Ryan Shepard Data-verified
Affiliation confirmed via AI analysis of OpenAlex, ORCID, and web sources.
Associate Professor
faculty
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Biography and Research Information
OverviewAI-generated summary
Ryan Shepard's research investigates the proliferation and impact of conspiracy theories, particularly within contemporary political and cultural contexts. His work examines how these theories intersect with religion, celebrity endorsements, and social media, influencing public discourse and events such as the January 6th insurrection. Shepard also studies the rhetorical strategies employed by various political movements, including the use of "white victimhood" narratives and the construction of "moderate ethos" in political endorsements.
Further research by Shepard delves into the representation of conspiracy themes in popular culture, including children's television and parodic internet movements. He also analyzes the cultural significance of specific symbols and their connection to identity, such as the "MAGA hat" and the "Bradford pear" tree. Shepard's scholarship has resulted in 87 publications, with an h-index of 11 and over 432 citations. He has collaborated with researchers at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Metrics
- h-index: 11
- Publications: 87
- Citations: 435
Selected Publications
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NCA editor reflection forum (2025)
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Trump and the truthers: populist demophobia and the Sandy Hook conspiracy theory (2025)
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Building the Functional Oasis: Spatial Rhetoric and the Neoliberal Company Town of Columbus, Indiana (2025)
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From Fringe to Mainstream: How Celebrity Endorsement on Social Media Contributes to the Spread of Conspiracy Theories (2024)
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Kinder-Conspiracy Theories: Disney's <i>Gravity Falls</i> and the Conspiracy Genre in Children's Television (2024)
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The most hated tree in America: negative difference, the White imaginary, and the Bradford pear (2023)
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Militant white identity politics on full display in GOP political ads featuring high-powered weapons (2022)
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The Rise of Presidential Eschatology: Conspiracy Theories, Religion, and the January 6th Insurrection (2021)
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John F. Kennedy and the Liberal Persuasion (2021)
Collaboration Network
Top Collaborators
- Outfitting the Conservative Civil Rights Movement: Rehearsed White Victimhood and the MAGA Hat
- Conspiracy Theatre of the Absurd: “Birds Aren’t Real” as Parodic Hypermimesis
- The most hated tree in America: negative difference, the White imaginary, and the Bradford pear
- Militant white identity politics on full display in GOP political ads featuring high-powered weapons
- The Rise of Presidential Eschatology: Conspiracy Theories, Religion, and the January 6th Insurrection
- Kinder-Conspiracy Theories: Disney's <i>Gravity Falls</i> and the Conspiracy Genre in Children's Television
- From Fringe to Mainstream: How Celebrity Endorsement on Social Media Contributes to the Spread of Conspiracy Theories
- From Fringe to Mainstream: How Celebrity Endorsement on Social Media Contributes to the Spread of Conspiracy Theories
- From Fringe to Mainstream: How Celebrity Endorsement on Social Media Contributes to the Spread of Conspiracy Theories
- From Fringe to Mainstream: How Celebrity Endorsement on Social Media Contributes to the Spread of Conspiracy Theories
- Building the Functional Oasis: Spatial Rhetoric and the Neoliberal Company Town of Columbus, Indiana
- NCA editor reflection forum
- NCA editor reflection forum
- NCA editor reflection forum
- NCA editor reflection forum
- NCA editor reflection forum
- NCA editor reflection forum
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