Colene Lind, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
colenejlind@ksu.edu
Campus office: 227 C Nichols Hall | 785-532-6818
Teaching
Current Courses
Undergraduate
- Political Communication
- Criticism of Public Discourse
- Senior Colloquium
- Senior Honors Thesis
- Persuasion
Graduate
- Rhetorical Criticism
- Persuasion
- Political Communication
Biographical Info
Dr. Lind studies the way that people use language to solve public problems, with a special emphasis on debates that engage scientific, technical, and envioronmental issues. She offers practical insights into how and why people say what they do, as well as concrete suggestions for improving public processes.
Research
Drawing on her study of the final development phase of the Vision for the Future of Water Supply in Kansas, Dr. Lind studied how citizens used language in environmental decision-making. By better understanding the rhetorical choices participants make when talking and writing about natural resources, she aims to improve such public processes.
Most Recently, Dr. Lind has extended this work into the realm of preemption. An integral part of the U.S. system, preemption allows higher levels of government to set the authority of lower levels. Since 2013, Kansas has passed laws preempting local authority to regulate weapons, housing, wages, food labelling, and land use. Analysis of how Kansas argues for and against these measures will give academics better understanding of political culture and practitioners effective means to encourage local policy innovation and participation.
Dr. Lind's CV can be found here.