The Author: Omar Swartz earned his doctorate in communication from Purdue University and graduated magna cum laude from Duke University School of Law. He is the author of five previously published books and more than sixty essays, book chapters, and reviews. Dr. Swartz teaches in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center.

«A strength of this book (an intellectual autobiography of a scholar committed to social justice) is that the author’s bias and values are unconcealed and are themselves sites of inquiry, analysis, and inspiration. This human and humane approach to criticism contributes to an academic culture more practically useful (less ‘precious’ in Kenneth Burke’s sardonic use of the term) in encouraging social interaction with the aim of progressive (and transformative) social and political impact.» (Phillip K. Tompkins, Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado, Boulder)«This is one of the rare books that both challenges the ‘merely academic’ and rises above it. It speaks to academics and nonacademics and makes a serious and genuine contribution to our intellectual life.» (Philip Wander, Professor of Communication Studies, San Jose State University, California)