Degrees

Ph.D., M.A., University of Rhode Island
M.S., Long Island University
A.B., Duke University

Main Interests

My dream, passion and near-obsession is to cultivate further the long-standing and rich commitment to the teaching of writing here at Wheaton. As we develop our writing program, my interest is to enhance our notion of "composition" as a disciplinary field, produced by the intellect as well as the spirit, reproduced through scholarship as well as classroom practice, and thoroughly charged by the politics of the everyday.

Research Interests

Writing Pedagogy and Rhetoric
Digital Rhetorics
Visual Rhetoric
Writing Centers
Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC)
Peer Tutoring
Writing Assessment

Teaching Interests

Professional Writing
First-Year Writing
Rhetorical Theory
Technological Literacy

Other Interests

Environmental Cultural Studies

Publications

"Consortia as Sites of Inquiry: Steps toward a National Portrait of Writing Program Administration." Journal of Writing Program Administration. (Spring 2009). With Jill Gladstein and Dara Rossman Regaignon

"Sustainable Digital Ecologies and Considered Limits" in Technical Ecologies and Sustainability. Eds. Danielle Devoss, Heidi A. McKee, Dickie Selfe. Computers and Composition Digital Press. 2009

"The Body Matters of Digitized Contexts" in Composition(s) in the Liberal Arts: New Directions. Eds. Joanna Castner and James Inman. Hampton Press (2009)

"Polylog: Are Writing Center Directors Writing Program Directors?" Composition Studies 34.2 (Fall 2006): 11-43. Co-Author with Melissa Ianetta, Linda Bergmann, Lauren Fitzgerald, Carol Peterson Haviland and Mary Wislocki.

"Classical Rhetoric and the Professional Peer Tutor." Writing Lab Newsletter (April 2006)

"Imperative Vigilance." Writing on the Edge (Winter 2005)

"Portfolios as Assessment and Learning Tools." Conference on College Composition and Communication (Spring 2005)

"Alternative Assessment: Student Voices Talk Back." International Writing Centers Association Conference (Fall 2003)

"Chemical Engineering and Communication: An Immiscible Solution?" Journal of Engineering Education (Fall 2003)

"Peer Tutor Training in Visual Rhetoric" in The OWL Construction and Maintenance Guide. Ed. James Inman. CD ROM

Student Projects

Supported by a WRP grant, I worked with students Alexander Bandazian ('09) and Anna Lyczmanenko ('10) to research the ways in which veterans returning from World War II impacted college writing curricula. Sophie Howard ('14) will be continuing that research with me.

Prior to the veterans' project, student Liz Rowland ('06) and I studied student perceptions of the writing completed during the 2002 First-Year Seminar. Liz conducted significant secondary research into writing assessment studies and worked with me to classify students' perceptions of their own writing and about writing in general. I interviewed four of the original 34 students during their senior years to see how their perceptions of their own writing changed during their time at Wheaton.