Interview with Robert Danisch

Robert Danisch has a PhD in Communication from the University of Pittsburgh (2004) and a BA from the University of Virginia in History and Philosophy. He is currently Chair of the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo. He writes about communication, persuasion, and politics. He is the author of Beyond Civility: The Competing Obligations of Citizenship with W. Keith (Penn State Press, 2020), Pragmatism, Democracy, and the Necessity of Rhetoric (University of South Carolina Press, 2007), Building a Social Democracy: The Promise of Rhetorical Pragmatism (Lexington Books, 2015), andWhat Effect Have I Had? 100 Communication Practices to be a Better Partner, Teammate, Writer, Speaker, and Leader (KDP, 2018). Professor Danisch hosts a podcast called Now We’re Talking that focuses on communication skills, and he teaches courses in Leadership, Communication Ethics, Speech Writing, Persuasion, Small Group Communication, and Theories of Communication. He has also been the Director of Arts First, the Faculty of Arts program required for all first year University students that emphasizes skills in communication and analysis.