Kathleen Ahrens, Ph.D.

Honorary ProfessorDepartment of English and CommunicationThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University

With 30+ years in research‑intensive universities, I offer high‑level strategic advisory for tenure, promotion, academic job markets, and leadership transitions. I work with scholars to strengthen how their contributions are framed, assessed, and advanced within competitive institutional contexts.Find out more at: https://www.logosrencoaching.com

Prolific Researcher

My research examines conceptual metaphor patterns in speeches and media to understand how these patterns represent and support different worldviews. I have published over 80 journal articles and book chapters, including in Journal of Pragmatics, Metaphor & Symbol, Applied Linguistics, and Humanities & Social Sciences Communication (Nature journal).

Engaging Public Speaker

I have presented over 250 invited talks, keynotes, and conference papers in 12+ countries across Asia & Europe, the US, the UK & Australia; Teacher in rhetoric, public speaking, and language arts; Workshop leader for coaches, writers, academics, and business professionals.

Selected Publications

Metaphor and gender: are words associated with source domains perceived in a gendered way?

Change in Metaphorical Framing: Metaphors of TRADE in 225 Years of State of the Union Addresses (1790–2014)

Referential and evaluative strategies of conceptual metaphor use in government discourse

Source Domain Verification Using Corpus-based Tools

Politics, Gender and Conceptual Metaphors

"The importance of this book can be seen in the way that it brings together a focus on language (and conceptual metaphors in particular) and politics and applies feminist research questions and methodologies in thinking through this relationship. Language is a tool involved in knowledge production and thus political action, thus it should be analyzed cautiously which is precisely what the contributors of this book manage to do."
-International Feminist Journal of Politics

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Academic and Non-Profit Leader

-Led regional and global non-profit/academic organizations, including as International Regional Advisor Chair for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrations, ExCom Chair for the Association for Researching and Applying Metaphor (registered UK non-profit), Director of the International Writers' Workshop, and President for the Hong Kong Academy of Humanities

Accomplished Administrator

-Directed end-to-end program development, course development, assessment development, degree requirements, stakeholder relations, committee leadership, quality audit compliance, financial reporting, and line management for large academic unit

Award-Winning Teacher

-Received multiple teaching awards for student-centered learning; noted for interactive and engaging lecture style; gained multiple teaching and learning grants for incorporating self-paced learning into the classroom experience

Experienced Reviewer

-Reviewer for 25+ academic journals and publishers (ten to twelve reviews per year); Former Research Committee Chair (15-20 grant reviews per year); Former Panel Member, Hong Kong Research Grants Council (25-30 grant reviews per year)

Mentor and Coach for Academics

-Supervised/co-supervised 12 Ph.D. students and four post-doctoral fellows, ten of whom now hold full-time faculty positions. Departmental Mentorship Programme Director. Certified Gallup Strengths Coach.

Politics, Gender and Conceptual Metaphors

Papers available at:

I would like to thank all the students, colleagues, and administrators I have worked with over the years. The above accomplishments are the result of the combined efforts of many people working together toward a shared mission as a research group or as an academic or administrative team. Thank you for your hard work and good cheer!