A Brief History of the Rhetoric and Composition Graduate Program at Florida State University

The graduate programs in rhetoric and composition at Florida State University have a long history, which has developed in three iterations.

In the first iteration, scholars like Kellogg H. Hunt and James McCrimmon began to make a place at Florida State for the scholarly work of composition. Their work, and that of their students, focused on the role of language in the growth of student writing and in the rhetoric of the essay.

Later, two well-known scholars—Wendy Bishop and Rick Straub—carried the work of the earlier program forward. Wendy—whose work ranged from attention to alternative writing to ethnographic research, and whose leadership included the CCCC Chairship—worked with undergraduates on writing projects and with graduate students on ways we understand and can improve the teaching of writing. Rick Straub's work in the ways that response shapes the development both of writing and of writers continues to influence the field; his Twelve Readers Reading, co-authored with FSU alum Ron Lunsford, is the only study of its kind.

The graduate program in rhetoric and composition is today in its third iteration. The program includes five core faculty—Deborah Coxwell-Teague, Kristie Fleckenstein, Ormond Loomis, Michael Neal, and Kathleen Blake Yancey—whose scholarly interests range from pedagogical practices and visual rhetoric to the ways that digital technologies are changing compositional and assessment practices. Student scholarship ranges widely, from studies of rhetorical practices in the medieval area to remediations of Superman; from the influence of technology on the field at large to the role of transfer in college composition; and from writing center theory-as-put-into-practice to the role of WAC and assessment in enhancing learning.

A Sample of Research and Professional Activity within the Program

President, National Council of Teachers of English, Kathleen Blake Yancey

Co-editor, JAEPL: Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives of Learning, Kristie Fleckenstein

Selected 2009-2010 Conference Participation:

• Feminisms and Rhetorics:
  • Kristie Fleckenstein, "Challenging Patriarchy and Imperialism: Visual Agency in Late Nineteenth-Century Photography"
  • Leigh Gruwell, "Reimagining Debate as a Feminist Practice"
• SAMLA:
  • Kara Taczak, "Building a Community: The Road to a Student-centered Technology-based Classroom"
• National Council of Teachers of English:
  • Kathleen Blake Yancey "Invention for the 21st Century: Re-Mixing as Concept and Practice in Composing"
  • Kristie Fleckenstein, "Kinetic Reading for Kinetic Writing: Exploring the Interface of Bodies, Words, and Machines"
• Conference on College Composition and Communication:
  • Deborah Coxwell-Teague, "Using Advanced Placement Credit to Exempt College-Level Composition Courses: A Bonus for Students or a Rip-off?"
  • Matt Davis, "Ecologies and Assemblages: Theorizations of Literacy"
  • Kristie Fleckenstein, "Repurposing African-American Identity: The Three Iterations of Frances Benjamin Johnston's Hampton Institute Photographs"
  • Scott Gage, "A Method of Non-Linear Dynamics: Tracking Discursive and Material Flows in Post-Katrina Baton Rouge"
  • Rory Lee, "Addressing the Situation: An Analysis of the last 12 CCCC Chairs' Addresses"
  • Josh Mehler, "Accessing the Active Potential of Metaphor: Restoring Lakoff and Johnson's 'Metaphors We Live By.'"
  • Michael Neal, "Rethinking Practices: Digital Natives in the Composition Classroom Presentation Title: Reflecting on Remix: Assessing and Responding to Student-Authored New Media Texts"
  • Michael Sullivan, "Redefining Literacy: Teaching Multiliteracy in First-year Composition"
  • Natalie Szymanski, "Understanding the Journals That Write Us: Exploring the Relationship Between the Field of Composition and the Subdiscipline of Computers and Composition"
  • Kara Taczak, "Connecting the Dots: Does Reflection Foster Transfer?"
  • Kathleen Blake Yancey, "All the World on a Single Slide: Four Observations on Composition Sponsored by an Image of Tectonic Plates"

Selected 2008-2009 Conference Participation:

• Watson Conference, Scott Gage, Natalie Szymanski, Kara Taczak, Matt Davis, Michael Neal
• International Writing Centers Association, Tony Ricks
• Florida College English Association, Leah Cassorla
• Conference on College Composition and Communication, Scott Gage, Tony Ricks, Ruth Kistler, Natalie Szymanski, Rory Lee, Kara Taczak, Leah Cassorla, Liane Robertson, Brittney Boykins, Katie Bridgman, Jennifer O'Malley, Matt Davis, Kris Fleckenstein, Kathleen Blake Yancey
• Computers and Writing, Natalie Szymanski, Matt Davis
• National Council for Teachers of English, Kathleen Yancey

Selected 2007-2008 Conference Participation:

• Feminism and Rhetoric Conference, Julia Smith
• Writing Research Across Borders, Kara Taczak and Kathleen Blake Yancey
• National Council of Teachers of English, Michael Neal, Toby McCall, Deborah Coxwell-Teague, Kristie Fleckenstein, Kathleen Blake Yancey
• Conference on College Composition and Communication, Scott Gage, Tony Ricks, Ruth Kistler, Natalie Szymanski, Rory Lee, Kara Taczak, Leah Cassorla, Liane Robertson, Kris Fleckenstein, Kathleen Blake Yancey
• Computers and Writing, Kathleen Blake Yancey
• International Writing across the Curriculum, Ruth Kistler