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Rebekah Whitaker

Title IX Coordinator and Associate Professor of Communication Arts

About

Dr. Whitaker has served the Communication Arts department since 2019 serving as the Communication Studies advisor and Director of Debate. After the birth of her son, Rebekah stepped back from debate in 2024 to serve Union as a Kalos mentor then the Title IX Coordinator.

Whitaker teaches Interpersonal Communication, Public Communication, Argumentation & Debate, Communication Theory & Research, Persuasion, Intercultural Communication, and Communication Training & Development.  Her scholarly work focuses on communication pedagogy, interpersonal communication, and argumentation.

Whitaker and her family, attend and serve at Calvary Baptist Church.

Education

  • Ph.D, Louisiana State University

  • M.A., University of Arkansas at Little Rock

  • B.A., University of Arkansas at Monticello

Scholarship

Articles

Presentations

  • Panel Presentation: Faithful Voices: Navigating Speech and Debate in a Postmodern Landscape (2024)

    Christian Communication Scholars Network Summer Mini Conference

  • Panel Presentation: Advocacy for Communication in the General Core (2021)

    Tennessee Communication Association Annual Conference

  • Panel Presentation: The Current State of Debate and Forensics in Tennessee (2021)

    Tennessee Communication Association Annual Conference

  • Panel: IPDA debate and the classroom: Pedagogical approaches to competitive debate in the classroom (2020)

    National Communication Association Annual Conference

  • GIFTS: Sell that celeb: Social media leadership profile edition (2020)

    National Communication Association Annual Conference

  • Hands up, don’t shoot: The impact of memorable messages on attitudes towards risk assessment (2020)

    International Communication Association Annual Conference

  • GIFTS: Play in your posse: Facilitating semester-long open communication (2020)

    International Communication Association Annual Conference

  • Positive Workplace Communication (2020)

    Support Solutions

  • GIFTS: Building home while surviving the nightmare group member gauntlet (2019)

    National Communication Association Annual Conference

  • GIFTS: Snowball arguing: Teaching argumentation and refutation through snowball fights (2019)

    International Communication Association Annual Conference

  • A reexamination of child of divorce person prototypes after divorce social normalization (2018)

    National Communication Association Annual Conference

  • GIFTS: Jenga quizzes: Knocking down test anxiety with play (2018)

    Paper Presentation. National Communication Association Annual Conference

  • Memorable messages and graduate student self-efficacy (2018)

    National Communication Association Annual Conference

  • GIFTS: Oppression, advocacy, and ethical language in informative and persuasive speeches (2018)

    Paper Presentation. International Communication Association Annual Conference

  • Red stick family: A cultural analysis (2017)

    Paper Presentation. National Communication Association Annual Conference

  • Positive communication during divorce (2016)

    Paper Presentation. National Communication Association Annual Conference

Awards

  • Bennet Strange Coach of the Year Award (2024)

    International Public Debate Association

  • Educational Excellence Award (2023)

    Delta Kappa Gamma Professional Society of Women Educators

  • GSA Collegiality Award (2018)

    Louisiana State University

  • GSA Peer Mentor Award (2018)

    Louisiana State University