Associate Professor
Contact Information
Email: lgringpe@gmu.edu
Phone: (703) 993-1110
Office Location: Buchanan 205
Campus Location: Fairfax
Mailstop: Honors College, MSN 1F4
Biography
Dr. Lisa Gring-Pemble, an associate professor at George Mason University, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of St. Olaf College. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication (Rhetoric) from the University of Maryland.
Since joining George Mason University in 2000, she has pursued teaching and research in three main areas: 1) rhetorical criticism, argumentation, and persuasion 2) political communication and public policy, and 3) and social and global impact. She is author of Grim Fairy Tales: The Rhetorical Construction of American Welfare Policy and co-editor of Readings on Political Communication. Her work has appeared in The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Political Communication, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, and Communication Quarterly, among others.
Gring-Pemble is passionate about teaching and is the recipient of the 2005 George Mason University Teaching Excellence Award, 2017 OSCAR Mentoring Excellence Award, 2019 George Mason University Alumni Association Faculty of the Year Award, 2024 John Toups Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, and was one of the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning 2024 Online Teacher of Distinction winners. She is committed to sustainability initiatives at Mason and around the globe in her capacity as co-founder and director of strategy of the Honey Bee Initiative, Founding Co-Executive Director of the Business for a Better World Center, board member of the Institute for a Sustainable Earth, and member of the Mason Sustainability Council. Gring-Pemble serves on the advisory board of UndocuMason and is an ardent supporter of DACA, undocumented, and TPS students.
Research Interests
- Social impact, innovation, and entrepreneurship
- Rhetorical criticism, argument, persuasion
- Political communication and public policy
Education
Ph.D. Communication (Rhetoric), University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, May 2000.
Dissertation Title: “Constructing ‘Welfare As We Know It’”: A Rhetorical Analysis of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act”
M.A. Communication, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 1996.
B.A., Magna Cum Laude, Political Science and Hispanic Studies; Asian Studies Minor, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, 1992. International Study Abroad: Italy, Spain, Egypt, India, Nepal, Taiwan, Hong Kong, & Japan (1990-1991) Phi Beta Kappa
Research and Awards
Books
- Sheckels, Ted, Janette Kenner Muir, Terry Robertson and Lisa Gring-Pemble.Readings on Political Communication. State College, PA: Strata Publishers, 2007.
- Gring-Pemble, Lisa M. and Martha Solomon Watson. Your Sons and Daughters Will Prophesy: 19th Century Women Claim Their Voice. Under Contract with the University of South Carolina Press.
- Gring-Pemble, Lisa. Grim Fairy Tales: The Rhetorical Construction of American Welfare Policy. Westport, CT: Praeger Press, 2003. Reviewed in the July 2004 issue of CHOICE, an American Library Association publication.
Articles (Select)
Gring-Pemble, Lisa and Germán Perilla. 2020. "Sustainable Beekeeping, Community Driven-Development, and Tri-Sector Solutions with Impact" Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society. Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-01-2020-0019
Gring-Pemble, Lisa and Cher Weixia Chen. “Patriarchy Prevails: A Feminist Rhetorical Analysis of Equal Pay Discourses”. Women and Language 41, no. 2 (2018): 79-103.
Levasseur, David and Lisa M. Gring-Pemble. “Not All Capitalist Stories are Created Equal: Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital Narrative and the Deep Divide in American Economic Rhetoric.” Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 18, no. 1 (2015): 1-32.
Gring-Pemble, Lisa M. “It’s We the People . . . , Not We The Illegals”: Extremist Rhetoric in Prince William County, Virginia’s Immigration Debate. Communication Quarterly 60, no. 5 (2012): 624-648.
Gring-Pemble, Lisa M. “Legislating a ‘Normal Classic Family’: The Rhetorical Construction of Families in American Welfare Policy.” Political Communication 20, no. 4 (October-December 2003): 473-98.
Gring-Pemble, Lisa M. and Martha Solomon Watson. “The Rhetorical Limits of Satire: An Analysis of James Finn Garner’s Politically Correct Bedtime Stories.” The Quarterly Journal of Speech 89, no. 2 (May 2003): 132-53.
Gring-Pemble, Lisa M. “‘Are We Going to Now Govern by Anecdote?’: Rhetorical Constructions of Welfare Recipients in the Congressional Hearings, Debates, and Legislation, 1992–1996.” Quarterly Journal of Speech (November 2001): 341–65. (Lead Article).
Gring-Pemble, Lisa M. and Diane M. Blair. “Best-Selling Feminisms: The Rhetorical Production of Popular Press Feminists’ Romantic Quest.” Communication Quarterly (Fall 2000): 360–79.
Gring-Pemble, Lisa M. “Writing Themselves Into Consciousness: Creating A Rhetorical Bridge Between the Public and Private Spheres.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 84 (1998): 41–61.
Media
- Moderator, Press and Politics Panel at the National Press Club for the George Mason University Washington Journalism and Media Conference. 12 July and 18 July 2016.
Accolades
- Named the 2024 recipient of The John Toups Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award.
- Named one of the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning 2024 Online Teachers of Distinction Winners.
- Presented the paper titled, “Rhetoric, Risk, and Recession: The Rhetorical Underpinnings of the Collapse of the U.S. Housing Market in 2006” at the Eastern Communication Association in Boston, Massachusetts in 2017.
- Received a Teaching Award from George Mason University in 2017.
Media Clippings
- November 25, 2024 - The Washington Examiner
‘Shell-shocked’ Democrats struggle to mount a resistance to Trump - November 1, 2022 - Inside Nova
Students learn about the importance of honey bees thanks to George Mason partnership - October 21, 2022 - Fairfax County Times
Students get immersive experience with honey bees - June 6, 2022 - Global Focus
People, Planet and Prosperity Depend on the Health of Pollinators like the Humble Honey Bee - May 19, 2022 - Connection
George Mason Brings Bee Studies to Laurel Hill Park