Kathleen Lamp-Fortuno's primary research interest is in the history of rhetoric, specifically Roman rhetoric.

As associate professor of English and director of the program in writing, rhetorics and literacies, Lamp-Fortuno's current research looks at rhetorical influences in public art.

Her first book, "A City of Marble," focused on the influence of rhetorical theory on Augustan cultural campaigns. Her current scholarship focuses on classical influence in U.S. public art, including monuments and memorials and how those sites guide understandings of citizenship and civic participation.