Education

Ph.D., University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 2001

M.A., North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 1997

B.A., Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, 1993, Magna cum laude

Academic Positions

2010- Associate Professor of Rhetoric, University of Richmond
2004-2009 Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, University of Richmond

Recent Courses Taught

Public Speaking
Interpreting Rhetorical Texts
Rhetorical Criticism
Rhetoric and Television
Critical Confederacy Studies (with Andrea Simpson)
First Year Seminar: Watching The Wire (with Andrea Simpson)
Rhetoric and Terrorism
Representing America (with Staffan Ericson, Södertörn University)

Publications

Book

Achter, P.J. Fit To Kill: Militarism and the Rhetoric of Style. Under contract, Rutgers University Press.

Articles and book chapters

Achter, P.J. (2019). “‘Military Chic’ and the Rhetorical Production of the Uniformed Body.” Western Journal of Communication 83 (3): 265-285.

Achter, P.J. (2018). “Great Television: Trump and the Shadow Archetype,” in Faking the News: What Rhetoric Can Teach us About Donald J. Trump, Ed. Ryan Skinnell (Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic): 108-12.

Achter, P.J. (2016). “Rhetoric and the Permanent War.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 102 (1): 79-94.

Achter, P.J. (2015). “Reluctant Conquests: Media Events and the End of the Iraq War.” In Lynne Webb and Erin Sahlstein (Eds.) A Communication Perspective on the Military: Messages, Strategies, Meanings: 199-216.

Achter, P.J. (2015) “Is Team USA’s militaristic Uniform a Problem?” In Rhonda Divley, Ed. Create. McGraw-Hill. (reprint of 2012 CNN article)

Achter, P.J. (2010). “Unruly Bodies: The Rhetorical Domestication of Twenty-First Century Veterans of War.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 96 (1): 46-68.

Achter, P.J. (2009). “Racing Jesse Jackson: Leadership, Masculinity, and the Black Presidency.” In Janis Edwards (Ed.), Gender and Political Communication In America: Rhetoric, Representation, and Display. (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books): 107-128.

Kuswa, K. D., Achter, P.J., and Lauzon, E. (2008). “The Slave, the Fetus, the Body: Articulating Biopower and the Pregnant Woman.” Contemporary Argumentation and Debate 29: 166-185.

Achter, P.J. (2008). “Comedy in Unfunny Times: News Parody and Carnival After 9/11.” Critical Studies in Media Communication 25 (3): 274-303.

Lynch, J. Bevan, J., Achter, P.J., Harris, T., and Condit, C.M. (2008, March). “A Preliminary Study of How Multiple Exposures to Messages about Genetics Impact on Lay Attitudes Towards Racial and Genetic Discrimination.” New Genetics and Society, 27 (1), 43- 56.

Achter, P.J. “McCarthy Hearings.” (2007). Encyclopedia of Political Communication. Christina Holtz-Bacha and Lynda Lee Kaid, (Eds.). Thousand Oaks: Sage, 424-425.

Achter, P.J., Parrott, R.L., Silk, K.A. (2005, March). “African Americans’ Opinions About Human Genetics Research.” Politics and the Life Sciences, 23 (1), 60-66.

Condit, C.M, Bates, B.R., Bevan, J.L., Parrott, R.L., Achter, P.J. (2004) “Exploration of the Impact of Messages About Genes and Race on Lay Attitudes.” Clinical Genetics, 66 (5), 402-408.

Bates, B.R., Poirot, K., Harris, T.M., Condit, C.M., Achter, P.J. (2004). “Evaluating Direct-to- Consumer Marketing of Race-Based Pharmacogenomics: A Focus Group Study of Public Understandings of Applied Genomic Medication,” Journal of Health Communication, 9,(6), 541-559.

Achter, P.J. (2004) “TV, Technology, and McCarthyism: Crafting the democratic renaissance in an age of fear.” Quarterly Journal of Speech, 90 (3), pp. 307-326.

Bates, B.R., Templeton, A., Achter, P.J., Harris, T.M., & Condit, C.M. (2003). “What does ‘a gene for heart disease’ mean?”: A focus group study of public understandings of genetic risk factors. American Journal of Medical Genetics 119A (1), pp. 156-161.

Bevan, J. L., Lynch, J. A., Dubriwny, T. N., Harris, T. M., Achter, P. J., Reeder, A. L., and Condit, C. M. (2003). “Informed lay preferences for delivery of racially varied pharmacogenomics.” Genetics In Medicine 5, pp. 393-399.

Condit, C. M., Achter, P. J., Lauer, M. I., Sefcovic, E. (2002). “The changing meanings of mutation: A contextualized study of public discourse.” Human Mutation, 19, pp. 69- 75.

Ramsey, E. M., Achter, P.J., Condit, C.M. (2001). “Reading audiences: A reflection on the politics of the production of racism.” Response to Grey. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 18 (4), pp. 471-474.

Condit, C. M., Condit, D., Achter, P. J. (2001). “Human equality, affirmative action, and genetic models of human variation.” Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 4, pp. 85-108.

Ramsey, E. M., Achter, P. J., Condit, C. M. (2001). “Genetics, race, and crime: An audience study exploring the effects of The Bell Curve and book reviews.” Critical Studies in Media Communication, 18, pp. 1-22.

Achter, P. J. (2000). “Narrative, intertextuality, and apologia in contemporary political scandals.” Southern Communication Journal, 65, pp. 318-333.

Online Publications

Achter, P.J. (2018). “Great Television: Trump and the Morality of the Screen.” Citizen Critics

Achter, P.J. (2016). “Eudemonia.” Media Commons

Achter, P.J. (2015). “Have you seen The Wire?” Huffington Post, cross-posted at Salon.com

Achter, P.J. (2012). “Is Team USA’s militaristic Uniform a Problem?” CNN.com

Achter, P.J. (2010). “Watching The Masters.” FlowTV.org

Achter, P.J. (2009). “”Weekend Update’ and the Tradition of New Journalism.” FlowTV.org

Recent Conference Presentations

Achter, P.J. “Tacticool: The Inhospitable Rhetoric of the Warrior-Cop.” Presentation at the 2020 Rhetoric Society of America Conference, Portland, OR.

Achter, P.J. “Faking the News: What Rhetoric Can Teach Us About Donald J. Trump.” Panelist at the 2020 Rhetoric Society of America Conference, Portland, OR.

Achter, P.J. “The Alternate Duel: Army-Navy Football and the Martial Style.” Presentation at the 2019 National Communication Association Conference, Baltimore, MD.

Achter, P.J. “Valor Thieves: Military Impersonation and the Cult of the Warrior.” Presentation at the 2019 National Communication Association Conference, Baltimore, MD.

Achter, P.J. “Writing War Memories: Richmond, Virginia’s Mighty Pen Project.” Presentation at the 2018 National Communication Association Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.

Achter, P.J. ”No Surrender Ceremonies: New Militarism, Genetic Arguments, and the End of the Iraq War.” Presentation at the 2018 Rhetoric Society of America Conference, Minneapolis, MN.

Achter, P.J. “Continuity and Change in the Rhetoric of PTSD.” Presentation at the 2016 Rhetoric Society of America Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Achter, P.J. “Unapologetic: Mistakes of the State in Iraq War Rhetoric.” Presentation at the 2016 Rhetoric Society of America Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Achter, P.J. “The Redemption of the F-Bomb Anchor.” Presentation at the 2014 Rhetoric Society of America Conference, San Antonio, TX.

Selected Awards, Honors, and Research Grants

Faculty Research Committee, “Military Chic and the Rhetorical Production of the Uniformed Body,” 2017, 2018, 2019 ($6,000)

Program for the Enhancement of Teaching Effectiveness grant (PETE), 2015 ($500). Mobile Initiative (iPad) class grant, 2012 (with Andrea Simpson)

UR Faculty Research Committee Travel Grant, 2011 ($1,100)

Swedish Central Bank Foundation (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond) grant for “Chronicle, Catastrophe, Ritual: Television Historiography and Transnational Politics,” 2010-2012 ($540,000, with Staffan Ericson and Amanda Lagerkvist).

Tocqueville Seminar Faculty Development grant, 2009 ($8,000)

Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT) grant for student study abroad, 2009 ($12,000, with Staffan Ericson)

University of Georgia Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award, 1999

International Communication Association Excellence in Teaching Award, 1999

Recent Invited lectures/talks

“Great Television: Trump and the Shadow Archetype” for the UR International Studying Leadership Conference, December 10, 2017.

“Teaching for the Mighty Pen Project,” Center for Civic Engagement Brown Bag Series, University of Richmond, November 8, 2017.

“Teaching Race and Controversy in the Classroom,” University of Richmond Teach-In, August 29, 2017.

“Fake News: Journalism in the Age of Trump.” Panelist for discussion sponsored by the local chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, ABC News 8, April 8, 2017.

“Trump and Terror: Terrorism and the Rhetoric of the Trump Regime,” Keynote Address and Scholar in Residence at the 29th Annual James Madison University Undergraduate Research Conference in Communication, April 10-11, 2017.

“What I Watched This Summer: Race Politics and the Urgency of Now,” Speech to the 2016 Orientation Advisors, August 12, 2016.

“Visual Disruption II: Critical Confederacies in Richmond” Faculty Excursion co-Led by Nicole Maurantonio and Melissa Ooten, April 8, 2016.

“Have You Seen The Wire?” Brown Bag Lecture, sponsored by The Center for Civic Engagement, University of Richmond, February 5, 2016.

Professional Organizations

National Communication Association (NCA), Rhetoric Society of America (RSA).