Dr. Farrell Leontiou holds a Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Penn State University. Rhetoric shapes her approach to her work and provides the understanding that all communication is persuasive. The setting of her work shifts (medical, educational, interpersonal, disability, film, etc.) but the approach is always the same: we construct worlds through our words and then forget that these worlds are of our construction. Words are powerful.

 

Dr. Farrell Leontiou teaches a Stoic inspired class on interpersonal communication. This communication theory is outlined in: Viktor E. Frankl Goes to Community College: How Creating Meaning May Save Your Life (Peter Lang, 2023). Her textbook, The Space In Between Us (Great River Learning, 2023), breathes life into the power of orality.

 

As the parent of a child with disabilities and as someone who understands the power of words, she writes about health communication. Two books on health communication reflect on this topic: The Doctor Still Knows Best: How Medical Culture is Still Marked by Paternalism (Peter Lang, 2020) and What Do the Doctors Say?: How Doctors Create a World through Their Words (iUniverse, 2010). A new book is scheduled for the end of the year which will be Leontiou's third book published in Peter Lang’s Health Communication series, Words Have Consequences: Revisiting the Covid-19 Script. 

 

As a writer and speaker, Dr. Farrell Leontiou traverses many topics: interpersonal communication, health communication, medical paternalism, Stoicism, civility, disability, education, logotherapy (Viktor E. Frankl), and logostherapy (Farrell Leontiou). Regardless of the context, the focus is always the same: what are the words constructing within that setting?