Current Research Interests: My dissertation and research agenda work at the intersections of pragmatist rhetoric, Indigenous American philosophy, Black Feminist rhetoric, African American rhetoric, queer and borderland rhetorics, Black prophetic Christian rhetoric, and Eastern religious rhetoric. My dissertation traces an alternative rhetorical genealogy of the American pragmatist tradition rooted in Indigenous American thought. It focuses on five figures that I argue rhetorically expand this Indigenous pragmatist genealogy through their diverse iterations of American thought: Anna Julia Cooper (Black feminist visionary pragmatism), W.E.B. Du Bois (African American pragmatism), Bhimrao Ambedkar (Navayana pragmatism), Gloria Anzaldua (Mestiza visionary pragmatism), and Cornel West (prophetic Christian pragmatism). My teaching and research underscore the intrinsic diversity of rhetorical and intellectual traditions, rather than emphasizing narratives of inclusion to fit marginalized traditions into a hegemonic, colonial canon. I am also currently working on a project on Ella Baker and the Black Feminist Rhetorical Tradition, and my revised and resubmitted manuscript titled “William James and the Pragmatic Rhetoric of Exemplary Figures: Inspirations for Spiritual Meliorism, Democratic Individuality, and Empowered Social Change” is under final editor review at Rhetoric Society Quarterly.
Projected Graduation Date: Spring 2022
Faculty Advisor: Scott R. Stroud
Dissertation Committee Members: Barry Brummett, Joshua Gunn, Patricia Roberts-Miller
Clayton L. Terry (2021, November), “W.E.B. Du Bois and the Spiritual Cultivation of Democratic Individuality: Black Interiority, Affective Agency, and Pragmatic Meliorism in ‘The Souls of Black Folk.’” Presented at the National Communication Association Conference, American Society of the History of Rhetoric Division.
Clayton L. Terry (2021, November), “Apathy, Dialogue, and the Necessity of Rhetoric: Ambedkar’s Navayana as Pathway to Political Humility and Compassion for Dalit Suffering.” Presented at the National Communication Association Conference, Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division.
Clayton L. Terry (2020, November), “Toward a Model of Rhetorical-Relational Growth: Dynamic Flexibility and Deweyan Instructional Development.” Presented at the virtual National Communication Association Conference, Instructional Development Division. Top student paper award.
Clayton L. Terry (2020, November), “Prophetic Pragmatist Critical Rhetoric: Tragicomic Theory and Radical Praxis.” Presented at the virtual National Communication Association Conference, Rhetoric and Communication Theory Division.
Clayton L. Terry (2020, November), “William James and the Rhetoric of Spiritual Identification: Advancing the Pragmatist Approach to Spiritual Communication.” Presented at the virtual National Communication Association Conference, Spiritual Communication Division.
Clayton L. Terry (2020, May), “Trump’s Monomyth: Heroic Individualism and the Polarization of the American Dream.” Presentation at the Portland, Oregon, Rhetoric Society of America Biennial Conference [Canceled due to COVID-19].
Clayton L. Terry (2020, May), “William James, the Significant Life, and Rhetorical Purpose.” Presentation at the Portland, Oregon, Rhetoric Society of America Biennial Conference [Canceled due to COVID-19].
Clayton L. Terry (2020, April), “‘Trauma,’ Championships, and the Rhetoric of Pragmatic Prophetic Fire: Meek Mill as Disruptive Storyteller and Voice for Black Resilience in the Pursuit of Criminal Justice Reform.” Presentation at the Frisco, Texas, Southern States Communication Association Annual Conference, Rhetoric and Public Address Division [Canceled due to COVID-19].
Clayton L. Terry (2019, November), “Reconstructing Plato’s Priority Monism: Heraclitean Philosophy and Communication in Book X of the Laws.” Presented at the Baltimore, Maryland, National Communication Association Annual Conference, Philosophy of Communication Division.
Clayton L. Terry (2017, November), “The Essence of Narrative: Instituting a Moral Approach to Narrative Criticism.” Presented at the Dallas, Texas, National Communication Association Annual Conference, Philosophy of Communication Division (Scholar to Scholar).
Clayton L. Terry (2017, November), “Kanye West’s ‘Abstraction of Design’: Anxiety, Transcendence, and his Burkean Identification Strategies in BBC Radio 1 Interviews.” Presented at the Dallas, Texas National Communication Association Annual Conference, Kenneth Burke Society Division.
Jeff Kerssen-Griep & Clayton L. Terry (2015, November), “What Are Keys to Effectively Communicating Instructional Feedback?” Presented at the Las Vegas, Nevada, National Communication Association Annual Conference.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles:
Terry, Clayton L. “William James and the Pragmatic Rhetoric of Exemplary Figures: Inspirations for Spiritual Meliorism, Democratic Individuality, and Empowered Social Change” (under final editor review at Rhetoric Society Quarterly)
Book Chapters:
Stroud, Scott R. and Clayton L. Terry. “James and the Ancient World: Pragmatism, Stoicism, and the Rhetoric of Resilience” in The Jamesian Mind, ed. Sarin Marchetti (New York, NY: Routledge, 2021).
Kerssen-Griep, Jeff and Clayton L. Terry. “Communicating Instructional Feedback: Definitions, Explanations, Principles, and Questions.” Communication and Learning 16, no. 287 (Boston/Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2016).
Book Reviews:
Terry, Clayton L. Review of Paul Stob, Intellectual Populism: Democracy, Inquiry, and the People. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2020. Quarterly Journal of Speech (2021): 1-4.
Terry, Clayton L. Review of Luke Winslow, Economic Injustice and the Rhetoric of the American Dream. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2017. Rhetoric Review 39, no 1 (2020): 124-126.
Terry, Clayton L. Review of Marie Lund, An Argument on Rhetorical Style. Aarhus, Denmark: Arhus University Press, 2017. Advances in the History of Rhetoric 22, no. 2 (2019): 223-225.
Top Student Paper Award, 2020 National Communication Association Instructional Development Division
Moody Graduate School Recruitment Fellowship, $5,000, The University of Texas at Austin, 2018 - 2019