Though Dr. Knopf is best known on her campus as "the public speaking person," her work is more fully concerned with political communication - the ways in which political information and ideals are communicated to society; the ways in which entertainment media reflect and shape public opinion; how politicians communicate to the electorate and with each other; how news media report on politicians, parties, elections, and the government; how political actors interact with media; how collective identities are formed and maintained; efforts for and against social and political change; democratic deliberation, dialogue, and debate; political decision making; the influence of interpersonal communication on political actions; issues of misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy, and transparency; and the history of political communication and rhetoric in the United States.
She managed public relations for a student political group while in college, volunteered with local election campaigns, worked for the New York State Assembly, and participated in get-out-the-vote initiatives. She traveled to New Hampshire to study the "First in the Nation" presidential primaries in 2000 and, again, in 2004 when she assisted with the filming of a documentary, and she worked as a 2000 DebateWatch focus group moderator. Both her master's and doctoral degrees concentrated on political communication. She has taught college-level political communication courses focusing on campaign communication, deliberative communication, political satire, political advertising, the history of women candidates, and zombie politics. And, Dr. Knopf has earned recognition for top papers in Political Communication at multiple Eastern Communication Association conferences.
Studying Political Communication
Education
✦ PhD concentrating in Political Communication & Cultural Sociology: University at Albany, 2005. ✦ MA concentrating in Political Communication: University at Albany, 2001. ⁍featured coursework⁌ • Theory & Research in Political Communication • Communication in Campaign 2000 • Communication in Political Decision Making • Lobbying • Political Communication & Citizen Participation • Civil Society & the Public Sphere • Persuasion & Propaganda independent study • Studies in Specialized Areas: Sociology of Media ✦ BA in public relations, with a minor in journalism: SUNY New Paltz, 2000. ⁍featured coursework⁌ • Political Communication • Press in America ✦ AA in liberal arts concentrating in social science: Finger Lakes Community College, 1998. ⁍featured coursework⁌ • State and Local Government
Selected Professional Development
• Discovering Creative Solutions to Contemporary Problems Using Media Literacy and Critical Pedagogy. Eastern Communication Association Short Course. Buffalo, NY: 28 March 2025. • Teaching Controversial Content in the Collegiate Classroom in an Era of Hyper-Politicization: Strategies for Anticipating, Navigating, and Dealing with Threats to Academic Freedom. National Communication Association Short Course. New Orleans, LA: 21 November 2024. • The Rhetoric of U.S. Social Movements: Theories and Histories of Greater Regard. National Communication Association Short Course. New Orleans, LA: 21 November 2024. • Media Literacy is Lit!: How to Teach Media Literacy in Exciting Ways So Students Apply and Own the Lessons. National Communication Association Short Course. New Orleans, LA: 17 November 2022. • Inspiring Resilience and Social Activism in Our Students Through Media Based Pedagogies. Eastern Communication Association Short Course. Online: 26 March 2021. • Valuing Digital Literacy and Argument: Teaching at the Crossroads of Civility. National Communication Association Short Course. Zoom: 19 November 2020. • Utilizing Media to Survive Fake News & More: How Student Understanding of Media Literacy and Critical Pedagogy Can Be Employed for Social Awareness. National Communication Association Short Course. Baltimore, MD: 15 November 2019. • Calling on Justice: Creating an Intergroup Dialogue Program in a Communication Department. National Communication Association Short Course. Philadelphia, PA: 10 November 2016. • Women, Rhetoric, and Political Agency: What Do Women Need to Know About Their History in Order (Phronesis) to be Successful Politically? RSA Rhetoric Society of America Summer Institute. Penn State University, State College, PA: 26-28 June 2009. • Teaching Political Communication. National Communication Association Short Course. San Diego, CA: 21 November 2008. • Political Difference and Change: Teaching Gender and Political Communication Courses. Eastern Communication Association Short Course. Pittsburgh, PA: 1 May 2008. • A Short Course on Teaching American Women’s Public Address. National Communication Association Short Course. San Antonio, TX: 18 November 2006. • Teaching Critical Media Literacy to Undergraduates. Eastern Communication Association Short Course. Washington, DC: 27 April 2003.
Teaching Political Communication
✭Political Advertising
SUNY Albany 🐾
Fall 2004
✭Contemporary Political Communication
SUNY Potsdam 🐻
Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Spring 2015, Fall 2016
✭Wo/Men and Elections
SUNY Potsdam 🐻
Spring 2009, Spring 2014
✭Political Communication
SUNY Cortland 🐲
Spring 2019
✭Oral Discourse & Civic Culture
SUNY Albany 🐾
Fall 2004 (x3), Spring 2005 (x3)
✭Voices of American Women
SUNY Potsdam 🐻
Spring 2007, Fall 2008, Spring 2010, Spring 2011
✭Religion & Messages of Change
SUNY Potsdam 🐻
Fall 2009
✭Communication in Social Change
SUNY Cortland 🐲
Spring 2023
✭Rhetoric of Social Movements
SUNY Potsdam 🐻
Fall 2006, Fall 2008, Fall 2010, Spring 2014, Spring 2016 (x2)
✭Rhetoric of Civil & Public Religions
SUNY Potsdam 🐻
Fall 2007
✭Communicating War
SUNY Potsdam 🐻
Spring 2012, Spring 2013
also...
Introduction to Media Literacy
SUNY Cortland 🐲
Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023
Researching Political Communication
Publications
Knopf, C.M. (nd). Political cartoons and comics bibliography. Graphic Possibilities, Michigan State University Press. Knopf, C.M. (2023). The Loner on the “frontier of unfilled hopes and threats”: Serling’s old West in Kennedy’s new frontier. In D. Picariello (Ed.), The Western and political thought: A fistful of politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Knopf, C.M. (2023). Familiarity is the path to the Dark Side: Domesticating political problems with Star Wars. Unbound: A Journal of Digital Scholarship, 3(1), 24-31. Knopf, C.M. (2022). AfterShock’s Rough Riders and the reification of race reimagined. In M. Goodrum, D. Hall, & P. Smith (Eds.), Drawing the past, Vol. 1: Comics and the historical imagination in the United States, pp. 212-227. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. Knopf, C.M. (2021). The Democratic primary debates in political cartoons, or Santa Claus gets voted off Fantasy Island. In R. Denton, Jr. (Ed.), Studies of communication in the 2020 presidential campaign, pp. 83-104. Lanham, MD: Lexington. Knopf, C.M. (2021). Politics in the Gutters: American politicians & elections in comic book media. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. Knopf, C.M. (2021). “Like his dad”: Epistolic constructions of American children in World War II. Home Front Studies, 1(1), 59-83. Knopf, C.M. (2020). The American nightmare: Graveyard voters, demon sheep, devil women, and lizard people. D. Picariello, ed. The politics of horror, pp. 3-16. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Knopf, C.M. (2020). UFO (unusual female other) sightings in Saucer Country/State: Metaphors of identity and presidential politics. In S. Langsdale & E. Coody (Eds.), Monstrous women in comics, pp. 257-273. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. Knopf, C.M. (2019, Dec). “Carrie Fisher sent me”: Princess Leia as an avatar of resistance in the Women’s March(es). Unbound: A Journal of Digital Scholarship, 1(1). Knopf, C.M. (2019). Politics as “the sum of everything you fear”: Scarecrow as phobia entrepreneur. In D. Picariello (Ed.), Politics in Gotham: The Batman universe and political thought, pp. 159-176. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Knopf, C.M. (2018, Jun 11). BrainDead: The horrors of election 2016. In Media Res, Politics & Horror Week. Knopf, C.M. (2012). Relational dialectics in the civil-military relationship: Lessons from veterans’ transition narratives. Political & Military Sociology: An Annual Review, 40, 171-192. Knopf, C.M. & Ziegelmayer, E.J. (2012). Fourth generation warfare & the US military’s social media strategy: Promoting the academic conversation. Air & Space Power Journal – Africa & Francophonie, Q4, 3-22. Knopf, C.M. (2011). Those who bear the heaviest burden: War and American exceptionalism in the age of entitlement. In J. Edwards & D. Weiss (Eds.), The rhetoric of American exceptionalism: Critical essays, pp. 171-88. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Press. Knopf, C.M. (2010). Al Gore’s rational faith and unreasonable religion. In D. Weiss (Ed.), What Democrats talk about when they talk about God: Religious communication in Democratic party politics, pp. 93-113. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. Knopf, C.M. (2005). Providence, presidents, & the press: Inaugural rhetoric of religion in a historical perspective. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University at Albany. Knopf, C.M. (2000). Power plays by the powerless: A study of attempted diffusion of innovative reforms by the New York State Assembly Minority Conference. Unpublished master's practicum. University at Albany.
Selected Presentations
Knopf, C.M. (2025). “Between the lines: Visual depictions of the ‘fact gap’ during election 2024.” Mind the gap: The outcomes of demographic demarcations and divisions in the 2024 presidential election. Eastern Communication Association. Buffalo, NY. Knopf, C.M. (2025). "Conceptualizing campaign media and misinformation in 2024." Making sense of contemporary political propaganda. A New York Society for General Semantics event. New York, NY. Knopf, C.M. (2024). "Misinformation, manipulation, & media misdirection." Reflections on the 2024 Presidential election. National Communication Association. New Orleans, LA. Knopf, C.M. (2024). “Going rogue, the sequel: MTG and MAGA.” Frightening, feckless, felonious, funny, and feeble: The Trump 2024 chronicles. NYS Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2024). “Fighting like cats & dogs: Politics in (not so) ‘funny animal’ comics.” Calling out the symbol rulers. Annual AKML and the Symposium on Communication, Consciousness, and Culture. Knopf, C.M. (2024). “Distortions and distractions: The visual rhetoric of celebrity spectacle surrounding Trump’s indictments.” The shifting currents of Trump's legal imbroglios: Indictments, integrity, & impenitence. Eastern Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2024). “The national recurring nightmare: Ford’s inaugural speech 50 years later.” Public Address of 1974, Fifty Years Later. Eastern Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2023). “Politics as unusual: Editorial cartooning & the 2024 election.” Are We on “The Eve of Destruction?” – Looking Ahead to the 2024 Election. Eastern Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2022). “Roe, reproduction, & representation: Artists on abortion.” Denial, Derogation, & Divisiveness after Dobbs: Communication Perspectives on a Post-Roe World. NYS Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2022). “The Statue of Trumpery: Ironic metaphor & the visual ideograph.” Top Paper Panel: Memorializing Public Messages of American Presidents. Eastern Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2021). “Compassion & the apocalypse: Commanders (and communities) in Crisis.” Navigating Superhero Communities. Comics Studies Society. Knopf, C.M (2021). “‘I am altering the [art of the] deal’; Or, the In-Sidious threat of Dark Side allusions in political satire.” The Imperial March. Realizing Resistance Episode II. Knopf, C.M. (2019). “Cartoon commemoration & commentary on the death of John McCain.” Bidding Senator John McCain Goodbye: Memorializing Across Genres & Contexts. Eastern Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2019). “We are all wonder women & handmaids in the resistance – or are we?: The limits of pop culture icons & avatars in feminist protest.” Global Citizens & Impediments: Modern Feminism around the World. NYS Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2018). “Pun dites: Artists’ re-framing of Trump’s words.” Trump Time: Communication Lessons or Trump’s Communication Primer. NYS Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2018, Oct). “Campaign carnage: Horror & politics in comic books.” Political horror. Popular Culture Assoc/American Culture Assoc, So. Knopf, C.M. (2011, Sep). “Free expression, information superiority, image, & operation security: Crafting a military communication model for the cyber age.” Are your data private: Cyber security in a Wikileaks world. American Political Science Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2010). “Hidden costs & unsung heroes: Issues of media coverage and cultural scripts in noncombat military deaths.” The political discourse of waging war & combating terrorism. Eastern Communication Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2009). “The rhetoric of polarization: Media, mediation & the new politics of division.” Defining the Genre: The Rhetoric of Polarization Revisited. Eastern Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2009). “Lipschtick: Masculine political metaphors get a makeover.” Campaign Frames: Meaning Making and Constraint in ‘08. Eastern Communication Association. Philadelphia, PA. Knopf, C.M. (2009). “Eco-nfessions: CMC, secrets, and environmental action at TrueGREENconfessions.com.” Old & new media on the Internet: Economics & adaptations. Eastern Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2008). “IR, PR, the E.U. & the U.S.: Bush’s and Chirac’s conflicting sacred/secular national identities regarding Iraq.” Bent emotions: Perspectives on foreign policy & candidate evaluations. Eastern Communication Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2003). “Redefining crisis rhetoric in the wake of localized national tragedies.” Political Rhetoric. National Com Assoc. Knopf, C.M. (2002). “Capturing character: Variations in media coverage of candidate character in the first 2000 presidential debate.” Debates 2000: A Close Look. Eastern Com Assoc.
Affilliations
• National Communication Association - Political Communication, American Studies, Communication & Military Divisions • Eastern Communication Association - Political Communication, Rhetoric & Public Address Interest Groups • FLARE: First Ladies Association of Research & Education • International Communication Association - Political Communication Division • American Political Science Association - Political Communication Group • International Studies Association - International Communication Section
Honors
• A Top Paper in Political Communication, Eastern Communication Association: 2023 •A Top Paper in Political Communication, Eastern Communication Association: 2022 • A Top Paper in Political Communication, Eastern Communication Association: 2020 • A Top Paper in Political Communication, Eastern Communication Association: 2019 • A Top Paper in Political Communication, Eastern Communication Association: 2016
Working in/with/for Politics & Media
Work Experience
• Primaries: The Defining Battle in New Hampshire [documentary], Films for the Humanities & Sciences. Production Assistant: Jan 2004 • WebArchivist.org, Mayoral WebSphere Project. Archivist/Co-editor: Sep 2001-Dec 2001 • NYS Assembly Minority Research & Program Development. Albany, NY. Graduate Intern: Jan 2001-Jun 2001 • 129th New York State Assembly Race. Canandaigua, NY. Campaign volunteer: Jul 2000-Oct 2000 • 129th New York State Assembly District Office. Geneva, NY. Intern (constituent relations, clerical work, runner): Jun 2000-Aug 2000 • The Poughkeepsie Journal. Photography intern: Jan 2000-Apr 2000 • College partisan-political organization, New York State. Press secretary: 1999-2000. • New Paltz Town Elections. New Paltz, NY. Volunteer (web designer, staff): Oct 1999-Nov 1999 • Office of College Relations, FLCC. Student aide: Sep 1998-Jan 1999 • Student Government Association, Finger Lakes Community College. Student Senate Secretary: Spring 1997- Fall 1998
Related Service Activities
• Political Communication Interest Group, Eastern Communication Association. Chair/program planner: 2023-2024 & 2008-2009. Vice-Chair/Wine & Spots coordinator: 2007-2008 • Pfau Outstanding Article Award Committee, Political Communication Division, National Communication Association. Member: 2022 • Cortland Votes. SUNY Cortland. Member: Summer-Fall 2020. • Know Your Vote. Student Liaison Committee and the Student Government Association. SUNY Potsdam. Speaker: Oct 2008 • Campaign '08 Open Discussion. Student Life, Draime Hall, SUNY Potsdam. Speaker: Feb 2008 • Commission on Presidential Debates, Debate Watch 2000. Albany, NY. Focus Group Facilitator: Oct 2000