Valerie Palmer-Mehta - Department of Communication and Journalism

Associate Professor of Communication &

Internship Director for the Communication Program

Office: 328 Wilson
Phone: (248) 370-2139
Email: vpalmer@oakland.edu

Research / Teaching / Life

Valerie's research interests sit at the intersection of Rhetorical Studies, particularly Feminist and Critical/Cultural approaches to Rhetoric, Gender Studies, and Media/Cultural Criticism. She teaches courses such as Communication Theory, Feminist Rhetorical Theory, Persuasion, Rhetoric and Public Address, Rhetorical Criticism, Media Criticism, and Multicultural Communication. She currently is the Internship Director for the Communication Program; her term ends August 15, 2013.

She is the recipient of a number of grants, fellowships, and awards, including the GLAAD Center for the Study of Media and Society Grant, Career Services Internship Grant, two OU Faculty Research Fellowships, Thomas Rumble Fellowship, the Oakland University Faculty Recognition Award for research, the NCA Feminist and Women's Studies Top Paper Award, and the Elizabeth Youngjohn Teaching Award. In her spare time, she likes to travel, write, garden, learn new things, and do anything active (hike, bike, run). Last summer, she took Introduction to American Sign Language with Professor Tim Johnston (an excellent experience) and traveled to Paris to present her paper, "Theorizing the Role of Courage in Resistance," at the Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference.

A Sampling of Publications

A complete list of publications may be obtained from Dr. Palmer-Mehta via email.

“Theorizing the Role of Courage in Resistance: A Feminist Rhetorical Analysis of Aung San Suu Kyi’s ‘Freedom From Fear’ Speech.” Communication, Culture, & Critique 5.3 (2012): 313-332.

Palmer-Mehta, Valerie and Alina Haliliuc. “The Performance of Silence in Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days.” Text and Performance Quarterly 31.2 (2011): 111-129.

“Aung San Suu Kyi and the Rhetoric of Social Protest in Burma.” Women’s Studies in Communication 32.2 (2009): 151-179.

Palmer-Mehta, Valerie and Alina Haliliuc. “Reality Television: The Business of Mediating (Extra) Ordinary Life.” The Business of Entertainment—Volume III, Television. Ed. Robert Sickels. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2008. 159-178.

"‘We Are All Bound Up Together’: Frances Harper and Feminist Theory." Black Women’s Intellectual Traditions: Speaking Their Minds. Ed. Kristin Waters and Carol Conaway. Hanover: University of Vermont Press, 2007. 192-215.

"Disciplining the Masculine: The Disruptive Power of Janice Soprano." Reading the Sopranos: Hit TV on HBO. Ed. David Lavery. London: I. B. Tauris, 2006. 57-69.

“The Wisdom of Folly: Disrupting Masculinity in King of the Hill.” Text and Performance Quarterly 26.2 (2006): 181-98.

Palmer-Mehta, Valerie and Kellie D. Hay. "A Superhero for Gays? Gay Masculinity and Green Lantern." Journal of American Culture 28 (2005): 390-404.

Fall 2013 / Winter 2014 Classes

This fall, Dr. Palmer-Mehta is teaching an Honors College course entitled, HC 204: Women in the Rhetorical Tradition; see a flyer here! She also is teaching two sections of Introduction to Communication Studies (COM 150). In the winter of 2014, she is teaching Multicultural Communication (COM 385) and Media Criticism (COM 412).