Awarded by the Alpha Rho Chapter of
Lambda Pi Eta Communication Honors Society (2013).

Ethos Award for Character and Excellence in Communication

Department of Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill (2009).

Martha Nell Hardy Award for Outstanding Teaching

National Communication Association, Rhetoric and Communication Theory Division, Freedom of Expression Division, Activism and Social Justice Division

Allied Tactics: Public Responses to Hate Speech

Social Justice, Collaborative Research, and Communication’s Civic Callings

Who Are We, Where Are We, and What Can We Do: The ‘Place’ of Localized Activism in the Global Extraordinary Rendition and Torture Program

The Sphere, the Screen and the Square: ‘Locating’ Occupy in the Public Sphere

Words That Wound, Bodies That Shield: Corporeal Responses to Westboro Baptist Church’s Hate Speech

From Community Service to Democratic Education: Making (Class)Room for Communication Activism

For What Noble Cause: Cindy Sheehan and the Politics of Grief in Public Spheres of Argument

Villanova University was founded in 1842 by the Order of Saint Augustine. To this day, Villanova’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition is the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. Villanova prepares students to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.


The strength of the Villanova experience comes in part from the University’s welcoming community. All members are bonded together by a shared responsibility to uphold the ideals of Saint Augustine and let the principles of truth, unity and love guide their lives. The Villanova community helps students grow intellectually, professionally and spiritually, and challenges them to reach their full potential.


The University’s rigorous academic experience, rooted in the liberal arts, forms an environment in which students and professors are partners in learning. The Villanova community is dedicated to providing a personalized experience that fosters every student’s intellectual and spiritual well-being. As part of their education, students are encouraged to enrich their own lives by working for those in need. Through academic and service programs, students use their knowledge, skills and compassion to better the world around them.


There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University’s six colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. These colleges are the setting for an experience that develops both the heart and the mind, and creates the atmosphere where students are called to ignite change.


Villanova University is located in a suburban community 12 miles west of Philadelphia, Pa.

Villanova University

A rhetorical activist scholar, Dr. Murray’s research explores the timely territory of community responses to hate speech. In conducting her research she observes, and can speak about, protest movements at street level. Dr. Murray can also address issues and events related to rhetoric and social justice, rhetoric and democracy and civic engagement.

Rhetoric and Social Justice

Rhetoric of Protest Movements

Community Responses to Hate Speech

Civic Engagement

Communication

villanova.academia.edu

Google Scholar Citations

Climate activists orchestrate disruptive protests to gain attention from world leaders

When Neo-Nazis and Antifascists Clash, This Professor Wants to Be in the Thick of It

What impact can hate speech have on midterm elections?

The Reality of Meeting Hate Speech with “More Speech”

What to Do When the Fascists Come to Town

UNITAS Faculty Research Award

Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society Research Grant

Villanova Institute for Teaching and Learning Minigrant

combating-hate-speech-in-2023-and-beyond

Associate Professor of Communication; Assistant Director for Academics, Center for Peace and Justice Education | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The arrival of a new year often initiates a reflection on the previous one. And according to Billie Murray, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Communication, reflecting on America’s past begins with acknowledging the country’s history of and ever-growing propensity towards hate speech.

  
As defined by Dr. Murray in her book Combating Hate: A Framework for Direct Action, hate speech “defames, denigrates, dehumanizes and/or inspires violence against particular groups of people on the basis of their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, gender or other identity category.”

 
Hateful rhetoric is not restricted to the fringes of society as it once might have been. It is emerging within schools, localities and central government. Yet, as Dr. Murray points out, America’s enmeshment is not fated.

Dr. Murray’s commitment to fieldwork has taken her throughout the country to protests at hate group rallies in Stone Mountain and Newnan, Georgia, Columbia, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C. At these rallies, and through the lens of a researcher, scholar and activist, Dr. Murray sought to identify oppositional tactics used by counter-protestors that succeeded in diminishing the presence and the effects of hate speech.

 
As a result of her observations, Dr. Murray devised the Counterspeech System, a strategy based on the idea that more speech (not avoidance) is the best way to counter hate speech. And there are two successful ways of doing just that:

Confrontational Tactics focus on combating hate through direct action. For example, ‘Angel Action’ is a term used for a confrontational tactic employed at funerals in which activists dress in white angel costumes, rising seven feet tall with ten-foot wing spans, to form a shield with their bodies while creating a barrier between mourners and hate groups. For non-funeral occasions, counteractive celebratory events such as public dance parties, pride celebrations and noise brigades (the drowning out of hate speech with things like kazoos or brass bands) aim to quell hate with love.   Persuasive-Dialogic Tactics focus on both public and interpersonal discussions. For example, persuadable members of the general public may receive the message that hate is a problem (through media campaigns and education) and thus come to the conclusion that action must be taken to combat it. Additionally, an interpersonal dialogue with individual members of a hate group in which messaging about compassion, human dignity and mutual respect is initiated can lead to self-reflection and the use of resources such as de-radicalization support groups (like Life After Hate).  It is important to acknowledge that although successful, Counterspeech System tactics do not prevent hate groups from organizing or disseminating information. More speech serves to combat existing hateful rhetoric.

 
“Our country needs a shift in how it understands free speech and the role of police protection of hate groups, especially if we are going to continue to win this fight,” says Dr. Murray.

 
It will take federal action coupled with a coalition of those engaging in oppositional tactics to bring about lasting change. However, despite the challenges, Dr. Murray affirms that combating hate speech is worth the fight.



Combating Hate Speech in 2023 (and Beyond)

Freedom School 2012
1:00pm - St. David's Room, Villanova University
Billie Murray and William Stehl

The year 2011, in part, culminated with The Protestor being declared as the TIME Magazine Person of the Year. In this Freedom School session we will examine the parallels between Dr. King's time and our present day: discussing the nature of protest and protest movements, why they emerge, what significance they hold, and how their place in our society has changed for better or worse, with particular focus on the Occupy Movement.

Freedom School - Why Protest?... from Martin Luther King to Occupy Wall Street

"Putting Bodies on the Line and Words into Action - Celebrating the "Joys of, Challenges in, and Opportunities for Civic Engagement

Dr. Bryant Keith Alexander has built a career thinking about and embracing queer black bodies moving through the vectors of racism and homophobia; Dr. Mohan Jyoti Dutta has spent the past decade advocating for health care justice in developing nations; Dr. Billie Murray has chronicled her participation in movements for social justice in the wake of Confederate memorializing and in the face of hate speech. A Dean, a Chair, and an Assistant Professor; a colleague from LA, another from Singapore, a third from Philadelphia. While our speakers embody diversity in terms of race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and methodology and area expertise, they are united in their commitment to using communication activism for the common good. Come hear their stories from the front lines of change; listen as they engage in spirited dialogue about why communication matters, and how, and to whom; and please lend your voice to our collective celebration of those who put their bodies on the line and words into action. 

The NCA Opening Session is sponsored by Routledge, Taylor & Francis.

Chair
Lisa A. Flores, University of Colorado, Boulder

Presenter(s)
Bryant Keith Alexander, Loyola Marymount University 
Mohan Dutta, National University of Singapore
Billie Murray, Villanova University

2016 NCA Opening Session

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