James J. Kimble , Ph.D.
Professor of Communication
Department of Communication Media and the Arts
(973) 275-2776
Email
Arts and Sciences Hall
Room 246
James J. Kimble, Ph.D.
Professor of Communication
Department of Communication Media and the Arts
Dr. James J. Kimble is a propaganda historian, a documentarian, an exhibition curator, and the founding editor of the academic journal Home Front Studies. Previously, he has been a Fulbright Teaching Scholar at Croatia’s University of Rijeka and the Director of Forensics and Speech at George Mason University.
Dr. Kimble specializes in studying domestic propaganda and the way it helps to construct a rhetorical community even as it fosters depictions of an enemy or other. His books Mobilizing the Home Front: War Bonds and Domestic Propaganda and The 10¢ War: Comic Books, Propaganda, and World War II join numerous other publications in detailing the use of propaganda during the World War II era to foster loyalty and support from American citizens. In 2018, his research on the identity of Rosie the Riveter went viral, appearing in People magazine, on the front page of the New York Times, and on the television show Mysteries at the Museum; the story ultimately achieved over 1.3 billion media exposures worldwide.
As the recipient of several prestigious awards, including a Senior Fellow Designation
from the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies, the President's Award for Student
Service, and the National Communication Association’s Karl R. Wallace Memorial Award,
Dr. Kimble brings notable credentials to the Seton Hall classroom.
Education
- PhD, University of Maryland
- MA, Kansas State University
- BSEd, University of Nebraska
Scholarship
- Pressman, M., & Kimble, J. J. (in press). Before the summit: News media framing, scripts, and the flag raising at Iwo Jima. Media, War & Conflict.
- Kimble, J. J. (in press). Famous but unknown: An introduction to J. Howard Miller. Source: Notes in the History of Art.
- Plunkett, S., & Kimble, J. J. (Eds.) (2018). Enduring ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms. New York: Abbeville Press. (https://store.nrm.org/enduring-ideals-rockwell-roosevelt-and-the-four-freedoms.html)
- Kimble, J. J. (2018). Mrs. Jekyll meets Mrs. Hyde: The War Advertising Council, rhetorical norms, and the gendered home front in World War II. Western Journal of Communication, 82, 1-19.
- Kimble, J. J. (2017). Framing the president: Franklin D. Roosevelt, participatory quests, and the rhetoric of possibility in World War II propaganda. Speaker & Gavel, 54(1), 94-112.
- Goodnow, T., & Kimble, J. J. (Eds.) (2017). The 10¢ war: Comic books, propaganda, and World War II. Oxford: University Press of Mississippi. (republished in paperback, 2018). (https://www.amazon.com/10-Cent-War-Comic-Propaganda/dp/1496810309)
- Kimble, J. J. (2016). Rosie's secret identity, or, how to debunk a woozle by walking backward through the forest of visual rhetoric. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 19, 245-274.
- Kimble, J. J. (2016). Spectral soldiers: Domestic propaganda, visual culture, and images of death on the World War II home front. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 19, 535-570.
- Kimble, J. J. (2014). Prairie forge: The extraordinary story of the Nebraska scrap metal drive of World War II. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. (https://www.amazon.com/Prairie-Forge-Extraordinary-Story-Nebraska/dp/0803248784)
- Kimble, J. J. (Producer/Director/Writer), & Rondinella, T. R. (Producer/Director). (2010). Scrappers: How the heartland won World War II [Motion picture feature]. United States: Catfish Studios. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1262954/)
- Kimble, J. J. (2006). Mobilizing the home front: War bonds and domestic propaganda. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. (https://www.amazon.com/Mobilizing-Home-Front-Presidential-Communication-ebook/dp/B005MXP4Z6/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8)
Accomplishments
- Founding journal editor, Home Front Studies
- Fulbright Scholar, University of Rijeka, Croatia
- Guest curator, Norman Rockwell Museum international traveling exhibition
- Karl R. Wallace Memorial Award, National Communication Association
- Senior Fellow, Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies
- Rose B. Johnson Southern Communication Journal Article Award
- Distinguished Honor Graduate, U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School
- President's Award for Service to Students, Seton Hall University