Shirley J. Oakley, Ph.D. 
Professor of Communication
Dept. of Communications

Contact
SPC Phone: 727-791-5904
SPC Email: oakley.shirley@spcollege.edu

Education
Ph.D. Communication, University of Memphis, 2010
MA Commmunication, University of Illinois at Springfield, 995
BA Communication and Theatre, Illinois College, 1991
AA Liberal Arts, Lincoln Land Community College, 1989

Publications and Conferences
I have presented sessions and papers at numerous state, national and international conferences including Universidad de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina, and Brunel University London, UK, where I presented my completed dissertation, “Mothers Against Democracy: Hebe de Bonafini’s Rhetorical Strategies of Resistance, 1988–2003.”  It can be found in the University of Memphis Library Database  https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/etd/99/  or ordered online at Proquest.com.

My latest publication was released in March 2019. It is Chapter 8 “Allusion and the Reality of Power: Professional Wrestling and Technology’s Role in the Re-creation of the Referee” in the edited book, Convergent Wrestling, found here:  https://www.routledge.com/Convergent-Wrestling-Participatory-Culture-Transmedia-Storytelling-and/Reinhard-Olson/p/book/9780815377641. 

My most recent presentation (March 2021), "Jeanette Rankin and the Peace Issue: Methods and Morals of Men," was for an online symposium, In Her Own Right: A Century of Women's Activism, sponsored by theThe Philadelphia Area Consortium for Special Collections Libraries.  Information can be found here:  http://inherownright.org/spotlight/symposium.

Research Areas
Women’s Rights, Communication Studies, Latin American Social Movements, Public Speaking/Rhetoric

Courses I Developed Online and Teach
COM 3120   Organizational Communication
COM 3131   Interpersonal Communication
MMC 2000   Introduction to Mass Communication
MMC 2700   Mass Media and Popular Culture
SPC 2541    Persuasion and Media
SPC 2300    Interpersonal Communication 
SPC 1631    Women and Communication
SPC 1608    Public Speaking
SPC 1017    Introduction to Speech Communication


Background
I am a native of Illinois, and have taught communication courses in colleges and universities in IL, FL, GA, and TN. I am also a past Fullbright-Hays recipient for study in Argentina and Chile, and I have directed student study abroad programs to both countries. Academic instutions where I have worked include: Lincoln Land Community College, Manatee Community College (now State College of FL), Yazigi Language International, New World Language Institute, Edison College, Coastal Georgia Community College (now Coastal College of Georgia), and The University of Memphis. I am a member of the Southern States Communication Association and ORWAC (Organization for Research on Women and Communication). I am also a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) and the WCTU (Women's Christian Temperance Union).