Benjamin Mann

Dr. Benjamin Mann’s expertise bridges disability rhetoric, critical/qualitative health and science communication, and social movement media studies. Specifically, Ben studies, through an intersectionality framework, how individuals with disabilities advocate for their health needs using media. He is particularly interested in the rhetoric of Autistic self-advocacy, critical disability studies/crip theory, the impacts of new media and technology on disability, and theorizing disability under social and political models that emphasize “nothing about us, without us.”

Ben’s solo and co-authored research has been published in national and international journals including the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Health Communication, Disability Studies Quarterly, Science Communication, and Communication, Culture, and Critique, and he has presented at conferences including the National Communication Association, International Communication Association, Alta Argumentation Conference, and Rhetoric Society of America. Previously, Ben received a National Institutes of Health-funded research fellowship to investigate the ethical implications of genomic screening on disabled populations. Ben previously chaired the Communication Studies Department at Eastern Oregon University and helped develop new courses in Communicating Health and Science, Communication Research Methods, and Communication for Social Change.

A graduate (BA English, Class of 2014) of Lewis & Clark and former L&C forensics competitor, Ben’s passion for competitive speech and debate and social justice advocacy took him on the path of studying rhetoric, media, and communication. However, his dream was always to return to Portland and give back to his alma mater. In his free time, Ben loves hiking, independent video game design, and catching live music in downtown Portland.

Academic Credentials

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

PhD, Communication, May 2020

University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA

MA, Communication, May 2016

Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR

BA English, May 2014

Teaching

If you’re interested in Ben’s courses and would like to learn more, please don’t hesitate to send an email at bmann@lclark.edu

• Introduction to Rhetoric and Media Studies
• Public Discourse
• Rhetorical Theory
• Interpersonal Media
• Rhetorical Criticism

Research

• Krall, M. A., Parks, M. M., Krebs, E., Mann, B.W., Maison, K., Jensen, R.E. (2022). Chemistry in the mail: Stamps from around the globe and public science communication in the twentieth century. Public Understanding of Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/09636625211032465 
• Cullinan, M. E., Maison, K., Parks, M. M., Krall, M. A., Krebs, E., Mann, B., & Jensen, R. E. (2022). Seedlings in the corporate forest: Communicating Benevolent sexism in Dow Chemical’s first internal affirmative-action campaign. Management Communication Quarterly, 37(1), 171–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189221115748 
• Mann, B. W., Krall, M. A., Parks, M. M., Krebs, E., Maison, K., & Jensen, R. E. (2021). Strategic Place-Making and Public Scientific Outreach in the American Chemical Society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program. Science Communication, 43(3) 336–357. doi:10.1177/10755470211006685 
• Mann, B. W. (2019). Autism narratives in media coverage of the MMR vaccine-autism controversy under a crip futurism framework. Health Communication, 34(9) 984-90. doi:10.1080/10410236.2018.1449071
• Jensen, R. E., Parks, M. M., Mann, B. W., Maison, K., & Krall, M. A. (2019). Mapping Nature’s scientist: The posthumous demarcation of Rosalind Franklin’s crystallographic data. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 105(3), 279-318. https://doi.org/10.1080/00335630.2019.1629000 
• Jensen, R. E., Maison, K., Mann, B. W., Krall, M. A., & Parks, M. M. (2019). Medicalization’s Communicative Infrastructure: Seventy Years of “Brain Chemistry.” Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2019.1673951 
• Mann, B. W. (2018). Rhetoric of online disability activism: #CripTheVote and civic participation. Communication, Culture, and Critique, 11(4), 604-621. https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcy030 
• Mann, B. W. (2018). Survival, disability rights, and solidarity: Advancing cyberprotest rhetoric through Disability March. Disability Studies Quarterly, 38(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v38i1.5917