缅北禁地

Profile

What does it really mean to study and teach English? I’ve spent a long time grappling with this question, and I’m always amazed at how much my answer changes over time. During my time as an undergrad at the University of Alabama, my research interests spanned Gothic literature, sciolinguistics, Writing Center administration, and representations of obsession in poetry. Heck, I wrote two separate capstone projects: one on the role of consumption in the works of Stephen King, and another-a poetry collection-on a box of Crayola crayons. While I loved (and still greatly enjoy) studying literature and creative writing, it felt like something was missing. I knew English was for me, but it felt like the passion and genuine spirit of inquiry that guided my work was stalling. At the recommendation of a faculty member, I decided to look into rhetoric and composition-just to see what it was about. Before I knew it, I was beginning my PhD program in English – Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Kansas.

As it turns out, rhetoric and composition was exactly where I belonged. Over my career, I have enjoyed researching, writing, and teaching across a wide variety of topics, drawing together my interests in everyday texts, popular culture, discourse, and composition pedagogy. My everyday practices are guided by the notion that studying, analyzing, and working to better understand rhetoric is a pathway towards empowerment and recognizing the complex power dimensions that impact our daily lives. Through a commitment to intentional practice, a willingness to learn, and a desire to improve, I believe we can all meaningfully harness this power and grow as students, teachers, researchers, writers, community members, and people.

So, what does it really mean to me to study and teach English? I could connect my answer to my ongoing research interests: public-facing technical and professional communication, spatial rhetorics, place-based and community engaged composition pedagogy, human geography, rhetorics in popular culture, research methods, materialism, and posthumanism. I could invoke the different types of courses I enjoy teaching, ranging from special topics first-year composition and rhetorical theory to technical and professional writing. I could even highlight the ways in which an English major supports the mission of a liberal education, emphasizing the critical importance of empathy, understanding, community, inquiry, and growth. But if I’m being honest, to me, studying and teaching English continues to simply mean doing what I love.