Rate My Professor Amy Martinelli

Amy Martinelli, Ph.D., serves as Associate Director, Director of Forensics, and Associate Instructional Professor at the University of Florida's William and Grace Dial Center for Speech and Communication Studies within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Previously listed as Assistant Instructional Professor of Communication Studies, she received promotion in 2024. Her career at the University of Florida began as an undergraduate debater in 2001, and she has coached the speech and debate team since 2007. Martinelli earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Arts in Education with a focus on social foundations from the University of Florida. As a graduate assistant in the William and Grace Center for Written and Oral Communication, she coached the speech and debate team and taught courses including Introduction to Public Speaking. Her teaching style and course development are influenced by her background in social foundations of education and competitive speech and debate. She currently teaches undergraduate courses such as Introduction to Public Speaking, Advanced Public Speaking, Political Communication, Event Planning, Storytelling, and Communication and Civic Engagement.

Martinelli's scholarship focuses on speech and debate and communication education. In 2015, she published the chapter 'Fears on Film: Representations of Juvenile Delinquency in Educational Media in Mid-Century America' in the co-edited book American Education in Popular Media: From the Blackboard to the Silver Screen by Palgrave Macmillan. In March 2023, she was awarded a grant from the UF Center for Teaching and Learning to create open-source materials for public speaking. Under her leadership as Director of Forensics, the UF speech and debate team achieved significant success, including wins at the American Forensic Association National Speech Tournament in 2025. She has served on committees such as the Preservation of Historic Buildings & Sites Committee and moderated panels on topics including leadership and African American history. Martinelli contributes to the field through her roles in forensic tournaments, grant review committees, and as a judge and district chair for organizations like the AFA-NIET.