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Indiana University Bloomington

Faculty | Brian Amsden

Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Communication and Culture

Email: bamsden@indiana.edu
Phone :856-1365
Office: 219

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Research Interests

Argumentation and public deliberation, the relationship between liberal-democratic political theory and rhetorical style, rhetoric and law, freedom of speech, and conflicts over the civil and political rights of youth

Background

Professor Amsden’s research focuses on how the ideology of liberalism constrains rhetorical practice in contemporary US public culture, with a particular focus on the ways that children and young adults are used symbolically to negotiate conflicts over practices of deliberation and judgment. His work also speaks to the complex relationship between legal institutions and public cultures.

Publication Highlights

Amsden, Brian. “Student Advocacy and the Limits of (Action-) Free Speech: Figurations of Materiality in Tinker, Bethel, and Hazelwood.” Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 8, no. 4 (2011): 353–375.

Amsden, Brian. “Democratic Prudence and the Youth Suffrage Debate.” Argumentation & Advocacy 48, no. 1 (2011): 22–38.

Amsden, Brian. “Negotiating Liberalism and Bio-Politics: Stylizing Power in Defense of the Mall Curfew.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 94, no. 4 (2008): 407–429.