Defense Date

5-4-2026

Graduation Date

Summer 8-7-2026

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Communication and Rhetorical Studies

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Janie Harden Fritz

Committee Member

Erik Garrett

Committee Member

Sarah Deluliis

Keywords

bullying, relational aggression, power, Foucault, incivility, workplace, corporate America, women, rhetoric, oppression

Abstract

This philosophy of communication response to bullying in corporate America follows the structure of posing research questions, synthesizing relevant literature, and offering advice to practitioners. It invites the reader to have hope in continuing the conversation through a constructive hermeneutic approach to the problem. By building on literature in oppression, silencing, bullying, incivility, and communication ethics, this dissertation reveals how (rhetoric) and why (philosophy) the problem occurs in corporate America today. This dissertation offers a new angle to an old problem, or, a rhetoric and philosophy of bullying. It responds to the following questions:

RQ 1: As a destructive communication problem, why does bullying in corporate America matter?

RQ 2: Constructively, what can be done on a practitioner level about bullying in corporate America?

Language

English

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