Todd McDorman joined the Wabash faculty in 1998. His primary research program has focused on the rhetoric of law with particular interest in marginalized groups. This has resulted in work on topics such as the right-to-die and the Dred Scott case. Much of Professor McDorman’s recent work has examined the rhetoric of sport, with a particular emphasis on the redemptive efforts of banished baseball icon Pete Rose to repair his image and gain re-entry into baseball. Three times he has had the opportunity to present this work at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Professor McDorman currently serves on the Accreditation Committee and the Admissions Committee, and he coordinates the annual Wabash College Moot Court competition. He previously has chaired the Rhetoric Department, Distribution Committee, Pre-Law Committee, Undergraduate Research Committee, and Freshman Tutorial (co-chair). Professor McDorman, his wife (Kelly), and his three children (Dana, Lily, and Carter) live close to campus and attend many campus events. He is something of sports fanatic, with particular affinity for baseball, the Cincinnati Reds, and sports trivia. He is also a recreational runner who participates in half-marathons.

Ph.D. in Speech Communication, Indiana University Bloomington, 1998
M.A. in Speech Communication, Miami University (Oxford , OH), 1993
B.A. in Communication Studies and Political Science, Butler University (Indianapolis, IN), 1992

Rhetoric 101 Public Speaking
Rhetoric 145 Legal Debate
Rhetoric 201 Reasoning and Advocacy
Rhetoric 270 Rhetoric of Sport
Rhetoric 370 Visual Rhetoric
Rhetoric 375 Legal Rhetoric
Rhetoric 497 Senior Seminar
Freshman Tutorial: Baseball and American Identity

"Before He Changed My Story: Revisiting Pete Rose's Denial of Baseball Gambling."  24th Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, May 30, 2012, Cooperstown, NY.

Donovan Bisbee and Todd F. McDorman, "'Nobody's Perfect': Armando Galarraga, Jim Joyce, and an almost Perfect Game."  5th Summit on Communication and Sport, March 30, 2012, Peoria, IL.

“Once More with Feeling: Pete Rose’s Renewed Image Repair Discourse on the Occasion of the 25^th Anniversary of Breaking Ty Cobb’s Hit Record.” 23^rd Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, June 1, 2011, Cooperstown, NY.

“Image (Dis)Repair in Pete Rose’s My Prison Without Bars.” Fourth  Summit on Communication and Sport, March 20, 2010, Cleveland, OH.

“Five Years Out: Thinking about the Future of the Communication and Law Division.” Presented as part of panel “Anticipating the Anniversary: The Communication and Law Division Addresses its Evolution Five Years Out.” National Communication Association Convention. November 14, 2009, Chicago, IL. 

 “Law as a Liberal Art: Teaching Legal Content to Undergraduates.” Presented as part of panel discussion on “Teaching Legal Communication.” Communication and Law Commission. National Communication Association Convention. November 21, 2008, San Diego, CA.

 David Timmerman and Todd McDorman, “Rhetoric and Democracy: Public Speaking as a Liberal Art,” Wabash College Humanities Colloquium, April 8, 2008. 

Todd F. McDorman and David M. Timmerman, eds. Rhetoric and Democracy: Pedagogical and Political Practices. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2008.

“The Making of Charlie Hustle: Pete Rose and the American Dream, 1963-1985.” In The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2009-2010 (pp. 140-154), William M. Simons (ed.). McFarland, 2011.

“History, Collective Memory, and the Supreme Court: Debating ‘the people’ through the Dred Scott Controversy.” Southern Communication Journal 71 (2006): 213-234.

Todd F. McDorman, Kurt Casper, Aaron Logan, and Sean McGinley, "Where Have All the Heroes Gone? An Exploration of Cultural Therapy in Jerry Maguire, For Love of the Game, and Any Given Sunday." Journal of Sport and Social Issues 30 (2006): 197-218.

“Controlling Death: Bio-Power and the Right-to-Die Controversy.” Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 2 (2005): 257-279.

"The Rhetorical Resurgence of Pete Rose: A Second-Chance Apologia." In Case Studies in Sport Communication (pp 1-25), Robert S. Brown and Daniel O'Rourke (eds.). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003.

“Challenging Constitutional Authority: African American Responses to Scott v. Sandford. Quarterly Journal of Speech 83 (1997): 192-209.

Visiting Scholar studying “Public Speaking as a Liberal Art,” Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts, Wabash College, Fall 2009.

Rose B. Johnson SCJ Article Award for Volume 71, 2006 of the Southern Communication Journal for “History, Collective Memory, and the Supreme Court: Debating ‘the people’ through the Dred Scott Controversy.”

2006-07 McLain, McTurnan, Arnold Research Scholar Award

Visiting Scholar, Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts, Wabash College, Spring 2005.

The Richard O. Ristine Law Award, presented by the Wabash College Pre-Law Society in recognition of contributions to Wabash College and the practice of law, March 23, 2003.

Top Competitive Paper in Communication and Law at the National Communication Association Convention for “Rhetoric and the Law on Euthanasia: The Entanglement of Meaning, Morals, and Legal Controls,” November 1997.