NEW DOCTORAL STUDENTS (2007-2008)

Leah Cassorla

Leah Cassorla holds a BA in journalism with a minor in creative writing from Valdosta State University, an MA in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of South Florida, and (as of December), an MFA in fiction from the Florida State University. Her interests include fiction, new media and journalism, and advertising rhetoric. Leah originally hails from Be'er Sheva, Israel but has lived, in her words, "all over." She came to FSU for the creative writing program, but has chosen to stay for her PhD in Rhetoric and Composition. In addition, Leah teaches composition and journalism full time at VSU.

Scott Gage

Based on my experiences writing for the hurricane relief effort in Louisiana, I am concentrating on the rhetoric of Hurricane Katrina, including visual representations of the disaster, as well as how religious discourse worked to reshape our definition of the storm. In addition, I am interested in analyzing the use of rhetoric in the recovery process. Currently, I am a TA in the English department at Florida State University, and I am working on a critique of how the media portrayed the post-Katrina looting.

Toby and Emily Ruth Kistler

Before coming to Florida State to work on a PhD in rhetoric and composition, I earned a master's degree in education from Wayne State University and a master's degree in English with a teaching-of-writing specialization from Southern Illinois University. In both of my earlier graduate programs, my research focused on pedagogical applications of social and critical theories of language learning and classroom practices emphasizing the connections among writing, thinking, and learning. Currently I am interested in extending this focus by examining the applications of these theories as they are presently being employed in college-level composition classrooms and exploring ways in which new and innovative applications might be used to enhance the undergraduate learning experience.

Tony Ricks

Tony Ricks hails from Idaho to study Rhetoric and Composition at FSU. He received a B. A. in English-Creative Writing from BYU-Idaho and an M. A. in English from Boise State University where he studied medieval literature, fiction, and rhetoric/composition. His current research interests include fiction writing, nonfiction writing, argumentation & writing, and journaling. He also plans to continue his studies of medieval literature at FSU as an area of minor emphasis. He is currently a teaching assistant and graduate student at FSU, ambitiously pursuing research on the value of debate in the first-year writing program.

Liane Robertson

Liane Robertson is a PhD student in composition and rhetoric at Florida State University. Currently, her work is centered within the broad spectrum of rhetorical theory, composition theory and pedagogical approaches to teaching writing. She is interested in cultural rhetoric, writing design, issues of access, identity and authorship, literacy and genre studies. Liane earned her M.A. in Written Composition at Eastern Michigan University, where her research centered on perceptions of writing in the workplace and their implications for teaching composition in college. Liane plans to further pursue this research area, while investigating several others, in preparation for ultimately narrowing her focus within the rhetoric and composition field in the near future.

Kara Taczak

I am primarily focused on democratic, critical pedagogy, specifically examining the student voice and experience that allow the student to become an active member of his or her current community and sometimes the world at large. I am a TA with the first year composition program and am working on a co-authored project that explores the ongoing debate that surrounds critical pedagogy (including everything from the definition of critical pedagogy to the efficacy of its goals).

NEW MA STUDENTS (2007-2008)

Brittney Boykins

Brittney completed her BA in English at Florida State University in 2007, attended the TA preparation program (aka boot camp) in the summer of 2007, and began teaching first-year composition in the fall. Her interests include the role of male and female rhetors in the church.

Emily Baker

With a certification in technical writing and a stint at journalism under my belt, as well as a sincere appreciation for film, art, and popular culture, my current research interests include the study of visual and textual rhetoric in modern society, especially popular culture's power to influence language, and the human tendencies of divergence and convergence towards language acquisition. The undeniable lure of journalism pulls me towards the publishing and editing certification as I look forward to a career in a world where importance lies in making rhetoric available to the masses.

Rory Lee

Rory Lee is a first year Master's student in Rhetoric and Composition. He earned his Bachelor's Degree at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, majoring in Rhetoric and Composition with a minor in English. After earning his M.A., he intends to continue his education at the PH.D. level. Rory is influenced by the works of Peter Elbow, Elizabeth Flynn, Mikhail Bakhtin, Kenneth Bruffee, and James Berlin. He is also highly intrigued in visual rhetoric and how to incorporate it into the classroom. In the future, Rory envisions his work revolving around composition pedagogy (more specifically, the importance of the audience and student agency) as well as visual and feminist rhetoric. Rory is also a Harry Potter enthusiast and avid Green Bay Packer fan.

Natalie Szymanski

Natalie Szymanski graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2006 with a Bachelors degree in English. Her undergraduate research specialized in the study of Rhetoric and Composition and its connection with language theories in Postmodern philosophy. Currently, she is pursuing her Masters degree in Rhetoric and Composition and looking to explore the areas of new media, visual rhetoric, and technology in composition classrooms in her thesis work. After finishing her Masters work, she intends to pursue her PhD degree and continue to expand her knowledge of the ever evolving field that is Rhetoric and Composition scholarship.

Jill Taylor

My core focus in studying rhetoric and composition is how we can understand and improve the teaching of writing, specifically concentrating on the composing process, invention, and style. I am interested in teaching English at the college/university level in the future. I am currently a writer and editor for the Florida Center for Reading Research, developing content on how assessment should inform instruction.

NEW MA STUDENTS (2006-2007)

Ryan Hoyle

Ryan Hoyle is a second year M.A., having made his way to Florida State from Bridgewater State University, where he majored in communication studies. Ryan's research interests center on the exploration of the rhetorical divide evident within modernity and post modernity in popular culture. He hopes to attend law school in the future, and really misses hockey and snow.

Kelly Israel

Kelly is from Smithville, GA and earned her B.A. degree in English with a concentration in professional writing in 2005 from North Georgia College. She is currently a second-year M.A. student in rhet/comp. Her interests are in Christian rhetoric, and she is working on her thesis dealing with the rhetorical situation of St. Augustine.

Toby McCall

My primary focus is the study of the rhetorical abilities of computer games, specifically examining the uses of space and methods of mobility in virtual worlds. I am also interested in exploring the uses of digital media in the first year composition classroom. I am currently the rhetoric and composition program assistant and am participating in the development of digital composition strands for our computer classrooms.

Becca Skinner

Becca is a graduate student pursuing an MA in Rhetoric and Composition. She teaches in the first-year composition program and is interested in the rhetoric of democracies. Her current research project, The Life of the World to Come: Eschatological Exigence, focuses on the rhetorical possibilities in a world divided by ideologies and irrationality.

Julia M. Smith

I graduated from Texas State University with a B.A. in English Literature and a minor in Spanish in August, 2003. Afterwards, I left school for a year to teach English and Writing at Msgr. Edward Pace High school in Miami. Following my experiences teaching, I attended St. Andrews University in St. Andrews, Scotland for a graduate diploma in Medieval Literature in Fall 2005. I am currently working on an M.A in Rhetoric and Composition at Florida State University and my area of interests include feminist theory, rhetoric, medieval studies, and new media.

STUDENTS TAKING A MINOR IN RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION

Emily Dowd

Emily Joan Dowd is currently a PhD student in 18th Century British Literature with a minor concentration in Rhetoric and Composition. She is also an Assistant to the Director of First Year Composition at FSU. Her research focuses on the rhetorical construction of female authority and identity in 18th Century Literature and Periodicals. Recent work in Rhetoric and Composition includes a CCCC NYC 2007 presentation on International TAs and the language barrier in the FYC classroom, and research on transfer for CCCC with Kathleen Blake Yancey. She holds a Master of Arts from the Florida State University.

Forrest Anderson

Forrest Anderson has spent too much time in school. He received his BA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his MFA from the University of South Carolina, and is currently a PhD candidate in creative writing at Florida State University, where he is the fiction editor of the Southeast Review. His fiction has appeared recently in the South Carolina Review, the North Carolina Literary Review, and the Louisville Review, and has been the winner of the South Carolina Fiction Project and the James Dickey Award for Fiction. He came to composition and rhetoric late in his long and not-so-storied academic career. He enjoys thinking about the composing process and wondering why other creative writing people find this disconcerting.