Jeffrey P. Mehltretter Drury
- Professor of Rhetoric, Dept Chair
- Fine Arts Center S204
- 765-361-6296
- druryj@wabash.edu
- Curriculum vitae
Jeffrey P. Mehltretter Drury is a Professor at Wabash College. He arrived to Wabash in 2012 from Central Michigan University, where he had been a professor in the Communication and Dramatic Arts Department since 2008.
Professor Drury’s scholarly expertise is in advocacy and public discourse, with particular interest in what political argumentation means for the role and value of citizen participation. He has researched various topics, ranging from how contemporary presidents invoke public opinion to the rhetorical efforts to mobilize the 1960s student movement to representations of debate in the musical, Hamilton.
In 2021, he published a co-edited book (with Associate Professor Sara Drury) entitled Rhetoric, Politics, and Hamilton: An American Musical. He has also published a textbook, Argumentation in Everyday Life, in 2019 with SAGE Publications and, in 2014, the monograph Speaking with the People’s Voice, a study of presidential rhetoric and public opinion, with Texas A&M University Press.
Like many Wabash students, Professor Drury is Midwest born-and-raised, having lived in the four states surrounding Lake Michigan: Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and now Indiana. This makes him a Big Ten—or B1G—fan, with a firm rooting interest for the Wisconsin Badgers (where he attended graduate school). Apart from being a college sports fan, he enjoys relaxing with his wife, Rhetoric faculty member Sara Drury, travelling to interesting places, and baking (and eating) delicious desserts.
Education
Ph.D. in Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2008
M.A. in Communication, Northern Illinois University, 2003
B.A. in Communication, Northern Illinois University, 2001
Recent Course Offerings
RHE 101 Public Speaking
RHE 140 Argumentation and Debate
RHE 201 Reasoning and Advocacy
RHE 270 Misinformation in a Social Media Age
RHE 270 Strategic Communication
RHE 270 Rhetoric of U.S. Social Movements
RHE 370 U.S. Presidential Rhetoric
RHE 370 What is "Rhetoric"?
RHE 497 Senior Seminar
FRC Enduring Questions
FRT Hamilton: An American Musical & the Liberal Arts
FRT Defense Against the Dark Rhetorical Arts
Recent Presentations
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter, and Ryan Neville-Shepard. “Performing Presidential Rhetoric: Implied Argumentative Norms in the Washington Post’s ‘Presidential President’ Editorial Series.” Presented at the International Society for the Study of Argumentation convention, Leiden, the Netherlands, July 2023.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “Unlocking Achievements: Making Extra Credit More Meaningful.” Presented at the National Communication Association annual convention, New Orleans, November 2022.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “Argument Pedagogy for Political Survival.” Session Chair and Organizer at the National Communication Association annual convention, Baltimore, MD, November 2019.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “Is Cogent Argumentation Possible Through Social Media?” Presented at the National Communication Association/American Forensic Association Summer Conference on Argumentation, Alta, UT, August 2019.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “The Importance of Politics to Public Health in ‘Pandemic Legacy.’” Presented at the National Communication Association annual convention, Salt Lake City, UT, November 2018.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “‘I’d Rather be Divisive than Indecisive’: Argumentation Lessons from Hamilton: An American Musical.” Presented at the International Society for the Study of Argumentation conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, July 2018.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “Blue Sky Workshop: Argumentation in a World of Alternative Facts and Echo Chambers.” Presented at the International Communication Association annual convention, Prague, Czech Republic, May 2018.
Recent Publications
Books
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter, and Sara A. Mehltretter Drury, Editors. Rhetoric, Politics, and Hamilton: An American Musical. No. 48, Frontiers in Political Communication Series. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2021.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. Argumentation in Everyday Life. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2019.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. Speaking with the People’s Voice: How Presidents Invoke Public Opinion. No. 23, Presidential Rhetoric and Political Communication Series. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2014.
Peer Reviewed Articles, Book Chapters, & Conference Proceedings
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “Is Cogent Argumentation Possible Through Social Media?” in Local Theories of Argument. Edited by Dale Hample. New York: Routledge, 2021.
Drury, Sara A. Mehltretter Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter Drury, and Henry Egan. “Introduction: Hamilton as Cultural and Rhetorical Phenomenon” In Rhetoric, Politics, and Hamilton: An American Musical. Edited by Jeffrey P. Mehltretter Drury and Sara A. Mehltretter Drury. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2021.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “Political Niceties and Rap in Hamilton.” In Rhetoric, Politics, and Hamilton: An American Musical. Edited by Jeffrey P. Mehltretter Drury and Sara A. Mehltretter Drury. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2021.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter, Nicholas S. Paliewicz, and Sara A. Mehltretter Drury. “Argument Pedagogy for Everyday Life.” Journal of Communication Pedagogy 2 (2019), 37-42.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “Beyond ‘Rhetorical Agency’: Skutnik’s Story in the 1982 State of the Union Address.” 天下足球网,球探比分stern Journal of Communication. Online, 2017. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10570314.2017.1294705.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter, and Cole A. Crouch. “Robert F. Kennedy, ‘Statement on the Death of Reverend Martin Luther King, Rally in Indianapolis, Indiana’ (4 April 1968) and Robert F. Kennedy, ‘Remarks at the Cleveland City Club’ (5 April 1968).” Voices of Democracy 11 (2016): 1-24.
Book Reviews
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. Review of The Bully Pulpit, Presidential Speeches, and the Shaping of Public Policy, edited by Jeffrey S. Ashley and Marla J. Jarmer. Presidential Studies Quarterly 48 (2018): 626-28.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. Review of Political Rhetoric, by Mary E. Stuckey. Rhetoric & Public Affairs 21 (2018): 371-74.
Recent Lectures & Public Presentations
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. Guest in Dr. Danielle R. Mehlman-Brightwell, COMMRC 0500: Argument, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, September 2022.
Drury, Sara A. Mehltretter, and Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “Building Resilience through Speech.” Guest lesson in Pathway to Your Future, a visit program for high school sophomores and juniors who are underrepresented minority students, eligible for federal Pell Grants, and/or first-generation college students, Wabash College, July 2022.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. Interviewed about Robert F. Kennedy’s rhetoric for Kristine Warrenburg et al., “Documenting Community Commemoration, Activism & Reconciliation: Tracing the Legacy of RFK’s Announcement of MLK’s Assassination on April 4, 1968,” Flagler College, March 2022.
Tweedy, Ayanna, and Jeffrey P. Mehltretter Drury. "Creating an Inclusive Classroom Environment." Presentation as part of the Teaching and Learning Committee Opening Workshop, Wabash College, August 2021.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “Free Speech and Social Media.” Presentation as part of the Free Speech Discussion Group, Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse, Wabash College, October 2020.
Drury, Sara A. Mehltretter, and Jeffrey P. Mehltretter Drury. “Should You Watch This Year’s Presidential Debates?” Chapel Talk, Wabash College, September 2020.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter, and Simon Hacker. “Communication & Marketing Strategies.” Presented as part of training for the COVID-19 Action Response & Education (CARE) Team, undergraduate health ambassadors, Wabash College, August 2020.
Drury, Sara A. Mehltretter, and Jeffrey P. Mehltretter Drury. “Facilitative Leadership and Civic Engagement.” Presentation at James Madison University in Florence, Florence, Italy, Spring 2018.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter, and Cole Crouch. “Robert F. Kennedy’s Prophetic Vision in Indianapolis and Cleveland.” Presentation for the Ides of August, Wabash College, Fall 2016.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter, and Ross Sponsler. “Illumination and the Rhetorical Nature of Public Opinion: Preliminary Findings.” Presentation for the Ides of August, Wabash College, Fall 2015.
Drury, Jeffrey P. Mehltretter. “The Privilege of Privilege.” Chapel Talk, Wabash College, Fall 2014.