Kelsey Abele, Ph.D.
Director of Forensics and Assistant Professor of Communication
Office: Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex 191
Email: kabele@wtamu.edu
Phone: 806-651-2415
Professional Profile
Dr. Abele graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN in 2014 with a BA in English and Art History. She then went to Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS for her MA in Communication Studies. After KSU, she pursued a PhD at Arizona State University, at the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication graduating in 2020.
Teaching and Related Service
She competed in collegiate forensics in college and has continued to coach through graduate school. She has been an assistant professor of communication at WT and the Director of Forensics since 2021. Within the department she teaches Basic and Advanced Public Speaking, Argumentation, Rhetoric of Popular Culture, Oral Interpretation of Literature as well as all of the Forensics courses.
Research and Creative Activity
Dr. Abele works with Forensics team members on their individual research projects and performances. She has recently guided a WT team member, Alejandro Mata, through the Manchester Scholar Grant given by the AFA-NST. Her own research deals with questions of tangling memory and film, nostalgia and history. She also runs the Guy P Yates High School Speech and Debate tournament in the fall and District Academic and Speech UIL contests in the spring. When not running a tournament, judging, or coaching, she reads, knits, and plays with her cat, Burke (yes, after the rhetorician).