Josh Smith
March 31, 2020
Josh Smith (2020)
Joshua Smith is a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas. At KU, Josh studies environmental rhetoric, with interests in publics theory, new materialism, and decolonial theory. Josh’s dissertation is focused on Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) in southeast Utah, and examines stakeholder rhetorics about land and resource use. Outside of academia, Josh enjoys spending time with his wife Liz and their dog Melrose, and watching Arsenal FC.
What year did you graduate and what was your concentration?
I graduated in 2014 with the Communication Studies concentration.
What extra-/co-curricular activities did you do?
I was a voting Senator in the Student Senate for a year, and I also held an officer position with Lambda Pi Eta for several semesters.
Josh (center, back row) and other members of the Student Senate (2012).
Did you go to grad school? If so, where? Was it immediately after you left Truman or did you wait? Why?
I am currently enrolled in the PhD program in Communication Studies (rhetoric concentration) at the University of Kansas. I also have a Master’s degree from the same department. I took a year off from school after graduating from Truman, primarily to decide what graduate programs I wanted to apply to. I had originally intended to study law, but eventually determined, after an internship, that being a lawyer wasn’t what I wanted to do.
What was your first job after graduation?
Nothing very glamorous. I took a couple of part time jobs in my gap year between graduating and starting grad school including positions as a swimming pool/spa service technician and in customer service for Pizza Hut.
What work do you do/What are you doing now?
I am a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Kansas. I teach two courses per semester in this capacity. This semester I am teaching Public Speaking.
How has your Liberal Arts/COMM education helped you?
The COMM education I received at Truman has been very useful during my time in graduate school. Even though there is a large step between undergrad and grad school, I was extremely well prepared in my knowledge of COMM theory and rhetoric.
Additionally, the writing-intensive courses I took at Truman have served me well in graduate school, because the skills I learned in them helped me adapt to the academic writing grad school requires.
Josh (center) and a couple of friends that the Rhetoric Society of America convention (2018).
Which class did you dislike at the time you took it, but now you’re grateful you took it?
Honestly, I loved all the classes I took at Truman! I think the class I am most grateful for was the survey of rhetoric class. Because of that class, I had a solid background in rhetoric that has served me well in a number of graduate courses.
What was your greatest accomplishment at Truman?
Being the nerd I am, I’d say graduating with COMM Honors was my greatest accomplishment.
Why is Truman a good place for a student to study?
Josh, his wife Liz, and their furry friend Melrose (2019).
I think Truman is a good place for students to study because, in my experience, the students are generally academically-inclined and the faculty are great teachers –– both of which create a good atmosphere for learning.
What would you say a COMM student should absolutely do while at Truman?
Take a variety of COMM classes with as many of the faculty as you can. I knew a lot of people during my time at Truman who avoided professors they’d never had class with because they “heard he/she was hard.” College should challenge you academically, so don’t be afraid of a supposed level of difficulty. The faculty all teach in different ways and have different areas of expertise, and you will learn a lot from each of them.
What advice would you give someone who wants to go into the same line of work as you?
Be intentional about what graduate programs you to which you apply. In other words, think about the courses you have most enjoyed during undergrad and why you enjoyed them. What about the content spoke to you? What questions did the material raise that you want to answer? Select programs that help you answer those questions and will give you opportunities to pursue the topics you enjoyed. I applied to a variety of programs that, in retrospect, were not a very good fit for me. Learning about the faculty and their research programs is a good way to make sure that your interests are a good fit for the program, and showing this fit in your application materials is a good way to boost your chances of acceptance.
What do you miss most about campus/Kirksville?
Probably the size of campus. Being at a larger school now makes me appreciate how I always felt connected to the rest of campus, regardless of where I was (yes, even in Barnett Hall!) because there are parts of KU’s campus I have still never been to.
I also miss Pickler Library – it’s a great place to study!
Josh hiking in Utah (2019).
What tag line would you create for the COMM department at Truman?
I can’t really think of anything –– sorry!
If you could come back to Truman and teach a class for a semester, what would be its title and what would it be about?
If I could teach a course at Truman, it would be Environmental Rhetoric. There are two reasons for this. First, this course would fit my own research interests. Second, this topic is of central importance in today’s world. I would teach this course as a survey of a variety of environmental topics: climate change, the Anthropocene, environmental movements, wilderness, National Parks, and human/non-human communication, and more.
If you would like to learn more of Josh’s story, you can find him tweeting about rhetoric, public lands, the environment, and Arsenal @jhsmith_16.