Amy Young

Professor of Communication

she/her/hers

Phone: 253-536-5165

Email: youngam@plu.edu

  • Professional
  • Biography
  • Personal

Additional Titles/Roles

  • Chair of Faculty

Education

  • Ph.D., Rhetoric, University of Texas, 2007
  • M.A., Communication Studies, University of Texas, Austin, 2003
  • B.A., Communication Studies, Vanderbilt University

Areas of Emphasis or Expertise

  • Public Relations

Books

  • Teacher, Scholar, Mother: (Re)Envisioning Motherhood in the Academy (Lexington Books 2015)
  • Prophets, Gurus, and Pundits: Rhetorical Styles and Public Engagement (Southern Illinois University Press 2014) : View Book

Selected Presentations

  • 2015 TEDxTacoma event under the theme “Did you know... ”, Did you know intellectuals are lousy at talking about our work?, Tacoma, WA (April, 2015)

Selected Articles

  • Anna M. Young, Justin Eckstein* & Donovan Conley. "Rhetorics and Foodways." Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies Vol. 12(2), 02/12/15: 198-199.
  • Justin Eckstein* & Anna M. Young. "Cooking, Celebrity Chefs, and Public Chef Intellectuals." Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies Vol. 12(2), 02/12/15: 205-208.
  • Young, A.M. & Mercieca, J. "Putting the Public in Rhetoric & Public Affairs." Rhetoric & Public Affairs Vol. 24(2), 2021:
  • Young, A.M. "Dissociation, multi-modal argument, Sean Brock, and the local." In Hample, D. (Ed.), Alta Conference on Argumentation Proceedings: Local Theories of Argument. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis/Routledge. Vol. 1, 2020: 6.
  • Eckstein, J. & Young, A.M. "wastED rhetoric." Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies Vol. 15(1): 274-291, 2019:
  • Young, A.M. "The rhetoric of wine and the style of bullshit." Rhetoric Society Quarterly Vol. 45(5),
  • Young, A.M. & Wright, J.L. "The anatomy of a divorce." Women’s Studies in Communication Vol. 38(2), 2015:
  • Young, A.M. "A Declaration of style. Deliberating the Declaration." Ed. Mary E. Stuckey. State College, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, (In Press)
  • Young, A.M. & Eckstein, J.A. "The terroir & topoi of the Lowcountry." Rhetorical Cookery. Eds. Donovan Conley & Justin Eckstein. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press 2019:
  • Young, A.M. "Rhetorics of Fear & Loathing: Donald Trump’s Populist Style." Faking the News: What Rhetoric Can Teach Us About Donald J. Trump. Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic 2018:
  • Young, A.M. "Richard Sherman’s rhetorical witnessing." Sport, Rhetoric and Political Struggle. Eds. Michael Butterworth & Daniel Grano. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing 2018:
  • Young, A.M. "Rhetorics of smoke and cedar." Lone star rhetoric. Eds. Casey Boyle & Jenny Rice. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press 2018:

Accolades

  • Rhetorical & Communication Theory Division Award in Mentorship, Nominee, 2021
  • Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching, Nominee, 2021
  • Wang Center Course Development Grant, 2017
  • Karen Hille Phillips Regency Advancement Award, 2016
  • Top Paper, National Communication Association, Communication & the Law Division 2013
  • Granted Tenure & Promotion to Associate Professor, January 2013
  • Regency Advancement Award, 2012
  • Rails to Trails Coalition: Outstanding Trail Support Award 2008

Biography

Dr. Anna Marjorie “Amy” Young is originally from Bellevue, Washington where she graduated from Bellevue High School.  She attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, earning a B.A. in Communication Studies. Upon graduation, she worked for IBM as a Client Representative, managing executive relationships and consulting on technology and business decisions with clients in the public sector in Tennessee.

In 2001, she began the Master’s program in Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, earning her M.A. in 2003.  She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007. In Fall, 2007, Amy joined the faculty of Pacific Lutheran University.

Dr. Young’s scholarship pursues questions of rhetorical style, expertise and engagement in the public sphere.  She lies awake at night fretting about the state of our public discourse and uses her scholarship to enable colleagues and students to claim or reclaim their roles as public agents and citizens.  She is a member of the National Communication Association and the Rhetoric Society of America.

Dr. Young’s work explores questions of style and public engagement. Her most recent book, Prophets, Gurus & Pundits: Rhetorical Styles & Public Engagement (Southern Illinois University Press) is available on Amazon. Her work appears in a variety of journals and books including the Quarterly Journal of Speech and Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies. Her edited book on academic motherhood will be out later this year.

Fun Facts

  • I am named after my grandmothers, Anna and Marjorie. My initials spell Amy, so I'm an acronym.
  • I have a dog named Ichiro who is terrible, and two cats named Bruce and Minerva who are deeply lazy.

Service


I serve on the board of the St. Patrick School REACH Auction. I chaired it in 2020 and I have been the Communication Chair since 2012.

I serve on the board of Next Chapter, an organization that helps women with children who are experiencing homelessness in Pierce County overcome their barriers to permanent housing. I am the lead on a $2.4M grant from the Department of Commerce to provide additional shelter for women and their families in Parkland/Spanaway.

I serve on the board of the Rhetoric Society of America where I Chair the Career Development Committee.