Gabe Wisnewski-Parks was born in Jackson, Mississippi and raised mostly in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. As a teenager, he was a YMCA camp counselor and an avid musician, performing for several years as a jazz pianist. He also completed a career in Scouting America, earning the highest rank of Eagle Scout in 2014.
Early into college, Gabe discovered a talent for performance through The American Mock Trial Association. He portrayed character witnesses as a member of Alamance Community College’s Mock Trial Team, one of only two community college teams in the nation at the time. Meanwhile, he excelled in public speaking courses and began exploring the idea of teaching communication. (Gabe is now the faculty advisor for the Western Carolina University Mock Trial Team.)
Gabe (center) at the 2017 Mock Trial Regional Tournament at Campbell University Law School in Raleigh, North Carolina.
While attending the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Gabe became enamored with the study of rhetoric and persuasive communication. He began publishing award-winning academic works on politics and social media as an undergraduate student. Remaining in Greensboro for graduate school, he gained experience teaching communication courses and expanded his research interests into issues of identity and culture, particularly gender and masculinity.
Gabe (left) winning the Mary E. Jarrard Prize for the top undergraduate paper, at the 2019 Carolinas Communication Association Conference in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
In 2022, Gabe joined the Department of Communication at Western Carolina University as a full-time Instructor. At WCU, Gabe currently teaches the foundational communication course and an original first year seminar, Media Literacy in an Age of Social Media.
Gabe’s research is featured in publications including The Routledge Handbook of Public Speaking Research and Theory, Southern Communication Journal, and the Rhetoric of Masculinity: Male Body Image, Media, and Gender Role Stress/Conflict. He has served as a peer-reviewer for the International Journal of Communication, The National Communication Association, Information & Culture, and Sex Roles.
Gabe co-winning (with Dr. Vincent Russell, not pictured) the Top Paper Award, Basic Course Division, at the 2023 National Communication Association Convention in National Harbor, Maryland.
Beyond the undergraduate level, Gabe is an instructor for the Managerial Leadership Certificate Program at WCU, through the Department of Educational Outreach. He has consulted with regional businesses in western NC, including Nantahala Outdoor Center.
When he’s not working, you can find him spending time with his family, writing, fly fishing local streams, playing videogames, or reading books.
Gabriel Wisnewski-Parks 