Professor Rossing studies the rhetoric of social justice, particularly in relation to race and racism in the United States. His primary focus is on the way people use humor to provoke conversations and to provide a critical education about race. Professor Rossing also specializes in communication pedagogy including studying the systems of meaning faculty create through the language choices and syllabi. Jonathan also studies the use of improvisation training and drills in communication education. He regularly applies theories of play and improvisation in teaching, leadership, and diversity training.
Selected Publications
Rossing, J. P. (2017). No Joke: Silent Jesters and Comedic Refusals. Rhetoric & Public Affairs 20.3, pp. 545–556. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.14321/rhetpublaffa.20.3.0545
Rossing, J. P. (2016). Emancipatory Racial Humor as Critical Public Pedagogy: Subverting Hegemonic Racism, Communication, Culture, & Critique 9.4, 614–632. DOI: 10.1111/cccr.12126
Rossing, J. P. and Hoffmann-Longtin, K. (2016). Improv(ing) the Academy: Applied Improvisation as a Strategy for Educational Development, To Improve the Academy, 35(2), 303–325. DOI: 10.1002/tia2.20044
Rossing, J. P. (2016). A Sense of Humor for Civic Life: Toward a Strong Defense of Humor. [Lead Essay] Studies in American Humor, Series 4, 4(1), 1–21. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/613760
Rossing, J. P. (2016). “Live from DC, It’s ‘Nerd Prom”: Roasting Democracy at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner (pp. 168–184), in Standing Up, Speaking Up: Stand-Up Comedy and the Rhetoric of Social Change, eds. Matt Meier & Casey Schmitt.
Rossing, J. P. & Lavitt, M. R. (2016). The Neglected Learner: A Call to Support Integrative Learning for Faculty. Liberal Education, 102(2), pp. 34-41. https://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/2016/spring/rossing
Rossing, J. P. (2014). Prudence and Racial Humor: Troubling epithets. Critical Studies in Media Communication 31.4, pp. 299–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2013.864046
Rossing, J. P. (2014). Critical race humor in a postracial moment: Richard Pryor’s contemporary parrhesia. Howard Journal of Communication 25.1, pp. 16–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2013.857369
Rossing, J. P. (2013). Dick Gregory and activist style: Identifying attributes of humor necessary for activist advocacy. [Lead Essay] Argumentation and Advocacy 50.2, pp. 59–71. http://hdl.handle.net/1805/7070
Gilbert, C. J. & Rossing, J. P. (2013). Trumping Tropes with Joke(r)s: The Daily Show “Plays the Race Card,” Western Journal of Communication 77.1, pp. 72–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2012.720747
Rossing, J. P. (2012). Deconstructing postracialism: Humor as a critical, cultural project. Journal of Communication Inquiry 36.1, pp. 44–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859911430753
