Katie Brunner, M.F.A.

Education

• M.F.A. in Communication Studies from Minnesota State University, Mankato
• B.A. in Organizational Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Biography

A Pembine, WI, native, Brunner earned a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and a master of fine arts degree in Communication Studies from Minnesota State University, Mankato. She started out her faculty career at Simpson College as the Assistant Director of Speech and Debate, before returning to MSU-Mankato to become the Assistant Director of Speech and Debate for Maverick Forensics. She was in this position for one year, before entering her current position as Director of Speech and Debate.

Her research interests include: Rhetoric (particularly theological rhetoric and protest rhetoric); Critical Communication Pedagogy; Forensics Pedagogy; Performance of Identity; Dialogic & Relational Communication; Queer Theory; and Feminist Theory. She is particularly passionate about examining the cross-over of skills taught in the critical communication classroom and in forensics coaching and understanding the intersections of Christian and LGBTQ+ identity.

Prior to becoming a professor, Brunner was a marketing specialist for Menards corporate headquarters, and a writer for the Center for School-University Partnerships and Today magazine. Outside of work, she enjoys seeing live music and theater, camping, hiking, tubing on the river, and spending time with her partner Wesley and their three year old daughter Naomi.

Recent Publications

• Dimock, J. P., Brunner, K. M., McCasland, B., Paris, M. (2018). A critical recovery of images asarguments: Manipulation, distortion, and debating Abortion. Disturbing Arguments: Proceedingsfrom the 19th ALTA Conference on Argumentation. New York, NY: Routledge.
• Walker, J. L., Brunner, K. M. (2017). Getting critical communication pedagogy Accepted: Using a popular culture portrayal of the education system to encourage a critique of the banking system. In Rudick, K. C., Golsan, K., & Cheesewright, K. Teaching from the heart: Critical communication pedagogy in the communication classroom. (Contributor)
• Brunner, K. M. (2015). Myth and the Paris Commune. Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal, 41.

Web

• Speech & Debate Team
• Speech & Debate Team Facebook Page