Josh Boyd

Get to Know Professor Josh Boyd

My primary research interests are sports communication, sponsorship and naming, corporate discourse, and pedagogy (especially assessment of student learning). My primary teaching interests are corporate rhetoric, issue management, sports communication, and communication teaching.

I typically work with graduate students who are interested in rhetoric, organizational discourse, and teaching. As an advisor, my goal is to help graduate students reach their goals, and I don't assume that all graduate students have the same goals. So, if a student really wants to prepare to be a professor at a primarily teaching-oriented institution, I support that goal. And if a student wants to prepare for a research-intensive faculty job, I can back that goal as well. Some of my graduate students have targeted the corporate world, and we have worked together to map out a strategy for that goal as well. I want graduate students to achieve their understanding of success as a result of their graduate studies. My priorities are quick response times and feedback that moves students toward improvement. My currency isn't gold stars, but suggestions to make students' work stronger and more thoughtful. I like to help students develop a plan and a schedule, after which I'll do my best to hold up my end of the responsibility for making that schedule work.

Bio

Ph.D., Indiana University
M.A., Ohio University
B.A., Lipscomb University

Dr. Boyd teaches COM 204 (Critical Perspectives on Communication), the writing intensive course that is part of the pre-communication requirement. Teaching is his favorite part of the job; he has won Purdue's 2010 Murphy Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, as well as the College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award.

“A tool instead of a chore: Measuring student learning gains in order to improve instruction.” Communication Teacher (2018). With Melanie Morgan.

“Organizational rhetoric:  A subject of interest(s).”  Management Communication Quarterly (2011).  With Damion Waymer.

"A different kind of [text]book: Using fiction in the classroom," Communication Education (2004)

“The rhetorical construction of trust online.”  Communication Theory (2003).

"Selling home: Corporate stadium names and the destruction of commemoration," Journal of Applied Communication Research (2000).