Erin Banks-Kirkham Ph.D.

Education: 

• Ph.D. English, emphasis in Rhetoric and Writing, Ball State University, 2015
• M.A. English, emphasis in Children’s Literature, Eastern Michigan University, 2005
• B.A. English, writing emphasis, Andrews University, 2002

 

Principal Research Interests

Dr. Banks-Kirkham's research primarily focuses on feminist rhetoric within presidential campaign documents. Her dissertation  examined archival documents from Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign for president, looking specifically at how women were both appealed to and talked about within these documents. She used critical discourse analysis to examine the specific ways language was used in this effort and how this language use categorized women, revealing the ideological stance of the Republican Party at this time regarding women’s issues. Political language in use is a common scholarly focus for rhetoricians; however, Dr. Banks-Kirkham's research highlights the ways that the language used inside political campaigns, which is not intended for the public, reveals a party’s ideological stance on women and equality in ways public rhetoric may not. Recently, she has pursued similar research projects looking at the 1976 and 1980 Carter presidential campaigns. 

Outside of historical feminist rhetoric, Dr. Banks-Kirkham also presents her research regularly at national and regional conferences on the ways writing is taught and assessed at La Sierra. She has presented on projects focused on writing program adminsitration at a small, Hispanic-serving institution, writing across the curriculum, and how updates to the College Writing Program meet requirements to AB705. 

Research Areas:

• Historical feminist rhetoric

• Political campaign rhetoric
• Composition theory and pedagogy