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School of Communication and Journalism

Becky Kuehl

Photo of Becky Kuehl

Title

Associate Academic Director/Professor

Office Building

Pugsley Center

Office

115

Mailing Address

Pugsley Cont Ed Center 115
School of Communication and Journalism-Box 2218
University Station
Brookings, SD 57007

Biography

Dr. Rebecca A. Kuehl is associate academic director and professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University. She also teaches in women, gender and sexuality studies at SDSU. Her research focuses on intersections among rhetorical citizenship and public deliberation, civic rhetoric and education, workplace cultural diversity and community inclusion and women’s health discourses such as childbirth and breastfeeding. Her research has been funded by two Community Innovation Grants from the Bush Foundation. Her research has appeared in edited books, including Rhetoric: Concord and Controversy, Contemporary Rhetorical Citizenship, Speech and Debate as Civic Education and The Rhetoric of Health and Medicine As/Is. Her research has also appeared in Human Communication Research, Rhetoric of Health and Medicine, Southern Communication Journal, Communication Quarterly, Communication Design Quarterly Review, Health Communication, Translational Behavioral Medicine and the Journal of Human Lactation.

CV

Kuehl CV September 2016.doc(145.5 KB)

Education

  • B.A. in communication studies with honors | Gustavus Adolphus College | 2005
  • M.A. in speech communication | University of Georgia | 2007
  • Ph.D. in communication studies | University of Minnesota | 2011

Academic Interests

  • Rhetorical citizenship
  • Public dialogue and deliberation
  • Civic education
  • Women's health

Academic Responsibilities

  • CMST 101: Fundamentals of Speech
  • CMST 215: Public Speaking
  • CMST 222: Argumentation and Debate
  • CMST/WMST 415-515: Communication and Gender
  • CMST 416-516: Rhetorical Criticism
  • CMST 470: Intercultural Communication
  • CMST 470: Honors Intercultural Communication
  • CMST 492-592: Topics: Pop Culture and Communication
  • CMST 701: Intro to Graduate Studies
  • CMST 792: Topics: Graduate Writing Seminar
  • CMST 792: Topics: Rhetorical Citizenship

Committees and Professional Memberships

Committees

  • Brookings Inclusive Collaborative
  • Brookings Supports Breastfeeding
  • South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Coalition

Professional Memberships

  • National Communication Association
  • Central States Communication Association
  • Speech Communication Association of South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã

à£à£Ö±²¥Ðãs and Honors

  • 2023, F. O. Butler à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã for Excellence in Teaching, South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University
  • 2023, Sewrey Colloquium on Research and Scholarship (with Dr. Molly Enz), South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University
  • 2022,  à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã for Outstanding Service to College, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University
  • 2022, Sewrey Colloquium on Teaching and Learning, South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University
  • 2022, Van D. and Barbara B. Fishback Honors College Faculty Mentor, South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University
  • 2021, Edward Patrick Hogan à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã for Excellence in Teaching, South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University

Grants

  • Enz, M. K., Kuehl, R. A. and Andrews, J. Supporting Caregiving and Employee Wellbeing: Visions of a Healthy University. Karen McComish Interdisciplinary Faculty Research Program Fund Proposal, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences internal grant, May 2024 – August 2024, $3,441.
  • Neubauer, M. and Kuehl, R. A. Brookings Public Library and Brookings Inclusive Collaborative: Brookings Community Intergroup Dialogues. South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã Humanities Council external grant, June - October 2023, $3,725.
  • Enz, M. K., Kuehl, R. A., Hanson, J. and Moore, E. Working caregivers in the age of COVID-19: Perspectives from South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University employees. Collaborative Scholarship Fund Proposal, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences internal grant, May 2021 – August 2021, $2,927.
  • Kuehl, R. A., Enz, M., Drury, S. A. M., Lammers, A., Garst-Santos, C., Williams, K., Rovai, M., Doom, K., Heuton, A., Hauge, S., Petterson, D., Rhodes, M., Plummer, L., Torres Chan, S. and Whitehead, L. Deliberating diversity: Communicating about our community climate to enhance inclusion in Brookings businesses. Bush Foundation Community Innovation external grant, February 2020 – December 2022, $193,256.

Work Experience

  • Graduate school fellow, University of Minnesota
  • Graduate instructor, University of Minnesota
  • Research assistant and teaching assistant, University of Georgia

Areas of Research

  • Rhetorical citizenship
  • Public deliberation
  • Civic education
  • Women's health discourses

I have been involved in a variety of community-based research partnerships while at SDSU, including with the South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã Department of Health, Brookings Health System, the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce, Brookings Economic Development Corporation, Vision Brookings and the Brookings Human Rights Commission.

Publications

  1. Kuehl, R. A., Anderson, J. and Hanson, S. (2025, accepted). Communication about perinatal mental health disorders in the rural United States: Narrative and social support as communication strategies. Rhetoric of Health and Medicine, special issue on rural health, forthcoming.
  2. Kuehl, R. A., Enz, M. K. and Drury, S. A. M. (2023). . Human Communication Research, online first. DOI: 10.1093/hcr/hqad006.
  3. Kuehl, R. A. (2022). . Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 21(4). DOI: 10.14434/josotl.v21i4.32673.
  4. Kuehl, R. A. and Knippling, O. R. (2021). . Discourse: The Journal of the Speech Communication Association of South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã, 6, Article 1.

Department(s)