Grace College Communication Professor, Alumna Co-Author Chapter for Lexington Books

Grace College Associate Professor of Communication and Communication Program Director Dr. Pat Loebs and Grace alumna Karly Poyner recently co-authored a chapter in the book, “Studies of Communication in the 2020 Presidential Campaign,” edited by Robert E. Denton Jr. and published by Lexington Books. The chapter, entitled “The Trump Card: The Virtue and Vulnerability of a Narrative-based Presidency,” uses narrative theory to examine the rhetorical figure of Donald Trump and how this factored into the 2020 presidential race.

“Karly and I have collaborated on smaller projects here and there, both while she was a student at Grace, and also in her masters and Ph.D. work,” said Loebs. “But when I started to work on this chapter, it immediately seemed something to which she would lend a unique perspective. So I asked if she would be interested in collaborating,” he said.

“With Pat’s eye for political discourse and rhetorical criticism and my eye for gender and identity communication, we were able to work well together on this chapter,” Poyner said.

After graduating from Grace with a bachelor’s degree in communication in 2018, Poyner attended Ball State University where she earned her master’s in communication studies. Now Poyner is a second-year Ph.D. student at the University of Memphis where she received the prestigious Doctoral Studies Scholarship.

“Not many second-year Ph.D. students are published authors,” said Loebs. “But, now, thanks to Karly’s excellent contribution to this project, she is.”

Poyner’s second publication, “Coats of Fire: Rhetorical Identity Negotiations of Feminist Evangelical Christians,” will soon be printed in volume 19 of “Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative Communication Research.”

Poyner and Loebs have stayed in close contact throughout Poyner’s graduate school, often scheduling times to talk about where they are in their research projects or to discuss pedagogy and lesson planning.

“My relationship with Pat shifted from adviser/advisee to mentor/mentee when I started my graduate program back in 2018,” said Poyner. “While I do have an adviser at U of M and a committee of helpful and challenging professors, Dr. Loebs remains a wonderful mentor,” she said.

The communication major is one of the 15 largest majors at Grace.

The Grace Communication program offers both a digital communication and professional communication major as well as minors in political communication, international communication, and public relations. To learn more about the communication program at Grace College, visit www.grace.edu/programs/communications/.