Westminster College Professor Earns Doctorate

Dr. James Cherney recently earned his doctorate degree from Indiana University and a promotion from Westminster College.

Cherney, now assistant professor of speech at Westminter, wrote his dissertation on "Rhetorical Norms of Ableist Culture.

"It examines the discursive institutions that promote and sustain discrimination on the basis of ability. The paper traces ableist thinking in such historical texts as Aristote's discussion of teratology or monsters and Alexander Graham Bell's eugenicist study of the deaf, and then links them to contemporary texts like the debates over the cochlear implant and professional golfer Casey Martin," Cherney said.

Cherney, who has been with Westminster College since 2000, earned his undergraduate degree from Butler University, and his master's from Indiana University.

For more information, contact Cherney at (724) 946-7235 or e-mail chernejl@westminster.edu.