Faculty Profiles

Dr. Wallace S. Golding is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas State University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in rhetorical methods, political communication, social movements, public address, and public memory. Golding earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in Communication from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and B.A. in English from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Golding is a rhetorical historian and critic whose scholarship investigates public arguments over citizenship, national identity, and public policy. He studies the ways politicians and activists have used political language to define their identities, enact particular visions of citizenship, and advocate change in democratic practice and policy. He is especially interested how arguments from prior periods evolve over time as rhetors face new opportunities and constraints. His scholarship and reviews have appeared in journals such as Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Communication and Democracy, and the Quarterly Journal of Speech and received awards from the Southern States Communication Association (SSCA), National Communication Association's (NCA) Public Address Division, and NCA's Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division.

Born and raised outside of Memphis, Tennessee, Golding is a first-generation college graduate committed to supporting students from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education. His teaching encourages students to think critically about the rhetorical world around them and to see communication as a vital tool for civic engagement. When left to his own devices, you can find him enjoying local coffee shops, debating the best local BBQ, or listening to a broad variety of music.