I am Dr. James Chase Sanchez and am an associate professor of writing and rhetoric at Middlebury College. I am also a documentary film producer. My research and films explore culture in American society–exploring issues of race and racism, public memory and countermemory, and institutional abuse.
My interests in racial rhetorics and public memory intertwine in my recently released book, titled Salt of the Earth: Rhetoric, Preservation, and White Supremacy, published in 2021. The book investigates how white supremacy makes meaning in my hometown of Grand Saline, TX. You can order a copy of the book here.
Victor Villanueva claims the book “tells the rhetorics of racism that are always present.” Frankie Condon states, “Salt of the Earth is the book we need as a field at this historical moment – when we are challenged to teach our students with honesty and integrity to recognize the accretion of white supremacy in our own stories of coming of age, of the places we know and love the best, and of the people and places that live in us through our stories.”
My research afforded me the opportunity to produce a feature documentary, titled Man on Fire, which has screened at the Slamdance Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, San Luis Obispo Film Festival, and more. The film won an International Documentary Association Award in 2017 and aired on PBS, as a part of Independent Lens, in December 2018. My next film, North Putnam, will enter film festivals in 2024. This film is produced by my co-founded production company: A Pound of Snow Productions.
Outside of this research, I have published in College Composition and Communication, Writing Program Administration, Present Tense, and Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric.
I also recently published a co-authored book in 2021 titled Race, Rhetoric, and Research Methods.
On the rest of my website, you will find my CV, my research profile, a more detailed section about the film and encompassing interviews, and my blog. If you would like to contact me or have any questions, please feel free to email me at jcsanchez @ middlebury.edu.
James Chase Sanchez, Ph.D. 