Andrew T. Jacobs began at RCC in 1991 as a full-time faculty member. His academic interests include debate, public discourse, the rhetoric of identity – i.e., how language is used to reflect racial, sexual and other identities – and gender studies. He is the founder and President of the Public Forum Debate League, an intercollegiate debate league in the New York metro area. He was a Scholar-in-Residence at New York University for the fall 2013 semester.

Professor Jacobs is co-authoring an introductory college text in women’s and gender studies for Oxford University Press. Among the courses he has taught at RCC are Debate Fundamentals; Diversity in American Speech and Language; Fundamentals of Speech; Freedom of Speech; and Power, Persuasion and Propaganda; and Women, Men, Sex and Power.

Education

• BA Philosophy, Cornell University, 1989
• MA Speech Communication, Syracuse University, 1991

Professional Accomplishments

• Director of Forensics at RCC (coach of Speech and Debate Team)
• Co-developer of introductory women’s and gender studies class at RCC – Women, Men, Sex and Power
• Lead developer of AA degree in Speech/Communication Studies
• Nationally ranked college debater

Publications (Selected)

• “Abuse of Female Reporters,” The New York Times (letter to the editor regarding sexist attacks on journalists), 2014
• “Power vs. Language: How to do things with Words,” The Journal News (opinion piece about local resolutions condemning the use of the n-word), 2007
• “Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus,” Teachers College Record, (book review of Donald Alexander Downs’ book of the same title), 2005
• “What Should the Democrats Do?” The New York Times, (letter to the editor critical of Jim Wallis’s advice on Democratic messaging), 2005
• “Appropriating a Slur: Semantic Looping in the African-American Usage of ‘Nigga,’” M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture, URL: http://www.media-culture.org.au/0208/semantic.html, 2002
• “Advice for Better Debates,” The Journal News (opinion piece on the Presidential debates), 2000

Conference Papers (Selected)

• “I’m Here! Am I Queer? Being Openly Closeted in the Classroom,” National Communication Association, Chicago, IL, 2007
• “Examining Counterpublic Discourse: Embodied Sociability and Rational Critical Argument in the Use of the Term Nigga,” National Communication Association, Chicago, IL, 2004
• “Appropriating a Slur: Semantic Looping in the African-American Usage of ‘Nigga,’” National Communication Association. Miami, FL, 2003 (Juried)
• “The Public Forum Debate League’s Methods for Expanding Access to Debate,” National Communication Association, Chicago, IL, 1997