Jeff Philpott, Ph.D.
Former Director, University Core Curriculum and Professor Emeritus
Dr. Jeff Philpott is a tenured faculty member in the Communication Department, where he teaches rhetoric. His academic interests focus on how individual speakers and marginalized groups can shape public discourse, and he teaches courses in rhetorical theory, persuasion, and advocacy for social change. He joined Seattle University in 1992, and in addition to his work in the classroom, he has served as a department chair and, more recently, Director of the University Core Curriculum from 2005-2015, and from 2018 to the present, helping to lead the effort to design and implement the new version of that curriculum.
The goals of the Alfie Scholars program are near and dear to Jeff’s interests: he is a first-generation college student and transferred from a small rural community college to a challenging four-year liberal-arts university after his sophomore year. He is interested in helping students succeed in making those important transitions and in finding – and exercising – their voices to contribute to our world.
He holds a MA in Communication Studies from the University of Nebraska and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric from the University of Washington. Outside of his work at SU he likes to spend his time doing nature photography, traveling, and cooking.
