Douglas M. Gaerte
Professor of Communication (1988)
BS, Grace College, 1983; MA, PhD, Indiana University, 1987, 1995
Primary faculty – Rhetorical Communication
Douglas Gaerte joined the faculty of Houghton College in 1988, so he's the veteran of the department. He's a native of Indiana, and though he's lived in New York for nearly 20 years, he still gets homesick for "Hoosier Hysteria" when basketball season gets under way.
Doug is a communication generalist. Over the years he's taught more than a dozen different courses – from communication theory and public speaking to interpersonal communication and mass media. He especially enjoyed teaching mass media for several years because he could tell his wife he was doing research when in fact he just loves watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Doug's primary research interests fall at the intersection of politics, history and communication. He loves studying speeches in their historical context in order to understand how public discourse has shaped important social and political issues. His doctoral dissertation, for example, focused on congressional debates concerning America's role in World War One. While he enjoys all areas of communication, he is most interested in helping his students learn to use rhetoric in civic life to become a positive force for social change.
In his spare time, Doug enjoys attending theater productions with his family. Over the years his poor children have been subjected to more museums and battlefield tours than they can remember, and they have finally stopped groaning every time Dad pulls off the road to read yet another historical marker. Doug is active at the Houghton Wesleyan Church, and he especially enjoys writing skits for various services that make people laugh while at the same time challenging them in their faith. He loves to read anything he can about the connections between faith, politics and media. Favorite authors include Stephen Carter, Jim Wallis, Gary Wills, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, and Robert Ivie.
