Professor of Rhetoric and American Studies
Co-Director of the Center for Speaking & Listening
Co-Coordinator, Southern Colloquium on Rhetoric
B.A., M.A., Humboldt State University; J.D., Ph.D., University of Oregon
sporourk@sewanee.edu

ABOUT

Sean Patrick O’Rourke first taught at Sewanee as a visiting professor and the Brown Foundation Distinguished Scholar-Fellow in the Advent semester of 2015. He joined the faculty with a joint appointment in Rhetoric and American Studies in Advent 2016. His academic training is in rhetoric and law, with long-standing interests in the history of rhetoric, the rhetoric of law and legal rights, protest, and public address. Animated by the ideal of the university as an enduring public good, O’Rourke has a deep and abiding commitment to the values of liberal education adapted to the unique needs of twenty-first century students. His primary concerns are for the communication arts of an engaged citizenry—freedom of speech, robust and responsible debate, reasoned deliberation, impassioned protest and dissent, constructive argument in controversy—at the center of democratic civic life. He currently serves as Chair of the Rhetoric program, Chair of American Studies, Co-Director of the Center for Speaking & Listening, and Co-Coordinator of the Southern Colloquium on Rhetoric. From 2016-2021 he co-directed the university-wide Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), “Learning to Speak, Speaking to Learn” with Dr. Melody Lehn. O’Rourke has held NEH (2), Lilly (3), Piper, Cothran, and Brown Foundation Fellowships and has received grants from the Associated Colleges of the South, the Mellon Foundation, the Alliance to Advance Liberal Arts Colleges, and other granting agencies.

TEACHING

O’Rourke teaches courses in both Rhetoric and American Studies. An award-winning teacher, O’Rourke has directed over one hundred undergraduate research projects that have been competitively selected for presentation at undergraduate conferences, published in peer-reviewed journals, or both. He also directs the American Studies junior and senior seminars, where students learn to conceptualize, research, and write their senior theses. O’Rourke has delivered invited lectures at the University of Maryland, Florida Atlantic University, the University of Richmond, the University of Akron, the University of Louisiana-Monroe, Georgia State University, Lynchburg College, Gonzaga University, the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, the University of Missouri, the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon, and, most recently, Magdalen College at Oxford University. He has also delivered the keynote address to the Carolinas Communication Association, the Martin Luther King Day oration to 3000 troops at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, a Constitution Day talk for an event co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Library Association, and the National Constitution Center, as well as numerous talks at local and regional schools, clubs, centers, and civic organizations.

Courses Taught
  • RHET 101: Public Speaking
  • RHET 201: Introduction to Rhetoric
  • RHET 220: Teaching Speaking & Listening (team taught)
  • RHET 311: U.S. Public Address I: 1620-1865
  • RHET 312: U.S. Public Address II: 1865-Present
  • RHET 401: Speakers’ Rights and Responsibilities
  • RHET 411: Rhetoric in the Age of Protest, 1948-1973
  • RHET 440: Directed Research and Writing
  • RHET 444: Independent Study
  • RHET 491: Topics: Rhetoric of the Civil Rights Movement
  • AMST 333: Junior Seminar
  • AMST 420: Senior Seminar
Select Teaching Awards
  • Donald Ragsdale Award for Mentoring, Southern States Communication Association, April 2020.
  • Distinguished Mentorship Award, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, April 2011. [Also noted below, in Scholarship.]
  • John I. Sisco Award for Excellence in Teaching. Southern States Communication Association, Norfolk, VA, April 2009.
  • Cherie Maiden Invitation Award for Teaching. Furman University, 2006.
  • Alester G. Furman, Jr. and Janie Earle Furman Award for Meritorious Teaching. Furman’s highest teaching award. Furman University, 2004. Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching. Vanderbilt’s highest teaching award. Vanderbilt University, 1996.
  • Thomas R. Meehan Excellence in Teaching Award “For Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Teaching.” College of Liberal Arts, Oregon State University, 1991.
  • “Excellence in Teaching Award.” Blue Key Honorary Society, Oregon State University, 1989-90.
  • Graduate Teaching Fellow Award for “Outstanding Teaching.” Oregon’s highest award for graduate students. University of Oregon, 1984-85.

SCHOLARSHIP

O’Rourke researches and writes about rhetoric, law, legal rights, and protest. His academic work has appeared in Advances in the History of Rhetoric, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Rhetorica, Controversia, the Free Speech Yearbook, the Canadian Journal of Rhetorical Studies, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Rhetoric Review, the American Journal of Legal History, Legal Studies Forum, and other peer-reviewed journals, as well as in book chapters and encyclopedias. His public scholarship has appeared in newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, Detroit News, Montgomery Advertizer, Memphis Commercial-Appeal, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Wichita Eagle, Des Moines Register, Birmingham News, Orlando Sentinel, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Detroit Free Press, Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Louisville Courier-Journal, Oakland Tribune, Providence Journal, Tampa Tribune, Charlotte Observer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, San Diego Union Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Oregonian, Seattle Times, and others, as well as in monthly and quarterly magazines.

Books
  • On Fire: Five Civil Rights Sit-Ins and the Rhetoric of Protest. (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2021), co-edited with Lesli K. Pace.

Reviews:
“On Fire offers diverse critical perspectives for understanding sit-ins as fundamentally rhetorical events in the civil rights movement.” —Leland G. Spencer, Miami University

  • Like Wildfire: The Rhetoric of the Civil Rights Sit-Ins. (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2020), co-edited with Lesli K. Pace.

Reviews:
“O'Rourke and Pace have assembled an impressive set of scholars tackling historical cases studies of it-Ins as protest. The much-needed book offers a fresh look at famous but also lesser-known cases, all argued as critical rhetorical episodes for their persuasive objective. This volume greatly enhances the study of civil rights and social justice.”—Amos Kiewe, Syracuse University

“O'Rourke, Pace, and their ambitious contributors offer diverse critical perspectives for understanding sit-ins as fundamentally rhetorical events in the civil rights movement. This incisive volume illuminates the breadth and depth of sitting in as embodied rhetorical activism toward liberation from injustice and white supremacy.”—Leland G. Spencer, Miami University

“An excellent collection of rhetorical studies of the sit-ins of the civil rights movement that captures the demonstrations in their fullest complexities. The exploration of a variety of texts—from bodies to photographs to newspapers—performs the important work of reshaping our memories in profound ways and inviting us to reassess their many contemporary legacies.”—Patricia Davis, Northeastern University

“This distinctive collection brilliantly documents, analyzes, and memorializes the multifaceted sit-in tradition within the American Black Freedom Movement. In so doing, Like Wildfire enriches both popular and scholarly understanding of rhetorical history, social protest, and nonviolent direct action—an invigorating read with the potential to inspire contemporary students, researchers, and activists, alike.”—Maegan Parker Brooks, author of Fannie Lou Hamer: America's Freedom Fighting Woman

  • Rhetoric, Race, Religion, and the Charleston Shootings: Was Blind but Now I See. (Lanham, MD: Lexington Press, 2019), co-edited with Melody Lehn.

Reviews:
Rhetoric, Race, Religion, and the Charleston Shootings: Was Blind But Now I See makes vital contributions to scholarly and public understanding of the Mother Emanuel tragedy. The essays within this volume are historically-grounded, theoretically-sophisticated, and extremely relevant to our contemporary context; they provide novel frames for rethinking and for thinking more deeply about white supremacist gun violence in America. Moreover, this collection's incisive and multi-faceted engagement with the politics of memory, forgetting, and forgiveness make it an illuminating text for classroom engagement and a go-to resource for scholars' bookshelves.— Maegan Parker Brooks, Willamette University

Select Articles and Chapters
  • “Romer v. Evans: Justice Kennedy, Justice Scalia, and the Rhetoric of Judging Well.” The Rhetoric of Judging Well: The Conflicted Legacy of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Ed. David A. Frank and Francis J. Mootz III. University Park: Penn State University Press, 2023. 77-91.
  • “Knowledge, Rhetorical History, and Undergraduate Scholars: Reimagining Liberal Education.” Reframing Rhetorical History: Cases, Theories, and Methodologies. Ed. Kathleen J. Turner and Jason Edward Black. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2022 (with Melody Lehn). 341-58.
  • “Rhetoric and Peace Studies.” Humanities Perspectives on Peace Education: Re-Engaging the Heart of Peace Studies. Ed. Nicole L. Johnson. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2021. 79-106 (with Jamie Capuzza).
  • “Reading Bodies, Reading Books: A Rhetorical History of the 1960 Greenville, South Carolina Sit-Ins.” Like Wildfire: The Rhetoric of the Civil Rights Sit-Ins. Ed. Sean Patrick O’Rourke and Lesli K. Pace. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, May 2020. 121-45. Also included in On Fire: Five Civil Rights Sit-Ins and the Rhetoric of Protest. Sean Patrick O’Rourke and Lesli K. Pace. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2021. 7-31.
  • “The Rebel Flag and the Rhetoric of Protest: A Case Study in Public Will-Building.” Was Blind But Now I See: Rhetoric, Race, Religion, and the Charleston Shootings. Ed. Sean Patrick O’Rourke and Melody Lehn. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2020. 173-97.
  • “Whose Job Is It, Anyway? The Place of Public Engagement in the Liberal Arts College.” Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement. 4 (December 2017): 23-50. (with Luke D. Christie, Paul A. Djupe, and Elizabeth S. Smith).
  • “Listening for the Dissonant Voice: The Southern Archive as Cacophonous Song.” Carolinas Communication Annual 31 (2015): 4-9.
  • “Civility, Democracy, and National Politics.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs4 (2014): 711-36. (with Mary E. Stuckey).
  • “Engaging Controversy: Bush, Obama, and the Epideictic Moment.” Controversia: An International Journal of Debate and Democratic Renewal1 (Fall 2013): 63-72.
  • “Rhetoric in a Rancorous Republic – A Forum on Civility and the American Controversia: Introduction.” Controversia: An International Journal of Debate and Democratic Renewal1 (Fall 2013): 29-31.
  • “Respondeo etsi Mutabor: The Comment and Response Assignment, Young Scholars, and the Promise of Liberal Education.” Young Scholars in Writing: Undergraduate Research in Writing and Rhetoric 10 (2013): 27-37. (with Stephen Howard and Andrianna Lee Lawrence).
  • “Circulation and Non-Circulation of Photographic Texts in the Civil Rights Movement: A Case Study of the Rhetoric of Control.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 15 (2012): 685-94.
  • “Hugh Blair’s Observations on a Pamphlet (1755): Introduction and Text.” Advances in the History of Rhetoric2 (2011): 220-38.
  • “Gazing into the Abyss – A Forum with John Durham Peters: Introduction.” Forum on Courting the Abyss, by John Durham Peters. Free Speech Yearbook 44 (2010): 145-46.
  • “Embracing the Abyss: A Response to Peters.” Free Speech Yearbook (now First Amendment Studies) 44 (2010): 177-86. (with Ron Manuto).
  • “Bobby.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 12 (2009): 635-54.
  • “The Rhetorical Dynamics of Judicial Situations: Justice Story, Ciceronian Rhetoric, and the Judicial Response to American Slavery.” Advances in the History of Rhetoric 10 (2007): 43-71. (Appeared in 2008.)
  • “Of Education, Gold, and Guns.” Advances in the History of Rhetoric 7 (2003): 229-41.
  • “Sentimental Journey: The Place and Status of the Emotions in Hugh Blair’s Rhetoric.” Advances in the History of Rhetoric 5 (2001): 21-36. Rpt. in Richard Leo Enos and David E. Beard, eds. Advances in the History of Rhetoric: The First Six Years. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press, 2007. 308-25.
  • “‘Danced through Every Labyrinth of the Law’: Benjamin Austin on Rhetoric as Virtue and Vice in Early American Legal Practice.” Advances in the History of Rhetoric 2 (1998): 21-32. Rpt. in Richard Leo Enos and David E. Beard, eds. Advances in the History of Rhetoric: The First Six Years. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press, 2007. 98-111.
  • “A Prolegomenon to the Future Study of Rhetoric and Propaganda: Critical Foundations.” Readings in Propaganda and Persuasion: New and Classic Essays. Ed. Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006. 51-71. (with Beth S. Bennett).
  • “Apsines of Gadara.” Classical Rhetorics and Rhetoricians: Critical Studies and Sources. Ed. Michelle Ballif and Michael G. Moran. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2005. 37-41.
  • “Anaximenes, Rhetorica ad Alexandrum.” Classical Rhetorics and Rhetoricians: Critical Studies and Sources. Ed. Michelle Ballif and Michael G. Moran. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2005. 19-23.
Select Published Speeches
  • “Wisdom and Eloquence.” Vital Speeches of the Day. 83.11 (November, 2017): 344-45.
  • “The Republic of Heaven.” Jottings 4 (2008-09): 18-22.
Select Research and Scholarship Awards

University Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Sewanee: The University of the South, May 2021.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Distinguished Mentorship Award for Collaborative Research with Undergraduate Students, March 2011. [Also noted above, in Scholarship.]

Janice Hocker Rushing Early Career Research Award, Southern States Communication Association, March 1996.

James Madison Award for Excellence in Free Speech Scholarship, March 1996.

SERVICE

O’Rourke’s commitment to service is evident at all levels. He has worked with the Aspen Institute and the Constructive Dialogue Institute to help create meaningful debate on American campuses and has been interviewed on television, radio, and streaming services—as well as in newspapers—on free speech issues, protests, and debate, questions at the center of his academic life. He has worked with C-Span and many local schools and churches in an effort to facilitate robust and responsible debate, reasoned deliberation, and constructive argument in controversy, including leading three plenary sessions on “Civil Discourse in America,” the 2018 Lansing Lee Conference held at Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, NC,

He also serves his profession. A former President of the American Society for the History of Rhetoric, O’Rourke also sat on the board of directors for the Rhetoric Society of America, the American Society for the History of Rhetoric, and the American Communication Association.

He currently serves as editorial board member of the “Rhetoric, Law, and Humanities” series at the University of Alabama Press and of the “Rhetoric, Race, and Media” series at the University Press of Mississippi, and has served on the editorial boards of many journals in his fields of interest and expertise.

In addition to his work with the QEP, on university committees, and in his two departments, O’Rourke has served the university in other ways. Most importantly, he was honored to be asked to deliver several speeches at Sewanee, including “Wisdom and Eloquence,” a speech delivered at the dedication ceremony of the Learning Commons in duPont Library in 2017, “Words Like Love,” a speech delivered at the Senior Banquet in 2019, “To Posse 11,” a speech delivered at the Posse scholars’ commencement in 2021, and “What Could, What Should be Done with the Time Left Before You?” a speech delivered at the Senior Toast in 2024.

O’Rourke continues to serve as faculty adviser of the Sewanee Debate Union.

Recent University Committee Service
  • Promotion & Tenure
  • Honorary Degrees
  • Faculty Awards and Recognition
  • Budget Priorities
  • Leaves
  • Writing Across the Curriculum
  • Rhodes, Mitchell, Marshall Interview Committee
Service Awards and Honors

Outreach Award for “facilitating the success and access of under-represented populations,” Southern States Communication Association, Austin, TX, 9 April 2016.

Chiles-Harrill Award for Distinguished Service. Furman’s highest service award. Furman University, 2012-13.

“Student Organization of the Year.” Cicero Society (Advisor), Furman University, 2008-09.

“Outstanding Faculty Member” Award. OSU’s highest service award. Oregon State University, 1991-92.