Meet Dr. Ruh

Speaking with Purpose

Dr. Candice Ruh is a speaker, educator, and author who invites audiences into meaningful conversations about identity, culture, and care. With a PhD in Communication and a critical qualitative focus, she brings deep expertise in how discourse shapes identity, belonging, and resilience.

Drawing on her background as a researcher, writer, and facilitator—and flavored with her feminist, humanist perspective—Candice creates spaces where people feel both challenged and supported. Her talks weave together scholarship and story, offering insights that are engaging, accessible, and practical.

Whether addressing professionals, students, or community groups, Candice’s goal is always the same: to spark reflection, inspire growth, and cultivate connection.

Signature Topics

  • Identity, culture, and belonging in complex organizations

  • Feminist perspectives on leadership, ethics, and care

  • Navigating risk, health, and wellness in everyday life

  • Storytelling, resilience, and the power of imagination

Speaking Formats

  • Keynotes & Featured Talks

  • Workshops & Interactive Sessions

  • Panels & Guest Lectures

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Awards & Recognitions

  • 2025-2026 Graduate Student Excellence Fellowship, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Awarded $2500)

    2024-2025 Rene A. Meyers Award for Teaching, Research and Service, Communication Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Awarded $2000)

    2024-2025 Graduate Student Excellence Fellowship, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Awarded $2500)

  • 2025-2026 Eliana G. Berg Award for Graduate Research, Women and Gender Studies Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for Ruh, C. (2025, March). Miss Americana: The embodied rhetoric of Taylor Swift as a contribution to fourth wave feminism. (Awarded $500)

    2024-2025 Department of Communication Recognition Award for Research, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

    2024 Past Officers Top Debut Paper, Central States Communication Association for Ruh, C. (2024, April). It’s about damn time we explore the decolonizing power of Lizzo’s crystal flute performance. (Awarded $150)

    2024 Top Debut Paper, Pop Culture Division, Central States Communication Association for Ruh, C. (2024, April). It’s about damn time we explore the decolonizing power of Lizzo’s crystal flute performance. (Awarded $75)

    2024 Founders Award for Top Student Paper, Pop Culture Division, Central States Communication Association for Ruh, C. (2024, April). It’s about damn time we explore the decolonizing power of Lizzo’s crystal flute performance. (Awarded $50)

    2024 Top Paper Panel, Organizational and Professional Communication Division, Central States Communication Association for Riforgiate, S. E., Ruh, C., Nartey, M., Ibiwoye, C., & Zinia, J. (2024, April). Navigating incoherence and “paying it forward”: Female academic leader rhizomatic network development.

  • 2024-2025 Melvin H. Miller Award for Teaching, Communication Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. (Awarded $285)

    2024-2025 Graduate Teaching Fellowship Award, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. (Awarded $1400)

    2024-2025 Teacher Appreciation Award, Women’s Soccer Team, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

    2022-2023 Accessibility Resource Center Excellence Award, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

  • 1998-1999       Community Volunteer Award, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the La Crosse Area Family YMCA

Publications

Ruh, C. & Hightower, C. (in press). Exploring border rhetoric, resistance, and the American Dream: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ inaugural house address. Feminist Pedagogy

Ruh, C. (2025). Exploring dimensions of crystallized identities. Feminist Pedagogy, 6(1), 1–5. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/feministpedagogy/vol6/iss1/6

Ruh, C. and Harris, L. (in press). Yogic resistance: Swami Vivekananda and the rhetoric of transcendence. In Advocating Democratization, Authenticating Identities: Activisms of Resistance to Rising Religio-Ethnonationalisms. Bloomsbury.

Ruh, C. (2023). Can you bring your full self to work? The impact of identity and agency on structuration. In Casing the Family: Theoretical and Applied Approaches to Understanding Family Communication (2nd ed., pp. 159–166). Essay, Kendall Hunt.

Riforgiate, S. E., Ruh, C., Ibiwoye, C., Nartey, M., & Zinia, J. (in press). “Organizational mentoring.” In Encyclopedia.

Ruh, C. (2023). Book review: Decoding the digital church: Evangelical storytelling and the election of Donald J. Trump. Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 26(2), 149–154. https://doi.org/10.14321/rhetpublaffa.26.2.0149        

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