Dr. Mallory Marsh is the Director of the Speech Team and an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication Studies.

Dr. Marsh holds a Ph.D. in rhetoric and public culture with a specialization in women’s and gender studies from the University of Nebraska. Prior to coming to JMU, Dr. Marsh taught and coached as a graduate student at both The University of Alabama and U. of Nebraska. She also served for four years as the Director of Forensics at Bethel College (KS) after receiving her M.A. and before pursuing her Ph.D. In addition to directing the Speech Team at JMU, she currently serves as the National Tournament Director for the American Forensic Association’s National Speech Tournament.

Beyond researching best practices in forensics, Dr. Marsh’s scholarship employs critical rhetorical feminist inquiry to interrogate considerations of whiteness, white supremacy, gender, racialized violence, and public memory. Her work has appeared in Women’s Studies in Communication, Communication Teacher, Studies in Debate and Oratory, Communication Studies, Critical Studies in Media Communication, and Argumentation and Advocacy.

Dr. Marsh teaches coursework in SCOM and WGSS, including the basic course (SCOM123 and 123H), Intro to Research Methods (SCOM 280), The Mobilization of Hate (SCOM 300), Feminist Blogging (SCOM/WGSS 301), Communication and Civic Life (SCOM 313), Oral Interpretation (SCOM 344), Communication and Gender (SCOM/WGSS 348), Rhetorical Research Methods (SCOM 381), Feminist Rhetorics (SCOM/WGSS/WRTC 420), and Intro to WGSS (WGSS 200).

In her free time, Dr. Marsh enjoys gardening, kayaking, traveling, playing board games, and going on outdoor adventures in the Shenandoah Valley with her partner and their two dogs.