Dissertations Produced by PhD Students in the Program
2024
Stephie Kang, Identities in negotiation: Stories from three transnational multilingual Asian writing teachers (Fraiberg, Chair; DeVoss, Eunjeong Lee, Troutman).
Keaton Kirkpatrick, “Learning is how we do better”: First-year writing shared curricula, teacher learning, and agency (Lindquist, Chair; DeVoss, Halbritter, Smith).
Vanessa (Vee) Lawson, Snarking to repair: A mixed-methods analysis of R/fundiesnarkuncensored (DeVoss, Chair; Arola, Hidalgo, Potts).
Bethany Meadows, Mapping the “complex of dialogues”: Institutional ethnography of mid-level administrators’ experience with sexual violence policy (Smith, Chair; Blythe, Hart-Davidson, Pregent, Moroski-Rigney).
Maddie Shellgren, Rhetorics of asynchronous digital learning environments and the makings of educator professional development (Smith, Chair; DeVoss, Lindquist, McArdle).
2023
Sharieka Botex, The progress and prosperity present in African American rhetoric and composition scholarship (Smith, Chair; Carey, Hart-Davidson, Jones, Lindquist).
Jerrice Donelson, Voices from the void: Dual enrollment user experience with composition (Smith, Chair; Hart-Davidson, Lauren, Lindquist).
Shannon Kelly, Relational institutional change: Writing, teams, and transformation (DeVoss, Co-Chair; Lauren, Co-Chair; Hart-Davidson; Lindquist).
Ruben Mendoza, A rhetorical, decolonial, and cultural critique on cistematic academic scholarly practices: Mobilizing queer and trans*/formative BIPOC resistance for institutional change (Jones, Chair; Arola, Boyles, Shuster; Smith).
Kenlea Pebbles, The 4RS: The Flint Water Crisis, government, community and science (Smith, chair; DeJoy, Fraiberg, Lauren, Moroski-Rigney).
Nick Sanders. Divesting white racial consciousness: A rhetoric of coalitional white racial un/learning (Hart-Davidson, Co-Chair; Opel, Co-Chair; Lindquist; Rhodes).
2022
Tania de Sostoa-McCue, Storying embodiment: Building theory through the self storying of queer dodies (DeVoss, chair; Hidalgo, Powell, Rhodes, Smith).
Wilfredo Flores, Toward a virulent community literacy: Constellating the science, technology, and medicine of queer sexual health (Jones, Chair; Arola; LaPensee, Powell, Rhodes).
Constance Haywood, A place of personal and cultural resistance: Using Black feminist values, perspectives, and embodied knowledges to (re)examine institutional logics and ethics in digital research (Jones, Chair; Potts, Rhodes, Smith).
Rebecca Conklin, Assuming ambiguity (DeVoss, Chair; Lindquist, Rhodes, Ristich).
2021
Jack Hennes, Semiotic remediation and composing in an environmental nonprofit (DeVoss, chair; Blythe, Grabill, Limbu).
Derek Mkhaiel, New materialism, paralogic rhetoric, and multi-material composition (Rhodes, Chair; Arola, Blythe, Lindquist, Opel).
Rachel Robinson, “I’ve fooled them all!”: Imposter syndrome and the WPA (Smith, Chair; Arola, Lindquist, Rhodes).
Eric Rodriguez, We want a world where many worlds fit: A cultural rhetorics reading strategy and theory of writing for activist genres (Rhodes, Chair; Lindquist, Opel, Powell, Ristich).
Erin Schaefer, Mind-body state literacy: A pedagogical approach that uses mindfulness and brain literacy to support learning and relational narrative work (DeVoss, Chair; Hart-Davidson, Lauren, Lindquist).
Ja’La Wourman, Designing our freedom: A narrative inquiry and visual rhetorical analysis of Black women entrepreneurs’ digital content strategy on social networking sites (Hart-Davidson, Chair; Baker-Bell, Jones, Lauren).
2020
Elise Dixon, Making as world-making: What the Lesbian Avengers can teach about communal composing, agency, and world-building (T. Smith, Chair; DeVoss, Powell, Rhodes).
Hannah Espinoza, Church and tower: Graduate student negotiations of faith and learning communities (T. Smith, Chair; DeVoss, Hart-Davidson, Powell).
Kate Firestone, Sharing stories, Making space: A relational approach to Korean American adoptee rhetorics through relational literacy (T. Monberg, Chair; Hart-Davidson, Louie, T. Smith)
Catheryn Jennings, Arrows to archives: Gathering Oklahoma stories (Arola, Chair; DeVoss, Hidalgo, Powell).
Suban Nur Cooley, Carrying culture: Temporal and spatial constructions of Somalia among women in the diaspora (Rhodes, Chair; Baker-Bell, Figueroa, Jones, Lindquist). Winner, 2021 CCCC James Berlin Memorial Outstanding Dissertation Award.
Bree Straayer, Once I believed: Evangelical sexuality, critical thinking, and the process of change (Lindquist, Chair; DeVoss, Halbritter, Rhodes).
2019
Lorelei Blackburn, Toward a trauma-informed pedagogy (Grabill, Chair; Blythe, DeVoss, Yergeau).
Lauren Brentnell, Responding to sexual violence through care-based practices in writing programs (DeVoss, Chair; Blythe, Hart-Davidson, T. Smith).
Leslie Hutchinson, Solidarity, safety, and online sovereignty: An inquiry into the social media sharing practices of Indigenous and Chicana women (DeVoss, Chair; Blythe, Lindquist, Powell).
Shewonda Leger, The cultivation of Haitian women’s sense of selves: Towards a field of action (Rhodes, Chair; Baker-Bell, Hamilton-Wray, Pough, Powell).
Stephanie Mahnke, “A place to call home”: The rhetoric of Filipinx-American place-making (Blythe, Chair; Lauren, Lindquist, T. Smith).
2018
Phil Bratta, Bridging culture and affect: Rhetorical practices with(in) a digitized archive (DeVoss, Chair; Hart-Davidson, Powell, T. Smith).
Wonderful Faison, What makes a space raced?: Exploring writing centers as raced spaces (T. Smith, Chair; Banks, Bell, Lindquist, Troutman).
Sarah Prielipp, Constellating cultural rhetorics, first-year writing, and service learning: A story of teaching and learning (T. Smith, Chair; Blythe, Epps-Robertson, Powell).
Santos Ramos, Making Chicanx foodways: Rhetoric, Mexican cooking, and cultural continuation ( Powell, Chair; Grabill, Miner, Torres).
Jaquetta Shade-Johnson, Wishi stories: Rhetorical strategies of survivance and continuance in Oklahoma Cherokee foodways (Powell, Chair; Hidalgo, LaPensée, Monberg).
Heather Noel Turner, “Take action in the world!”: Advocacy and reciprocity as research practices in technical communication (DeVoss, Chair; Epps-Robertson, Grabill, Hart-Davidson, Potts).
2017
Ronisha Browdy, Naming ourselves for ourselves: Black women theorizing their identities as everyday rhetorical practice (Powell, Chair; Baker-Bell, Epps-Robertson, Troutman).
Lami-Awa Fofana, Uncommon standard American English accents, like bodies, still matter: Stories of non-native English speaking writing instructors (Powell, Chair; Epps-Robertson, Hidalgo, T. Smith).
John Gagnon, New ways of seeing: Survivor rhetoric and (re)writing stories of human trafficking (Powell, Chair; Blythe, Hart-Davidson, T. Smith).
Minh-Tam Nguyen, Resistance is not futile: Exploring user resistance in technical communication (DeVoss, Chair; Blythe, Grabill, Potts).
Maria Novotny, The ART of infertility: A community project rhetorically conceiving failed fertility (T. Smith, Chair; Lindquist, Powell, DeVoss, Blythe).
2016
Matt Gomes, Decolonizing writing program assessment: Student contributions to knowledge about first-year writing placement at Michigan State (Grabill, Chair; Blythe, Lindquist, Powell).
Laura Gonzales, Sites of translation: What multilinguals can teach us about writing, rhetoric, and technology (Potts, Chair; Blythe, Fraiberg, Hidalgo).
Shenika Hankerson, “You must learn”: A critical language awareness approach to writing instruction for African American language-speaking students in composition courses (Hart-Davidson and Smitherman, Chairs; Kirkland, Paris).
Casey Miles, The queer critical research and video editing practices of the Gender Project: Consent, collaboration, and multimodality (T. Smith, Chair; Grabill, Halbritter, T. Monberg).
Esther Milu, “Hatucheki Na Watu”: Kenyan hip-hop artists’ theories of multilingualism, identity and decoloniality (T. Smith, Chair; Epps-Robertson, Lindquist, Paris, Powell).
2015
Beth Keller, Inventing situated mentoring: A feminist rhetorical analysis of workplace culture (Hart-Davidson, Chair; Powell, T. Smith, DeVoss).
Katie Livingston, The queer art & rhetoric of consent: Theories, practices, pedagogies (Julier, Chair; Lindquist, T. Monberg, T. Smith).
Katie Manthey, Fa(t)shion rhetorics: Building a body positive methodology (T. Smith, Chair; DeVoss, Powell, Winge).
2014
April Baker-Bell, “Stop killing my vibe”: A critical language pedagogy for speakers of African American Language (Kirkland, Chair; Juzwik, Paris, Smitherman, Troutman).
Letitia Fowler, Learning from stories of experience: Using narrative as pedagogy to understand racial and ethnic experiences in medicine (Lindquist, Chair; Cushman, Grabill, Powell).
Ann Lawrence, Genres of Experience: Three articles on literacy narratives and academic research writing (Lindquist, Chair; Cushman, DeJoy, Fendler, Grabill).
Lehua Ledbetter, The business of feminism: Rhetorics of identity in Youtube’s beauty community (Grabill, Chair; Blythe, Hart-Davidson, Powell)
Joshua Sauvie, College writing teachers’ perception of digital literacy and technology related professional development (DeVoss, Chair; Epps-Robertson, Grabill, Juzwik, Lindquist, Wilson).
2013
Julie (Platt) Alexander, Poetic composition in a digital age (DeVoss, Chair; Hart-Davidson, Powell, Rehberger).
Marilee Brooks-Gillies, Crafting place: Rhetorical practices of the everyday (Powell, Chair; DeVoss, Hart-Davidson, T. Smith).
Elena Goodwin Garcia, Writing on the factory floor (DeVoss, Chair; Lindquist, Rehberger, T. Smith).
Madhu Narayan, Writing the archives: Context, materiality, identity (Powell, Chair; T. Monberg, Rehberger, T. Smith).
Donnie Sackey, The curious case of the Asian carp: Spatial performances and the making of an invasive species (Hart-Davidson, Chair; J. Monberg, Powell, Rehberger).
Jennifer Sano-Franchini, The rhetorical making of the Asian/Asian American face: Reading and writing Asian eyelids (Hart-Davidson, Chair; Grabill, Powell, Rehberger).
Bonnie Williams, Students’ “write” to their own language: Teaching the African American verbal tradition as a rhetorically effective writing skill (Troutman, Chair; DeJoy, Rehberger).
2012
Phill Alexander, Individual copycats: Memetics, identity and collaboration in the “World of Warcraft” (DeVoss, Chair; Grabill, Hart-Davidson, Powell).
Matt Cox, Through working closets: Examining rhetorical and narrative approaches to building LGBTQ & professional identity inside a corporate workplace (T. Smith, Chair; DeVoss, Hart-Davidson, Powell).
Shreelina Ghosh, Dancing without bodies: Pedagogy and performance in digital spaces (Cushman, Chair; Hart-Davidson, Powell, Rehberger).
Daisy Levy, This book called my body: An embodied rhetoric (Powell, Chair; Lindquist, Rehberger, T. Smith).
Les Loncharich, Visual composition in everyday life. (DeVoss, Chair; Cushman, Hart-Davidson, J. Monberg).
Andrea Riley-Mukavetz, “Theory begins with a story, too”: Listening to the lived experiences of American Indian women (Powell, Chair; Howard, Lee, T. Smith).
Cynthia Vagnetti, “This land is good for this animal”: A methodology to see the knowledge dynamics communicated among Sardo-Modicana breeders in a time of scientific uncertainty and technological probabilities (Grabill, Chair; Blythe, DeVoss, Lindquist).
Sue Webb, The inquiry practices of nonfiction writers (Hart-Davidson, Chair; Grabill, Powell, L. Smith).
Travis Webster, What ex-gays can teach us about gay, lesbian, and queer rhetorics. (T. Smith, Chair; Grabill, Lindquist, Powell).
2011
Guiseppe Getto, Toward a rhetoric of infrastructure: Doing new media writing with communities (Grabill, Chair; Halbritter, Lindquist, Rehberger).
Stacey Pigg, Embodied rhetoric in scenes of production: The case of the coffeehouse (Powell, Chair; DeVoss, Hart-Davidson, J. Monberg).
Doug Walls, The “human” network: Digital, professional, and cultural access enacted (Hart-Davidson, Chair; DeVoss, Grabill, Powell).
Jessica Rivait, Assembling local publics in the digital age (Hart-Davidson, Chair; Blythe, J. Monberg, Sheridan).
Mary Wendt, Institutionalization of digital literacies in four-year Liberal Arts institutions (Blythe, Chair; DeJoy, Halbritter, Hart-Davidson).
2010
Collin Craig, Da’ art of story tellin’: Black masculine literacies and a rhetoric of self-making (Powell, Chair; Ellis, Grabill, Lindquist).
Kendall Leon, Building a Chicana rhetoric for Rhetoric and Composition: Methodology, practice, and performance (Powell, Chair; Cushman, Grabill, Lindquist, Ramirez-Dhoore).
Staci Perryman-Clark, Back to the classroom: Afrocentricity and teacher-research in first-year writing (Grabill, Chair; T. Monberg, Powell, Smitherman).
2009
Andréa Davis, Media praxis: Reading cultural institutions (Powell, Chair; DeVoss, Lindquist, Rehberger).
Michele Fero, Negotiating literacy: The implications of writing program reform in one university (Lindquist, Chair; Grabill, Juzwik, Powell).
Aimée Knight, A rhetoric of aesthetic engagement for the arts and humanities (DeVoss, Chair; Cushman, Geissler, Grabill, Tremonte).
Dundee Lackey, Access, health, and literacy: On becoming an informed patient (Grabill, Chair; Cushman, DeVoss, Lindquist).
Jim Ridolfo, Practice and theory: A new approach to rhetorical delivery (Lindquist, Chair; Cushman, DeVoss, Hart-Davidson).
Stephanie Sheffield, Peer response of digital and non-digital texts in a composition classroom (Swenson, Chair; DeVoss, Sheridan, Wilson).
Robyn Tasaka, Challenges and privileges, entanglement and appropriation: Rhetorical practices of Asian Americans from Hawai’i (Powell and T. Monberg, Co-Chairs; DeVoss, Grabill).
2008
Meghan Bacino, Genre, practice, and the composition classroom: What students learn about language and community discourse practices through a pedagogy of genre awareness (Geissler, Chair; Lindquist, Powell, Wilson).
Qwo-Li Driskill, Yelesalehe hiwayona dikanohogida naiwodusv / God taught me this song, it is beautiful: Cherokee performance rhetorics as decolonization, healing, and continuance (Powell, Chair; Grabill, Lee, T. Monberg).
Angela Haas, A rhetoric of alliance: What American Indians can tell us about digital and visual rhetoric (Powell, Chair; DeVoss, Grabill, T. Monberg).
Martine Rife, Rhetorical invention in copyright imbued environments (Hart-Davidson, Chair; DeVoss, Grabill, Halbritter).
Stewart Whittemore, Writing memory: A study of memory tools in invention (Grabill, Chair; Hart-Davidson, Lindquist, Porter).
Jay Wirtz, Poets on inventing: Revisioning invention theory, practice and pedagogy within rhetoric, composition, English education and creative writing (Julier, Chair; Lindquist, L. Smith, Wilson).
2007
Jill McKay Chrobak, The rhetoric of appropriation: How upper middle class white males flipped the script on hip hop culture and Black language (Powell, Chair; Geissler, Lindquist, Smitherman).
Doug Eyman, Digital rhetoric: Ecologies and economies of digital circulation (Porter, Chair; DeVoss, Grabill, Lindquist).
2006
Suzy Rumsey, Multimodal discourse and heritage literacy practices (Cushman, Chair; Lindquist, Powell, Wilson)., G