Match tier Confirmed
Presence Current · Arkansas
Last published 2025
Sources OpenAlex · ORCID
Refreshed 2026-08-15

Ryan Shepard

Affiliation confirmed via AI analysis of OpenAlex, ORCID, and web sources.

Associate Professor

Also affiliated: University of Kansas (2009–2015); Hólar University College (2009); National Communication Association (2015); University of Maryland Global Campus (2020); Schiller International University (2012); Indiana University – Purdue University Columbus (2011–2016); University of Maryland, College Park (2012)

Faculty Researcher

11 h-index 87 pubs 461 cited

Biography and Research Information

OverviewAI-generated summary

Ryan Shepard investigates the spread and impact of conspiracy theories, particularly in relation to political and social movements. His work examines how these theories are disseminated through various media, including social media and popular culture, and their connection to real-world events like the January 6th insurrection. Shepard also studies the role of celebrity endorsement and online platforms in amplifying misinformation. His research further explores themes of identity and cultural representation, including the concept of "white victimhood" in contemporary political discourse and the portrayal of conspiracy narratives in children's media. Shepard holds an h-index of 11 with 87 total publications and 454 citations. He has collaborated with Meredith Neville-Shepard, Bayleigh Elaine Bond, Dani B. Jackson, and Freddie J. Jennings, all from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Metrics

  • h-index: 11
  • Publications: 87
  • Citations: 461

Selected Publications

  • NCA editor reflection forum (2025)
    Communication Teacher DOI OpenAlex
  • Trump and the truthers: populist demophobia and the Sandy Hook conspiracy theory (2025)
    Critical Studies in Media Communication 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • Building the Functional Oasis: Spatial Rhetoric and the Neoliberal Company Town of Columbus, Indiana (2025)
    Communication Studies 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • From Fringe to Mainstream: How Celebrity Endorsement on Social Media Contributes to the Spread of Conspiracy Theories (2024)
    Southern Communication Journal 6 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Kinder-Conspiracy Theories: Disney's <i>Gravity Falls</i> and the Conspiracy Genre in Children's Television (2024)
    Journal of Communication Inquiry 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • The most hated tree in America: negative difference, the White imaginary, and the Bradford pear (2023)
    Communication Culture and Critique 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • Militant white identity politics on full display in GOP political ads featuring high-powered weapons (2022)
  • The Rise of Presidential Eschatology: Conspiracy Theories, Religion, and the January 6th Insurrection (2021)
    American Behavioral Scientist 61 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • John F. Kennedy and the Liberal Persuasion (2021)
    Quarterly Journal of Speech DOI OpenAlex
  • Generic Fragmentation in Modern Campaign Rhetoric: A Study of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Announcements (2020)
    American Behavioral Scientist 2 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Whipping it out: guns, campaign advertising, and the White masculine spectacle (2020)
    Critical Studies in Media Communication 17 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • The pornified presidency: hyper-masculinity and the pornographic style in U.S. political rhetoric (2020)
    Feminist Media Studies 15 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • There they go again: invoking the &lt; Reagan &gt; ideograph (2020)
    Argumentation and Advocacy 2 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Virgin Lands: Gender, Nature, and the Frontier Myth in David Magnusson’s<i>Purity</i> (2019)
    Women s Studies in Communication 6 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • “She Doesn’t Have the Stamina”: Hillary Clinton and the Hysteria Diagnosis in the 2016 Presidential Election (2019)
    Women s Studies in Communication 35 citations DOI OpenAlex

View all publications on OpenAlex →

Collaboration Network

17 Collaborators 10 Institutions 2 Countries

Top Collaborators

View profile →
View profile →
View profile →
View profile →
View profile →
View profile →

Similar Researchers

Based on overlapping research topics