?" (co-authored with Kathleen M. McTigue). Social Epistemology, 21, 391-423. 2007

"Debate as a Weapon of Mass Destruction" (co-authored with Eric English, Stephen Llano, Catherine E. Morrison, John Rief, and Carly Woods). Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies, 4, 222-226. 2007.

Hitting First: Preventive Force in U.S. Security Strategy, co-edited with William W. Keller (Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2006).

"Team B Intelligence Coups." Quarterly Journal of Speech, 92, 144-173. 2006.

"Public Argument Action Research and the Learning Curve of New Social Movements." Argumentation and Advocacy, 40, 209-225. Spring 2004.

"Did Habermas Cede Nature to the Positivists?" Philosophy and Rhetoric, 36, 1-21. Fall 2003.

"Informed Consent After the Human Genome Project" (co-authored with Kelly Happe). Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 4, 375-406. Fall 2001.

"Japan-U.S. Missile Defense Collaboration: Rhetorically Delicious, Deceptively Dangerous." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, 25, 85-108. Winter 2001.

"Placebo Defense: The Rhetoric of Patriot Missile Accuracy in the 1991 Persian Gulf War." Quarterly Journal of Speech, 86, 121-145. May 2000.

Strategic Deception: Rhetoric, Science, and Politics in Missile Defense Advocacy. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2000.

"Whose Shoe Fits Best? Dubious Physics and Power Politics in the TMD Footprint Controversy." Science, Technology and Human Values, 25, 53-87. Winter 2000.

"Pedagogical Possibilities for Argumentative Agency in Academic Debate." Argumentation and Advocacy, 35, 41-60. Fall 1998.

"Another Strategic Deception Initiative." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 53, 22-23. March/April 1997.

Links

Personal Web site

William Pitt Debating Union Web Site

Schenley Park DAWG (Debate Authors Working Group)

Faculty