Dr. Ayotte's scholarship addresses the intersection of contemporary rhetorical theory
and public policy argumentation, especially the relationship between public discourse
about terrorism and weapons of mass destruction and the development of foreign policies
intended to address these security threats. He has published articles in journals
such as The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, and Argumentation and Advocacy, and is a co-editor of the book, Terrorism: Communication and Rhetorical Perspectives.
- Rhetorical Theory and Criticism
- Critical Security Studies
- Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Postmodernism, Post-structuralism, Critical Theory
- U.S. Foreign Policy Rhetoric
Publications
Book
Terrorism: Communication and Rhetorical Perspectives, ed. H. Dan O’Hair, Robert L. Heath, Kevin J. Ayotte, and Gerald R. Ledlow (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2008).
Journal Articles
- Michael Warren Tumolo, Jennifer Biedendorf, and Kevin J. Ayotte, “Un/civil Mourning: Remembering with Jacques Derrida” [lead essay], Rhetoric Society Quarterly 44, no. 2 (summer 2014): 107-128.
- Kevin J. Ayotte, “A Vocabulary of Dis-ease: Argumentation, Hot Zones, and the Intertextuality
of Bioterrorism” [lead essay], Argumentation and Advocacy 48 (Summer 2011): 1-21
- Kevin J. Ayotte and Mary E. Husain, “Securing Afghan Women: Neocolonialism, Epistemic Violence, and
the Rhetoric of the Veil,” National Women’s Studies Association Journal 17 (fall 2005): 112-133.
- Kevin Ayotte, John Poulakos, and Steve Whitson, “Mistaking Nietzsche: Rhetoric and the Epistemic
Pest,” Quarterly Journal of Speech 88 (February 2002): 121-127
- Kevin J. Ayotte, “Critical Erasure: Deconstructing the Rhetoric of Feminist International
Relations Theory,” International Journal of Forensics 2 (Summer 2000): 169-176.
Book Chapters
- Kevin J. Macy-Ayotte, “Rhetoric and security,” in The Handbook of Communication and Security, ed. B. C. Taylor & H. Bean, (New York: Routledge, 2019), 167-184.
- Kevin J. Macy-Ayotte, “Terrorism, Risk Communication, and Pluralistic Inquiry,” in
Risk and Health Communication in an Evolving Media Environment, ed. H. Dan. O’Hair (New York: Routledge, 2018), 207-226.
- Kevin D. Kuswa and Kevin J. Ayotte, “Wor(l)ds on Fire: Postcolonial Rhetorics of Violence,” in Communicating Colonialism: Readings on Postcolonial Theory(s) and Communication, ed. Rae Lynn Schwartz-Dupre (New York: Peter Lang, 2014), 104-127.
- Kevin J. Ayotte, Daniel Rex Bernard, and H. Dan O’Hair, “Knowing Terror: On the Epistemology and
Rhetoric of Risk,” in Handbook of Risk and Crisis Communication, ed. Robert L. Heath and H. Dan O’Hair (New York: Routledge, 2009), 607-628.
- Kevin J. Ayotte and Scott D. Moore, “Terrorism, Language, and Community Dialogue,” in Terrorism: Communication and Rhetorical Perspectives, ed. H. Dan O’Hair, Robert L. Heath, Kevin J. Ayotte, and Gerald R. Ledlow (Cresskill,
NJ: Hampton Press, 2008), 67-92.
- Kevin J. Ayotte, Gerald R. Ledlow, Roberth L. Heath, and H. Dan O’Hair, “Shifting Paradigms and New
Directions for Managing Terrorism,” in Terrorism: Communication and Rhetorical Perspectives, ed. H. Dan O’Hair, Robert L. Heath, Kevin J. Ayotte, and Gerald R. Ledlow (Cresskill,
NJ: Hampton Press, 2008), 455-473.
- Dan O’Hair, Robert L. Heath, Kevin J. Ayotte, and Gerald R. Ledlow, “The Communication and Rhetoric of Terrorism,” in Terrorism: Communication and Rhetorical Perspectives, ed. H. Dan O’Hair, Robert L. Heath, Kevin J. Ayotte, and Gerald R. Ledlow (Cresskill,
NJ: Hampton Press, 2008), 3-15.
- Kevin J. Ayotte, “Constructions of Violence: Labor, Capital, and Hegemonic Struggle
in the Pullman Strike of 1894,” in Turning the Century: Essays in Media and Cultural Studies, ed. Carol A. Stabile (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000): 217-234.
Refereed Conference Proceedings
- Kevin J. Ayotte, “Playing With Culture and Truth: The Philosophy of the ‘Clash of
Civilizations,’” in The Philosophy Of Culture, vol. 2, ed. Konstantine Boudouris, Studies in Greek Philosophy, no. 49 (Athens,
GR: Ionia Publications, 2006): 22-37. Available online at https://www.academia.edu/115002363/Playing_With_Culture_and_Truth_The_Philosophy_of_the_Clash_of_Civilizations
- Kevin J. Ayotte, “The Art of War: Aristotle on Rhetoric and Fear,” in The Philosophy of Communication, vol. 2, ed. Konstantine Boudouris and Takis Poulakos, Studies in Greek Philosophy,
no. 40 (Athens, GR: Ionia Publications, 2002): 45-57.
- Kevin J. Ayotte, “Rhetoric and the Possibility of Truth: Platonic Epistemology in
the Phaedrus and the Symposium,” in Greek Philosophy and Epistemology, vol. 1, ed. Konstantine Boudouris, Studies in Greek Philosophy, no. 36 (Athens,
GR: Ionia Publications, 2001): 29-41.
- Kevin J. Ayotte, “Aesthetic Rhetoric in Plato’s Phaedrus,” in Greek Philosophy and the Fine Arts, vol. 2, ed. Konstantine Boudouris, Studies in Greek Philosophy, no. 34 (Athens,
GR: Ionia Publications, 2000): 11-21.
Briefing Paper
Gordon R. Mitchell, Kevin J. Ayotte, and David Cram Helwich, “Missile Defence: Trans-Atlantic Diplomacy at a Crossroads”
(co-authored with Gordon R. Mitchell and David Cram Helwich), International Security Information Service (UK) Briefing Series on Ballistic Missile
Defence, no. 6 (July 2001). Available online at https://sites.pitt.edu/~gordonm/JPubs/Mitchelletal2001b.pdf.
Book Reviews/Review Essays
- Kevin J. Ayotte, review of Selling War in a Media Age: The Presidency and Public Opinion in the American Century, ed. Kenneth Osgood and Andrew K. Frank, Rhetoric & Public Affairs 14 (spring 2011): 188-191.
- Kevin J. Ayotte, review of Concept and Controversy: Sixty Years of Taking Ideas to Market by W. W. Rostow, Controversia 3 (spring/summer 2005): 97-100.
- Kevin J. Ayotte, “Arguing Violence: The Theory and Politics of Truth” (review essay),
Argumentation and Advocacy 40 (winter 2004): 185-194.
- Kevin J. Ayotte, review of Witnesses to the Struggle: Imaging the 1930s California Labor Movement by Anne Loftis, Rhetoric & Public Affairs 2 (summer 1999): 356-359.
