About 

Dr. Stewart joined the communication faculty at the UofM in 2009. His research ties together his training in rhetoric and cognitive psychology within the field of discourse studies. Most of his research focuses on how discourse of and about science is used and understood in the context of social and political controversies—including stem cell research, gene therapy, global climate change, gender and cognition, and "reparative therapy" for homosexuality—and articles based on this research appear or are forthcoming in the journals Communication Theory, Discourse & Society, International Journal of Science Education Part B, Rhetoric of Health & Medicine, Science Communication, and Western Journal of Communication, as well as the edited volumes Rhetoric in Detail: Discourse Analyses of Rhetorical Talk & Text and Communication and Language Analysis in the Public Sphere. Dr. Stewart’s ongoing research projects focus on the development of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) identities, particularly among individuals from historically excluded groups. He is co-principal investigator on two National Science Foundation funded projects, the Urban STEM Collaboratory and Vertically Integrated Projects, and former co-PI on ASPIRED. Dr. Stewart uses both qualitative and quantitative methods in his research and takes a broadly social cognitive perspective on discourse and communication.

Education

Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University
M.S., University of Memphis
B.S., Lambuth University

Sample Publications

Stewart, C. O., Campbell, J. T, Chase, A., Darbeheshti, M., Goodman, K., Hashemikamanger, S., Howland Cummings, M., Ivey, S. S., Russomanno, D. J., Simon, G. E. (2023). Communicating identity in the Urban STEM Collaboratory: Toward a communication theory of STEM identities. International Journal of Science Education Part B: Communication and Public Engagement. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2023.2179380

Stewart, C. O. (2022). STEM Identities: A communication theory of identity approach. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 41(2), 148-170. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X211030674

Stewart, C. O. (2020). Socioscientific controversies: A theoretical and methodological framework. In R. A. Harris (Ed.), Landmark essays on rhetoric of science: Issues and methods (pp. 303-323). Routledge. (Reprinted from "Socioscientific controversies: A theoretical and methodological framework," 2009, Communication Theory, 19[2], 124-145, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2009.01338.x)

Stewart, C. O. (2013). The influence of news frames and science background on attributions about embryonic and adult stem cell research: Frames as heuristic/biasing cues. Science Communication, 35(1), 86-114. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547012440517

Stewart, C. O., Pitts, M. J., & Osborne, H. (2011). Mediated intergroup conflict: The discursive construction of ‘illegal immigrants’ in a regional U.S. newspaper. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 30(1), 8-27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X10387099