Rudrow’s teaching and research explore contemporary discourses concerning race, gender, and sexuality in U.S. American popular culture, emphasizing discourses about Black masculinity in relation to vulnerability and resistance. Rudrow’s current book project, tentatively titled "Resistive Black Masculinities: Race, Gender, and the Hip-Hop Sensibilities of Black Popular Culture," uses textual analysis to examine the popular culture construction of Black masculinities invested in resistance. He contextualizes this project in the cultural history of racialized and gendered oppression against Black men and how this oppression informs ideas about Black manhood. Rudrow’s published work can be read in ranked communication and ethnic studies journals, including Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies; Critical Studies in Media Communication; Communication, Culture & Critique; and the Journal of Black Studies.

Rudrow currently serves as the Chair of the National Communication Association’s Black Caucus, an At-Large Member of the National Communication Association’s Legislative Assembly, and the Vice Chair of the Southern States Communication Association’s Gender Studies Division. Recent accomplishments include being a 2022 recipient of the Black Rose of Appreciation by Syracuse University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs and winning the 2020 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the National Communication Association’s African American Communication and Culture Division. Rudrow serves on the editorial board for Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies and the Quarterly Journal of Speech.

Education

• Ph.D., The University of Memphis

Selected Publications

• Rudrow, K. J. (Accepted). Quare Vernacular Discourse: Vulnerability, Mentorship, and Coming Out on YouTube. Critical Studies in Media Communication.
• Rudrow, K. J. & Edgar, A. N. (2023). Reading Moonlight, Reading the Other. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 20(2). Doi: 10.1080/14791420.2022.2164319
• Rudrow, K. J.  (2020). “I Was Scared to Death”: Storytelling, Masculinity, & Vulnerability in “Wet Dreamz.” Critical Studies in Media Communication, 27(2), 148-160. Doi: 10.1080/15295036.2020.1741660
  
• Rudrow, K. J. (2019). "I See Death Around the Corner": Vulnerability and Manhood in Me Against the World. Journal of Black Studies, 50(7), 632-650. Doi: 10.1177/0021934719875941
• Edgar, A. N. & Rudrow, K. J. (2018). "I Think of Him as an Ancestor": Tupac Fans and the Intimacy of Pop Cultural Heritage. Communication, Culture & Critique, 11(4), 642-658. Doi: 10.1093/ccc/tcy03

Lectures, Panels, and Workshops

• Rudrow, K. J. & Edgar, A. N. (2022, April). Reading Moonlight, Reading the Other. Presented at the annual meeting of the Southern States Communication Association, Greenville, SC.
• Tabrizi, H. & Rudrow, K. J. (2022, May). Black Vegan Rhetoric: Healing, Activism, & Conflict in Black Women’s Blog Posts. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Rhetoric Society of America, Baltimore, MD.
• Rudrow, K. J (2021, November). Quare Vernacular Discourse: Vulnerability, Mentorship, and Coming Out on YouTube. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Seattle, WA.
• Rudrow, K. J. (2019, November). “I See Death Around the Corner”: Vulnerability and Manhood in Me Against the World. Paper presented at the annual National Communication Association, Baltimore, MD.
• Edgar, A. N. & Rudrow, K. J. (2018, November). “I Think of Him as an Ancestor”: Tupac Fans and the Intimacy of Pop Cultural Heritage. Poster presented at the annual National Communication Association, Salt Lake City, UT.

Awards and Honors

• Black Rose of Appreciation (awarded for a campus wide commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion), Syracuse University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, Syracuse, NY. February 2022.
• Outstanding Dissertation Award, National Communication Association, African American Communication and Culture Division. November 2020.
• Michael and Suzanne Osborn Fellowship (awarded for excellence in research, teaching, and service), Department of Communication and Film, The University of Memphis. Fall 2019-Spring 2020.
• Top Student Paper, Southern States Communication Association, Argumentation and Forensics Division, Nashville, TN. April 2018.
• Top Student Paper, Southern States Communication Association, Argumentation and Forensics Division, Greenville, SC. April 2017.
• Top Student Paper, Southern States Communication Association, Argumentation and Forensics Division, Austin, TX. April 2016.

Courses Taught

• CRS 600 (Graduate): Race, Rhetoric, & Masculinity
• CRS 388 (Undergraduate): Hip-Hop Cultures
• CRS 383 (Undergraduate): Rhetoric in Popular Culture
• CRS 360 (Undergraduate): Race, Rhetoric, & Masculinity
• CRS 337 (Undergraduate): Race, Ethnicity & Communication
• CRS 183 (Undergraduate): Concepts & Perspectives in Rhetorical Studies