Faculty | Rhetoric and Composition
Current Faculty
Our faculty are leaders in the field and are renowned scholars in a range of specialty areas, yet they share common interests in community, diversity, collaboration, cooperation, and ethical interactions with and support of our graduate students. Click on the names to link to their faculty pages.
Kamila Albert, Specialized Teaching Faculty in English, Director of the Reading Writing Centers and Digital Studios;
Interests: writing center studies, multimodal design pedagogy, visual literacy, and digital literacy
Mais Al-Khateeb, Assistant Professor of English;
Interests: 20th and 21st century contemporary rhetorical theory from a transnational feminist perspective; rhetorics of crisis with a focus on refugees, embodiment, and mobilities
Ronisha Browdy, Assistant Professor of English
Interests: Black women’s and Black feminist rhetorical practices, histories, and experiences
Christie Daniels, Specialized Teaching Faculty in English, Program Assistant for the College Composition Program
Interests: technology and visual/multimodal rhetoric, composition theory and pedagogy, rhetorics of difference, pop culture
Elías Domínguez Barajas, Associate Professor of English, Director of the College Composition Program
Interests: paremiology; discursive practices; oral traditions / verbal art; literacy practices; intercultural and intracultural communication
Tarez Samra Graban, Associate Professor of English, Program Director
Interests: Histories and theories of rhetoric; Histories and theories of composition; Global and comparative rhetorics; Transnational feminist rhetorics; Human rights rhetorics; Environmental rhetorics; Archival studies; Digital humanities
Rhea Estelle Lathan, Associate Professor English
Interests: African American and women's literacies, literacy development, the teaching of writing, critical race theory, identity politics
Charles McMartin, Assistant Professor of English
Interests: Faculty and staff leadership, community writing, public rhetorics, culturally sustaining pedagogies, and rhetorics of student activism
Michael Neal, Associate Professor of English [link to ePortfolio]
Interests: writing assessment, digital composing technologies, undergraduate research, multi-media authorship and ownership, online writing instruction, disabilities and accessibility
Emeritus Faculty
Kristie S. Fleckenstein, Professor of English, Emeritus
Interests: materiality, visual literacy, feminist theory, and composition pedagogy
Kathleen Blake Yancey, Kellogg Hunt Professor and Distinguished Research Professor, Emeritus
Interests: composition studies, writing assessment, reflection, and the intersections of culture, literacy and technologies
Professional Development and Mentoring
Our faculty are also invested in providing graduate students, at each stage of their graduate education, a range of professional development and mentoring opportunities, both formal and informal. The following are just a sample of the workshops, meetings, courses, and spaces we often organize or host to support the successful completion of their degrees.
- Pedagogy Workshop: First year TAs meet regularly with the Director of College Composition, the Program Assistants, and mentors to support their teaching.
- Prelim Prep Meetings: The faculty host regular informal meetings and workshops to prepare doctoral students for preliminary exams and assisting them after they finish.
- Post Prelim Meetings: Following successful completion of their prelims, students sign up for a series of workshop sessions hosted by the program director, on topics ranging from getting to the prospectus to job market readiness.
- Professionalization Topics Series: Each year, students have the option of enrolling in a variable credit workshop series that covers rotating topics and scholarship-in-practice experiences common to Rhetoric and Composition. Course topics cover several aspects of academic and alt-academic careers in the field, including career discernment, job market preparation, conference and grant preparation, manuscript preparation, assessment techniques, e-portfolios, responding to peer review, and more.
- Manuscript Writing Workshop: Students with a fully drafted manuscript can sign up for a one-semester workshop, hosted by the program director, to provide and receive feedback as they develop the manuscript into a refereed publication.
- Writing Spaces: Students at any graduate level can join one another and the faculty in attending an unstructured writing group, meeting at a designated day and time in the week to work exclusively on their writing.
- Job Placement: Faculty in the program will often supplement the department job placement resources, offering a range of support structures to help prepare graduate students for the rigors of the academic job market. We offer faculty and student panels to provide multiple perspectives on applying for positions, workshops for job materials (e.g., CVs, letters, writing samples, teaching philosophies, etc.), mock interviews, practice video interviews, preparation for campus visits, and other support along the way.