Robert R. Richardson

About Me

Dr. Randy Richardson, a visiting associate professor in the School of Communication, began teaching at Westminster in the fall of 2016. The college classroom and its extended borders provides the perfect venue for the development of engaged, experiential communication competence- an idea that unites over three decades of Richardson’s scholarship and teaching.

In the front of a Westminster classroom one is likely to see him teaching the following:
                        COM 450   Communication Theory
                        COM 251   Oral Interpretation of Literature
                        COM 202   Small Group Communication
                        COM 151   Voice and Diction
                        SPE 111     Introduction to Public Communication
                        INQ 111     Inquiry (Introduction to Liberal Arts)
                        ENG 109    Sporting Spirit (Sports in Film)

A close examination of his vita might reveal courses taught in Honors Political Communication, Contemporary Persuasion, Humor and Persuasion and The Rhetoric of Bruce Springsteen’s America.

Dr. Richardson’s primary area of research involves forensic pedagogy, but his current count of 14 refereed journal publications and over 40 national and regional convention and conference presentations touch on the following areas of interest: Political Communication, Religious Rhetoric, Communication and Leadership, Credibility in Communication, Public Narrative, Rhetorical Criticism, Humor and Persuasion, Isocrates, and the Philosophy and Rhetorical Criticism of Kenneth Burke. From 2012-2016, Dr. Richardson served as the co-editor of the National Forensic Journal.

Richardson serves as the advisor to the Westminster Speech & Debate Society. He has been actively involved in intercollegiate forensics (speech & debate) for 40 years. His students have earned numerous national championships and awards including the National Forensic Association’s Pentathlon Champion in 1994 and 2004. In March of 2018, a Westminster student was named the Novice National Forensic Tournament’s Pentathlon Champion in Boston. Richardson was awarded the NFA’s Outstanding Service Award in 2004, and he became only the second person to receive NFA’s Honorary Career Award in 2016.

Dr. Richardson’s educational record includes:
                     Ph.D. Communication and Rhetorical Processes   Wayne State University
                     MA     Speech Communication   Ball State University
                     BS      Speech/Theater Education   Ball State University
                     AA    Florida College