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A closeup of two Regent University students smiling and looking off at the beautiful Virginia Beach campus.
David Impellizzeri, Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorJournalism & Communication Studies

David Impellizzeri, Ph.D.

Bio

Dr. Impellizzeri researches and teaches rhetorical and philosophical understandings of human communication. More specifically, his scholarly interests focus on rhetoric, philosophy of communication, communication ethics and media ecology. Since 2009, he has taught courses in communication, philosophy, ethics and the humanities at four other universities and colleges. Impellizzeri holds a Ph.D. in Rhetoric, M.A. in Philosophy, and M.A. in Leadership and Liberal Studies from Duquesne University. He completed a bachelor’s degree in practical theology from Lee University. Prior to his academic profession, he served in the field of college student development for over eleven years at three different institutions.

Dr. Impellizzeri aims to assist his students in discerning prominent, but often unacknowledged, cultural visions of the self and human togetherness. He maintains, “Who we understand the human person to be and what we assume good communities at home, at work, and in society to entail are at the very heart of the study and practice of human communication. Rhetorical and philosophical approaches to communication, in particular, are capable of equipping us with greater discernment and practical wisdom for those everyday contexts in which we speak, act, and dwell with others.”

Research Interests

  • Rhetoric (history of rhetoric, rhetoric’s interplay with philosophy and poetics)
  • Philosophy of communication
  • Communication ethics in the public sphere and the marketplace
  • Media ecology

Recent Scholarship

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications & Paper Presentations (2018-present)

  • Impellizzeri, D. (2024). “Free and Defamatory Speech in Tension.” Pennsylvania Communication Annual, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 11-33.
  • Impellizzeri, D. (2024). “Anxieties and Ironies of Marketing a Higher Education: Toward a Rooted Reflexivity with Ulrich Beck.” Atlantic Journal of Communication, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 139-153.
  • Impellizzeri, D. (2024, April). “Belonging to a Tradition: Narrative Selfhood and the Virtues.” Southern States Communication Association Convention, Frisco, TX.
  • Impellizzeri, D. (2023, April). “Hannah Arendt on the Ethical Orientations Arising from the Vita Activa.” Southern States Communication Association Convention, St. Petersburg, FL.
  • Impellizzeri, D. (2022, April). “Emotivism’s Social Embodiments: Communicative Interactions Shaped by Moral Instrumentalism and Manipulative Relations.” Southern States Communication Association Convention, Greenville, SC.
  • Impellizzeri, D. (2021, April). “Giambattista Vico’s Rhetorical Conception of Human Knowledge: Education, Practical Reason, and Human Affairs.” Southern States Communication Association Convention, virtual.
  • Impellizzeri, D. (2019, November). “Social Imaginaries and Marketplace Liturgies: A Smithian Hermeneutic of Advertising.” Religious Communication Association Conference, Baltimore, MD.
  • Impellizzeri, D. (2018, November). “Philosophy of Communication at the Interplay of Rhetoric and Poetics in Paul Ricoeur’s Threefold Mimesis.” National Communication Association Convention, Salt Lake City, UT.
  • Impellizzeri, D. (2018, June). “Cicero’s Requirement of Ethics in the Education of the Complete Orator.” National Communication Ethics Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.

Awards

  • 2024 Top Faculty Paper, Philosophy and Ethics of Communication Interest Group, Southern States Communication Association Convention

  • 2023 Top Faculty Paper, Philosophy and Ethics of Communication Interest Group, Southern States Communication Association Convention

  • 2021 Co-Top Faculty Paper, American Society for the History of Rhetoric Interest Group, Southern States Communication Association Convention

  • 2019 Students’ Choice Award for Extraordinary Faculty, Community College of Allegheny County

  • 2018 Top Graduate Student Paper, Philosophy of Communication Division, National Communication Association Convention

  • 2017 Top Graduate Student Paper, Communication Ethics Division, National Communication Association Convention

Memberships & Affiliations

  • National Communication Association (divisions: Philosophy of Communication, Communication Ethics)
  • Religious Communication Association
  • Southern States Communication Association (interest groups: Philosophy and Ethics of Communication, American Society for the History of Rhetoric)