Rate My Professor Stephanie Hartzel

Dr. Stephanie Hartzell is a tenure-track faculty member and Teaching Assistant Coordinator in the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, Long Beach. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder, specializing in communication with a focus on rhetorical theory. Hartzell's research expertise encompasses rhetoric and culture, critical race and whiteness studies, rhetoric of racism and anti-racism, critical affect studies, identity and performativity, and discourse, power, and resistance. Her scholarship critically interrogates the rhetorical mechanisms of white nationalism, racialized therapeutic rhetoric, and performative whiteness within public discourse, contributing to broader understandings of race, identity, and power in contemporary society.

Among her key publications, Hartzell authored 'Alt-White: Conceptualizing the "Alt-Right" as a Rhetorical Bridge between White Nationalism and Mainstream Public Discourse' in the Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric (2018), which has garnered over 215 citations. Other significant works include 'Whiteness feels good here: interrogating white nationalist rhetoric on Stormfront' in Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies (2020, 85 citations), 'Suturing white wounds: Racialized therapeutic rhetoric as a strategy of whiteness' in the Southern Communication Journal (2023), and 'An (in)visible universe of grief: Performative disidentifications with white motherhood in the We are not Trayvon Martin blog' in the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication (2017). Her dissertation, 'Everyday (anti)-racism: Rhetorical formations of White racial Consciousness in contemporary public discourse' (University of Colorado Boulder, 2017), further underscores her focus on racial rhetoric. With over 337 citations across her oeuvre, Hartzell's work has had a notable impact on critical rhetoric and cultural studies. At CSULB, she actively participates in governance, serving on the General Education Evaluation Committee (GEEC, term to 2025), Faculty Council, search committees in the College of Liberal Arts, and mentoring through the GenExcel program and University Center for Undergraduate Advising. She also holds leadership roles in professional associations, including Chair-Elect for the Critical and Cultural Studies Division of the Western States Communication Association.