Rate My Professor Justin Bonanno

Dr. Justin Bonanno serves as Assistant Professor of Communications and Chair of the Communications and Literature Departments at Ave Maria University. He also holds the positions of Internship Coordinator and A/V Studio Director. Bonanno earned his Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Duquesne University in 2020, with an emphasis on Rhetoric and Philosophy of Technology and Integrated Marketing Communication. He previously obtained an M.A. in Rhetoric and Philosophy of Communication from Duquesne University in 2016, as well as a B.S. in Computer Science and Information Systems and a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Mount Union in 2011. Before joining Ave Maria University, Bonanno worked professionally in digital advertising, marketing, and strategic communication. His academic career includes teaching positions at Duquesne University, where he instructed courses such as Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communication, and Business and Professional Communication, and at Gannon University, teaching International Marketing.

Bonanno's research focuses on the philosophy of communication and rhetoric. His major publication is the peer-reviewed book Walker Percy and the Crisis of Meaning: Communication in the Ruins, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2023. Other key works include the peer-reviewed article 'Capital as the Lens that Bourdieu Pierres through: Public Relations, Social Theory, and Rhetoric' in Public Relations Review (vol. 44, no. 3, 2018); invited publications 'Leading with the Good: The Role of Rhetorical Commonplaces in Communication Ethics' in The Journal of Dialogic Ethics (vol. 3, no. 1, 2024) and 'Christ’s Life is a Demand: Reflections on A Hidden Life' in St. Austin Review (vol. 24, no. 4, 2024); and 'An Essential Business: Satisfying the Needs of the Soul' in The Imaginative Conservative (2020) and 'The Rhetoric of Secularization: Irving Babbitt and the Idyllic Imagination' in Listening: Journal of Communication Ethics, Religion, and Culture (vol. 54, no. 2, 2019). Bonanno has received the 2021 Religious Communication Association Dissertation of the Year Award for 'Communication in the Ruins: Walker Percy and the Art of Symbolic Mediation' and the 2022 Laurel Grant from Ave Maria University. He contributes editorially as a reviewer for the Journal of Communication and Religion, Explorations in Media Ecology, and Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, and previously served as Assistant Editor for Listening. Bonanno has delivered numerous presentations at conferences including the National Communication Association, Media Ecology Association, Semiotics Society of America, and biennial Philosophy of Communication Conferences, addressing topics such as media ecology, communication ethics, and rhetorical theory. At Ave Maria University, he serves on the Experiential Education/Career Development Committee and Student Life Dismissal Appeals Committee.