Lauren Seitz is a PhD Student in the Communications department with an expected graduation date in 2025. 

Do you currently, or have you in the past worked as a TA, RA, or GA? If so, list your position(s).

As an RA for Dr. Ned O'Gorman, I serve as the Managing Editor for Journal for the History of Rhetoric, and as a TA I have taught CMN 111 and CMN 112 (Oral & Written Communication I and II) and CMN 215 (Interviewing).

What are your research or academic interests?

I study contemporary far right European political rhetoric, and I am interested in uncovering the persuasive forces of radical political discourse. I analyze how nationalism, populism, and national identity discourses work together in the public sphere.

In 1-2 sentences, tell us more about your thesis/dissertation research.

My dissertation examines the political discourse of radical right-wing candidates who ran in France's 2022 presidential election: Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour. I examine how they deploy different persuasive strategies to constitute a very narrow vision of national belonging in their campaigns.

Have you received any awards or honors that you would like to highlight?

I received a Distinguished Graduate Fellowship-Humanities and Arts from the Graduate College and was a Graduate Fellow from 2021 to 2024. In 2022, I was awarded the Robert Gunderson Top Student Paper Award from the National Communication Association's Public Address Division for my essay on anti-public health rhetoric in France during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Do you have any blog posts or publications you that you would like to highlight? Please provide a link, if possible, as well as the title.

Journal article title: Fighting the “Terrible Poison” of Terrorism: Marine Le Pen’s Rhetoric of Ethnicism and Islamophobia Link: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/26/article/938276