Sandra J. Sarkela

Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies

Degrees Held

A.B.  1972 Augustana College
M.A. 1975 University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Ph.D. 1982 University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Academic Summary

Teaching and research interests in the history and criticism of Anglo-American public address, particularly 18th-century theory and practice, social movement theory, and public address of American women.

Courses Taught

Communication
Voices of American Women
Rhetorical Theory
Pro-Seminar

Selected Publications

Sandra J. Sarkela, “Freedom’s Call: The Persuasive Power of Mercy Otis Warren’s Dramatic Sketches, 1772-1775,” Early American Literature, 44:3 (2009): 541-568.

Sandra J. Sarkela. “Mercy Otis Warren’s Contribution to the Rhetorical Tradition,” in Golden, Berquist, Coleman and Sproule, The Rhetoric of Western Thought, 10th ed. Forthcoming 2009

Sandra J. Sarkela and Patrick Mazzeo. “Rev. James Robinson and American Support for African Democracy and Nation-Building, 1950’s-1970’s,” in Freedom’s Distant Shores: American Protestantism and Political Rights in Africa, R. Drew Smith, ed. Waco, TX:  Baylor University Press, 2006: 37-51, 236-238.

Sandra J. Sarkela, “Lucia Cormier vs. Margaret Chase Smith: Debate for the Maine Senate Seat, November 5, 1960,” Contemporary Argumentation and Debate 26 (2005): 51-62.

Sandra J. Sarkela, Susan Mallon Ross, and Margaret A. Lowe. From Megaphones to Microphones: Speeches of American Women, 1920-1960  (Westport, CT: Praeger Press, 2003).

Sandra J. Sarkela, "Rhetorical Theory and Practice in Scottish Sermons against American Independence, 1776-1779," Scottish Rhetoric and Its Influence, Gaillet, ed. Mahwah, NJ:  Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers, 1998.

Sandra J. Sarkela. "Moderation, Religion and Public Discourse:  The Rhetoric of Occasional Conformity in England, 1697-1711," Rhetorica 15 (1997): 53-80.

Sandra J. Sarkela. "Margaret Chase Smith," Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1925-1993: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ed. Greenwood Press, 1994.

Sandra Sarkela Hynes. "John Dickinson, Philadelphia Politician," American Orators before 1900:  Critical Studies and Sources. Duffy and Ryan, eds.  Greenwood Press, 1987.

Professional Activity

NCA Doctoral Education Committee, 2009-2011

NCA Educational Policies Board, 2004-2007

Awards and Honors

2004 recipient of the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, SUNY Potsdam
Eastern Communication Association Committee of Scholars, 2004-2005