Joshua Scacco

Status: Student
Thesis: No thesis on file.

Josh came to CCT in January 2009 after working as a communications associate in one of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's largest public affairs firms. Before arriving in D.C., Josh also worked for a Pennsylvania state representative and on several federal, statewide and local political campaigns. He graduated summa cum laude in May 2008 with a B.A. in Political Communication and a minor in Economics from Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA.

CCT was an easy selection for Josh. The interdisciplinary nature of the master's curriculum afforded him similar academic opportunities to those he had experienced as an undergrad. His area of study at Georgetown is Media & Politics with emphases in political communication and language, persuasion theory and influence, media and elections, political campaigns and presidential rhetoric. Josh studies these areas because he strongly believes that to thoroughly understand government and politics, you must understand the interplay of communication and language on political institutions.

His past research has focused on the presidential rhetoric of Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, voter registration in the United States, negative campaign advertising and violence in political advertising. Josh's research has been presented at the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), the Southern Political Science Association and the Pennsylvania Communication Association. His undergraduate thesis is titled "Road to the Majority: How Negative Political Advertising Impacted the 2006 Congressional Elections in Pennsylvania."

Josh is currently researching President Obama's economic language during the first 100 days of his administration and beginning preliminary work on his master's thesis. In between research and going to CCT full time, Josh has worked for a senior United States senator and a large, global public relations firm. He is actively involved with the Pennsylvania Communication Association (PCA), including as an editorial intern for their annual journal and was the recipient of the 2008 "Voices of Tomorrow" - College Communicator of the Year award by the organization. He lives in Arlington, VA and blogs during his free time at politicalsoapbox.wordpress.com.