Jamie Mckown

Before coming to COA Jamie was formerly a professor at the College of Charleston where he taught classes in rhetoric, political communication, and American campaign history. He has also previously taught classes at Northwestern University and Loyola University in Chicago. He spent a number of years as a coach for the Emory University debate team. While there, Jamie successfully coached three different teams to national intercollegiate championship titles. Based on these efforts he was awarded the Warren Aiken Outstanding Alumni Award by Emory in 2000. Thanks to a generous grant from the Davis family, he is currently working with a group of COA students to examine ways to bring more debate activities to the campus.

In addition to his academic work, Jamie brings to COA many years of grounded experience working in politics and on various electoral campaigns. While he no longer actively consults on campaigns, he continues to remain connected to the community. He regularly serves as a judge for the American Association of Political Consultants annual Pollie Awards. In a similar capacity he has worked with various media organizations both as a political commentator and as a producer/adviser for televised political debates. This has included televised appearances on ABC News Nightline, CNN, and ITN as well as references to his work in numerous print publications including The Christian Science Monitor, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, PR Week, Agence France Presse, etc.

Jamie holds a BA in Political Science from Emory University, a MA in Political Communication from Georgia State University, and a PhD in Rhetoric from Northwestern University.