Biography
Dr. J. David Cisneros is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and affiliate faculty in the Department of Latina/Latino Studies, the Center for Writing Studies, and the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory. Cisneros' interests are in Rhetorical Studies and Intercultural Communication. His research focuses on public rhetoric about identity and culture, especially the ways that social identities like race/ethnicity, citizenship, and national identity are defined, maintained, and redefined through public communication. His research also explores rhetorics of resistance and social movement, especially as they concern issues of race and immigration.
Cisneros' research has appeared in journals such as Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Argumentation & Advocacy, Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, and Quarterly Journal of Speech. He published “The Border Crossed Us”: Rhetorics of Borders, Citizenship, and Latina/o Identity with the University of Alabama Press in 2014. His research has received awards such as the Wrage-Baskerville Award (from the National Communication Association’s Public Address Division), the Article of the Year Award from the Eastern Communication Association, and the Early Career Award from the NCA's Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division.
Cisneros teaches courses in the areas of rhetorical theory and criticism, critical theory, critical race, studies, and public advocacy.
Research Interests
Race and Ethnicity
Immigration
Social Movements
Democracy and Citizenship
Latina/o Studies
Cultural Studies
Critical Intercultural Communication
Education
Speech Communication (Rhetoric), Ph.D., University of Georgia
Courses Taught
CMN 250: Social Movement Communication
CMN 417: Contemporary Rhetorical Theory
CMN 538: Rhetoric of Social Movement(s)
CMN 538: Rhetoric, Democracy, and Citizenship
Additional Campus Affiliations
Associate Professor, Communication
Associate Professor, Latina/Latino Studies
Associate Professor, Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory
Associate Professor, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Honors & Awards
Conrad Humanities Scholar, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018-2022
Early Career Award, Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division, National Communication Association (NCA), 2017
Helen Corley Petit Scholar, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2017-2018
Emerging Scholar Award, Critical Cultural Studies Division, NCA, 2015
Junior Research Fellowship, Unit for Criticism & Interpretive Theory, University of Illinois, 2014-2016
Article of the Year Award, Eastern Communication Association, 2013
Wrage-Baskerville Award for Top Paper, Public Address Division, National Communication Association, 2012
Top paper award, Media Ecology Association, 2012
Daniel Rohrer Memorial Outstanding Research Award, American Forensics Association, 2010
Highlighted Publications
David Cisneros, J. (2013). The Border Crossed Us: Rhetorics of Borders, Citizenship, and Latina/o Identity. (Rhetoric, Culture, and Social Critique). University of Alabama Press. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/28801
Recent Publications
Cisneros, J. D., & Eberline, A. L. (2023). Navigating Undocumented Activism: Narratives, Positionality, and Immigration Politics. In The Handbook of Critical Intercultural Communication: Second Edition (pp. 493-501). Wiley.
A collaborative project of collective writing, Coordinated and Edited by, & Co-Authored by (2022). Minor keywords of political theory: Migration as a critical standpoint. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 40(4), 781-875. https://doi.org/10.1177/2399654420988563
Cisneros, J. D. (2021). Free to move, free to stay, free to return: border rhetorics and a commitment to telos. Communication and Critical/ Cultural Studies, 18(1), 94-101. https://doi.org/10.1080/14791420.2021.1898009
Cisneros, J. D. (2019). Multilingualism, Multiculturalism, and Migration: A Critical Assessment. American Literary History, 31(3), 519-529. https://doi.org/10.1093/alh/ajz018
Cisneros, J. D., McCauliff, K. L., & Beasley, V. B. (2019). The rhetorical perspective: Doing, being, shaping, and seeing. In An Integrated Approach to Communication Theory and Research, Third Edition (pp. 247-259). Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203710753-22