Robert N. Gaines
Professor Emeritus of Communication, University of Maryland, College Park
Research Professor of Rhetoric, Sewanee: The University of the South
Curriculum vitae et studiorum

Contact Information
Department of Communication
The University of Maryland, College Park
2130 Skinner Building
College Park, MD 20742
Email: gaines@umd.edu

Research

I am chiefly concerned with the history of rhetoric, especially ways in which dispute between philosophy and rhetoric shaped the development of rhetorical theory during ancient times. Consistent with this concern I am currently working on two initiatives. One is a new Greek text and English translation of Περὶ ῥητορικη̂ς Δ (On Rhetoric 4) by Philodemus of Gadara, an Epicurean philosopher of the first century BCE. This initiative is part of the NEH-funded Philodemus Translation Project. The other initiative is a "census" of notable sophists from the exilium of Aeschines at Rhodes (ca. 330 BCE) to the fama of Nicetes in Rome (mid-70s CE)—a period in which many commentators say there were no significant sophists. The growing list of sophists I have identified in this period directly challenges standard views on the nature and development of ancient sophistic. Lately, a new interest in linguistic pragmatics has led me to realize the significance of propaganda as it relates to traditional rhetoric. In this connection, I am working toward a critique and revision of propaganda theory that redefines propaganda, reconceives its typology, and reconsiders its venues of application. This new theory offers heuristics for re-theorizing rhetoric and distinguishing between the discursive practices of propaganda and rhetoric.

My research has appeared in Cronache Ercolanesi. Bolletino del Centro internazionale per lo studio dei papiri ercolanesi, Hermes: Zeitschrift für Klassische Philologie & Einzelschriften, Philosophy and Rhetoric, Quarterly Journal of Speech, Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric, Transactions of the American Philological Association, and elsewhere. During 2002–2011, I served as Editor of Advances in the History of Rhetoric (now Journal for the History of Rhetoric). I currently serve as the Editor of Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric.

Representative Publications

Gaines, Robert N. 2019. "Distinguishing Rhetoric from Propaganda: An Approach from Pragmatics." 7th Rhetoric in Society Conference, Rhetoric Society of Europe, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium [13 September].

Gaines, Robert. 2017. "Latin Rhetoric." In Oxford Bibliographies in Classics. Ed. Dee L. Clayman. New York: Oxford University Press.

Gaines, Robert N. 2017. "Theodorus Byzantius on the Parts of a Speech." In Logos without Rhetoric: The Arts of Language before Plato. Studies in Rhetoric/Composition. Ed. Robin Reames, 19–29, 149–150, 152–154. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.

Gaines, Robert N. 2017. "Rhetorical Theory." In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods. Edited by Mike Allen, 1507–1511. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Gaines, Robert N. 2017. "Rhetorical Arts in the Epicurean School." In Ab omni parte beatus: Classical Essays in Honor of James M. May. Ed. Anne Groton, 51–74. Mundelein, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci.