Ant Woodall

Ant Woodall (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma) is a political communication scholar from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Their research revolves around politics and relationships with a focus on political discussion, why people are uncomfortable it, and what can be done to make it easier. Ant’s journey in Communication began when they took their first ‘COMM’ course as a sophomore in undergrad. They were unaware at the time that they had enrolled in a graduate seminar but the experience sparked a love for teaching and research.

Since then, Ant has presented their research at multiple conferences including the Central States Communication Association, National Communication Association, and International Communication Association. Their first peer reviewed publication received an Article of the Year Award from the NCA’s Argumentation and Forensics Division. Their works have been published in several books (including the recently released Routledge Handbook of Public Speaking Research and Theory) as well as several journals such as Argumentation & Advocacy and the Journal of Communication Pedagogy. Ant has also received more than a dozen awards, many of which center around excellence in research or outstanding contributions to graduate student life.

Ant has also become a passionate teacher, having taught courses in public speaking, argumentation, political communication, and more. They have received outstanding teaching awards at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City University. Ant takes a civic coaching approach to teaching and pushes their students to grow and embrace difficult matters of public life. Their favorite saying in class is “We run towards difficult subjects, not away from them.”

When you can find Ant not thinking about politics (which is rare), you can find them playing video games, watching anime, judging forensics performances, or talking about animals. As a child they volunteered at an exotic animal sanctuary and they would love to hear what you think about big cats (or any of the other subjects here).