Ben Voth
Chair of Communication Studies (2010-2013), Director of Debate & Speech,
Associate professor, Southern Methodist University, PhD-Kansas (1994)
Expertise: Public speaking and presentation, communication,
argumentation, debate, communication and human
rights, and rhetoric.
Purpose: Researching and teaching to help people find their voice in the world.
Major instructional clients:
• City of Plano-- leadership programs 2009-present The City of Plano conducts a comprehensive
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leadership program for select city employees. The program features a component designed to
improve public presentations to the City Council and the Mayor.
Bush Institute in the George W. Bush Presidential Center 2012-present I collaborated with
director Amity Shlaes, former director of Economic growth, to create special economic debate
programs and judge training (2012 & 2013). I worked with director Amanda Schnetzer, director
of Human Freedom, to create public speaking and argument programming for Burmese dissidents
(2014).
Dallas Urban Debate Alliance I host and assist with an extensive public communication
program directed at DISD middle school and high school students (2008- present). Students learn
to argue, research, and think critically about current issues through debate pedagogy.
United States Holocaust Museum Washington DC 2006 -2007 I taught, coached, and
evaluated holocaust survivors for the purpose of improving their ability to present their personal
stories in public.
Major recent academic publications:
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The Rhetoric of Genocide: Death as a Text. Rowman & Littlefield. (2014). [book]
• “Presidential Debates 2012,” in The 2012 Presidential Campaign: A Communication Perspective.
edited by Robert Denton Jr., Rowman & Littlefield: New York (2014), pp. 45-56.
• Chapter 13. “‘Saturday Night Live’ and Presidential Elections,” in Morris Jonathan S., and Jody C.
Baumgartner, eds.. Laughing Matters: Humor and American Politics in the Media Age. New York:
Routledge, 2008, pp. 229-240.
Popular publications:
• “What 'The Great Debater' James Farmer Can Teach Us Today,” KERA— NPR affiliate for
Dallas, Texas, January 12, 2015, http://keranews.org/post/what-great-debater-james-farmer-canteach-us-today.
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“JFK’s undelivered speech gave vision of where he wanted to lead U.S.,” Dallas Morning News,
November 12, 2013, http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20131112-jfksundelivered-speech-gave-vision-of-where-he-wanted-to-lead-u.s..ece.
“Changing American Political Debates,” NPR affiliate KERA in Dallas, news commentary,
KERA.org, October 30, 2008.
Major Student speech & debate coaching work:
for more detailed information see benvoth.com
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National Champions in novice debate, persuasive speaking, impromptu speaking and rhetorical
criticism: 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2013. Coached semifinalists of the NDT in 1994.
for more detailed information see benvoth.com