Biographical Sketch

I'm currently a PhD student in Rhetoric and Writing at Michigan State University; I am working on my dissertation and currently seeking gainful employment in the world of academe. I began my career intending to become a high school English teacher, but through exposure to various individuals and communities, I found that I had an abiding interest in the intersections of rhetoric, technology, and pedagogy. I began to pursue questions of how to use computer technologies to support pedagogies when I began my MA work at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, culminating in the completion of a Master's thesis on the topic of Hypertextual Collaboration as pedagogical process in 1995. Soon after I joined the staff of Kairos: Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy -- an opportunity which has allowed me to read exceptional scholarship in a variety of fields, keeping me 'in the loop' as it were. Three years ago a confluence of events and opportunities persuaded me to return to the academy proper and pursue a PhD (and yes, it was certainly a kairotic moment). As I near the completion of my final year in the program, I am certain that I have made the right decision: the work is engaging and exciting, the support for graduate work here at MSU is stunning, and the faculty are exceptional both for their scholarship and their innate goodness as human beings...(which is a good thing, because it more than balances against that whole 'winter' experience!)

Research Interests

My current research interests include digital literacies, new media scholarship, electronic publication, information design/information architecture, teaching in digital environments, and technical and professional communication. My dissertation project, situated in the area of digital rhetoric (which I see as a field related to but distinct from computers and writing and professional/technical writing) aims to develop methodologies for research in digital rhetoric, with applications in professional writing, computer-supported cooperative work, informatics, and composition. For this project I am building a tool that will apply digital analytics to digital work, rather than relying on the application of analog (print-based) methods. One of the key affordances of networked communication is that work can circulate through increasingly widespread knowledge ecologies; the initial object of analysis for the digital methods I am developing is the role of circulation within the rhetorical practices of digital production, using case studies of both published online scholarship and unpublished work that is available online via electronic portfolios. I see this as the initial stage of a long-term research project aimed at developing digital methods and using those methods to articulate a theory of digital rhetoric that is commensurate with but distinct from classical rhetoric.

About this Site

Curriculum Vita

My official Curriculum Vita, last updated October 2006.

Publications

This is an archive of published and in-press publications; for works-in-progress, see Projects and/or Portfolio.

Presentations

A collection of webs and powerpoints related to presentations given at conferences, other universities, and here at Michigan State, either as a course requirement or extracurricular project.

Teaching

This is where my teaching portfolio resides and where you can find links to courses I have taught or am currently teaching here at MSU as well as my teaching philosophy.

Projects

This section covers my work with the WIDE Center, Kairos and CCCC, as well as information about and links to projects that I am currently undertaking and works-in-progress.

Resources

Resource include bibliographies that I have developed for various courses and projects, as well as for comprehensive examinations, links to resources at Michigan State University, and links to resources on topics of interest to me (information architecture, visual rhetoric, electronic publishing, etc.)