Speaker & Gavel

Speaker & Gavel (ISSN 2572-4460) is the scholarly journal of the Novice National Forensic Association, a non-profit collegiate forensic organization dedicated to intercollegiate speech and debate students in their first year of college competition. Speaker & Gavel encourages contributions from forensic scholars and practitioners, who comprise all segments of the journal's readership, including graduate school, community college, and college or university groups.

This journal is exclusively online and open access to decrease the cost of spreading important scholarly discussions. The NNFA encourages scholars to use and make reference to work published in our journal. Scholars may quote, without permission, in order to document their own work. Speaker & Gavel assumes each scholar shall be responsible in acknowledging and properly documenting such uses. Teachers may reproduce and distribute, free of copyright charges, portions of this journal solely for educational purposes. Any reproduction and distribution must acknowledge in writing Speaker & Gavel as the primary source of the material.

For more information contact the editor, Todd Holm: toddtholm@gmail.com.

Speaker & Gavel was preceded by two separate titles, The Gavel of Delta Sigma Rho and The Speaker of Tau Kappa Alpha. In 1964, the two separate titles merged to form Speaker and Gavel. The publication continued in print until 2004 when it transitioned to an online only format.

Current Issue

Volume 61, Issue 2 (2025)View issue

Current Articles

Most Popular Articles

  • Articles
    5 January 2026

    Homemaking in Hashtags: A Rhetorical Study of Hannah Neeleman’s #Tradwife Narrative Across Social Media

    Emma Arneson
    This study analyzes the rhetorical construction of Hannah Neeleman’s “tradwife” persona across TikTok, Instagram, and her commercial website. Using Fisher’s narrative paradigm and McGee’s fragmentation thesis, it examines how curated domestic imagery, entrepreneurial branding, and selective storytelling shape cultural narratives of femininity, domestic labor, and agency. Focusing on August 2024 posts following a high-profile media controversy, the analysis reveals how fragmented digital content generates emotional coherence despite ideological contradictions. The findings demonstrate how audiences assemble meaning from partial narratives, illustrating the persuasive power of fragmented rhetoric in shaping contemporary discourse on gender and traditional values.
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  • Articles
    5 January 2026

    Mentorship, Yes We Can

    Andrea Carlile
    Dr. Andrea Carlile, South Dakota State University, reflects on working with and mentoring students in the undergraduate research process.
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  • Articles
    5 January 2026

    Navigating Privacy Boundaries: Communication Privacy Management and Faculty

    Ashlee Ellinwood, Chloee Robison, Sarah Steimel
    College students experience high levels of stress that impact their academic performance and persistence in higher education. While faculty support has been shown to enhance student success, little is known about the privacy management rules students use when deciding whether to disclose personal stressors to their instructors. This study uses Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory to examine how undergraduate students develop and apply privacy rules regarding stress-related disclosures to faculty. Four key factors emerged through qualitative interviews and focus groups with 40 students: cultural norms, motivation, contextual influences, and risk-benefit assessments. Findings underscore the importance of faculty-student communication in student success, revealing how privacy management influences help-seeking behaviors. Practical implications highlight strategies for faculty and other higher ed professionals to create supportive environments that encourage appropriate disclosures, ultimately reducing barriers to communication and enhancing student persistence.
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