Gabriel is an Instructor of Communication at Western Carolina University, where he teaches foundations of communication, public and mediated speaking, and a first-ear seminar entitled Media Literacy in an Age of Social Media. He has also taught for the Managerial Leadership Certificate Program at WCU, through the Department of Educational Outreach. He serves on and coaches for the University Commencement Speaker Committee and serves as Faculty Advisor and coach for the University Mock Trial Club.
In 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 (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 academic works on politics and social media as an undergraduate student. Remaining in Greensboro for his master’s degree, he gained experience teaching communication 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.
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 