New Doctoral Students (2009-2010)

Rory Lee

Rory Lee is a first year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition, a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition Program, and the Co-Director of the RWC/Digital Studio. Rory graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a B.A. in Rhetoric and Composition and a minor in English. During this past summer, he earned his M.A. in Rhetoric and Composition at Florida State University. Rory is interested in critically incorporating emerging technologies into the composition classroom and studying how technology affects both writing and literacy practices. Rory will give a presentation at the 2010 CCC Convention entitled "Addressing the Situation: An Analysis of the last 12 CCCC Chairs' Addresses," which stems from his recently completed thesis and demonstrates three emerging themes within the last 12 CCCC Chairs' Addresses. In his free time, Rory voraciously consumes anything and everything associated with the Green Bay Packers, and he is also a Harry Potter, DC Comic, and Professional Wrestling enthusiast.

Josh Mehler

Josh Mehler is a first-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition and a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program. Josh graduated from the University of Windsor, Ontario with an Honors B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in English with a focus on Rhetoric and Composition. Josh's interests include investigations of visual rhetoric in design, comics, street art and film, information literacy, and the use of metaphor in the Composition classroom, among others. He will give a presentation at the 2010 CCC Convention entitled "Accessing the Active Potential of Metaphor: Restoring Lakoff and Johnson's 'Metaphors We Live By.'" Outside academics, Josh is interested in ninjas, explosions and rock climbing, and has a slightly irrational fear of zombies.

Kendra L. Mitchell

Kendra L. Mitchell is a first-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition and a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program. She earned her B.A. in English from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) with a concentration in literature. After spending five years tutoring and researching in the FAMU Writing Resource Center, Kendra developed an interest in marginalized languages, especially African American Vernacular English (AAVE), and their impact in writing centers, writing classrooms, and the academy at large. Her other interests range from participating in the performing arts to working with youth in the community.

Michael Sullivan

Michael Sullivan is a first-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition and a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program. He graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Composition and Rhetoric. Michael's research interests include knowledge-transfer, assessment, student self-efficacy, and the influence of new media multiliteracies on FYC pedagogy. He will present "Redefining Literacy: Teaching Multiliteracy in First-year Composition" at the 2010 CCCC. In his free time Michael dabbles in drawing, painting, guitar playing, and marathon running.

Natalie Szymanski

Natalie Szymanski is a first year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition, a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program, and the current director of the English Department's Computer Writing Classrooms. Natalie was born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin and graduated with honors from University of Wisconsin La-Crosse in 2007 with her B.A. in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition. She recently received her M.A. in Rhetoric and Composition from Florida State in 2009. Professionally, her interests focus on the ways digital and visual communications are changing the educational landscape and the ways in which composition is taught. At this year's CCCC in Louisville, she will be giving a presentation titled "Understanding the Journals That Write Us: Exploring the Relationship Between the Field of Composition and the Subdiscipline of Computers and Composition," which examines the findings of her thesis research concerning the connections between the publication histories of CCC and Computers and Composition. In her "spare" time, Natalie revels in trashy vampire literature and soaks up as much Florida sunshine as possible.

Continuing Doctoral Students

Leah Cassorla

Leah Cassorla is a second-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition and a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program. Leah has a B.A. in journalism, an M.A. in Rhetoric and Composition, and an MFA in Fiction. Her primary interests include the rhetoric of journalism, the rhetoric of advertising, and the acquisition of composition skills in the global, hybrid-identity-laden classroom. She hails from just about everywhere, but was born in a tiny town in the Negev Desert in Israel. Leah recently left off teaching journalism and advising The Spectator at Valdosta State University to move to Tallahassee and work full time on her Ph.D. She will be at FCEA presenting "DeComposition: Making Traditional Writing Classes Creative." Her three great loves-her honey, her puppies, and her books-reside with her.

Matt Davis

Matt Davis is a second-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition and a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program. Matt graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.A. in English and German and from North Carolina State University with an M.A. in English with a focus on 19th and 20th Century American Literature. He has had the pleasure of calling Oklahoma, Ontario, Michigan, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, and Germany home for various lengths of time and is happy to add Florida to the list. Since the crossover from literature, Matt has discovered research interests in classroom pedagogy & pedagogical theory, the interface of composition and literature, collaborative learning & writing, technology and composition, and literacy studies. Matt spends his free time traveling, playing hockey, soccer, and basketball, and enjoying German language and culture. Matt will present "Ecologies and Assemblages: Theorizations of Literacy" at the 2010 CCCC.

Scott Gage

Scott Gage is a third-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition, a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program, and the Co-Assistant Director of the RWC and Digital Studio. Scott graduated from Louisiana State University with an MFA in Fiction and a B.A. in English. Scott's research interests include race and rhetoric, narrative theory, and modern rhetorical theory. Scott will present "Blogging Hysteria: Digital Media and the Delivery of Cyber-Rumors in Post-Katrina Louisiana" at the 2008 Watson Conference in Louisville and "Delivery Is Praxis: Centering the Fifth Canon in Writing Pedagogy" at the 2009 CCCC. "A Method of Non-Linear Dynamics: Tracking Discursive and Material Flows in Post-Katrina Baton Rouge." at the 2010 CCCC.

Kelly Keener Thayer

Kelly Thayer is a second-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition and a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program. Kelly graduated from the University of New Orleans with an M.A. in English in 2006. Upon graduation, Kelly taught composition courses for two years at a two-year college in Georgia. Kelly's interests include online learning, in particular online writing centers, and how such spaces create multiple literacies for both students and teachers. Other Rhetoric and Composition interests include how students deal with tragedy inside of the writing classroom based on Kelly's experiences with Hurricane Katrina, critical pedagogy and collaborative learning, and multiculturalism in the writing classroom.

Ruth Kistler

Ruth Kistler is a third-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition, a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program, and a research assistant. Ruth graduated from Wayne State University with an M.A. in Education and from Southern Illinois University with an M.A. in English with a specialization in Teaching of Writing. In both of her earlier graduate programs, Ruth's research focused on pedagogical applications of social and critical theories of language learning and classroom practices emphasizing the connections among writing, thinking, and learning. At FSU, she has been able to deepen and extend 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. In May 2008 she presented "Thinking Critically About Writing Across the Curriculum" at the International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference and will present "Beyond Bullshit to a Pedagogy of Substance" at the 2009 CCCC.

Tony Ricks

Tony Ricks is a third-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition, a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program, and he leads the RWC-Strozier Library site. Tony graduated from BYU-Idaho with a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing and from Boise State University with an M.A. in English. This year Tony plans to familiarize himself with the major theories guiding the scholarship of writing centers up to the present; this work will likely lead into his dissertation. Last year Tony presented "Writing Centers and Digital Studios: 'A Fork in the Road' or 'An Effective Merger?'" at IWCA's poster session. Tony enjoys teaching, tutoring, and talking about writing. Tony moved to Tallahassee in 2007 with his wife, Nicole, and three wonderful children. He also enjoys hitting the beach with his family.

Liane Robertson

Liane Robertson is a third-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition, Assistant to the First-Year Composition Program, and a Teaching Assistant for both first-year composition and graduate courses in composition pedagogy. Liane earned a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Florida and graduated from Eastern Michigan University with an M.A. in Written Communication and. Liane's research interests focus on learning transfer, activity theory and writing across the curriculum.

Rebecca Skinner

Rebecca Skinner is a first-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition and a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program. Rebecca lives in rural Gadsden County Florida and has an expensive non eco-friendly commute for which she apologizes. Rebecca's Master's thesis focuses on the impact of digital technologies on literacy. Besides studying the human-technology interface, her academic interests include teaching writing, visual rhetoric, editing and publishing, science and literature, and philosophy. Rebecca has children and a husband, dogs, birds, cats, a squirrel, a farm.

Kara Taczak

Kara Taczak is a third-year Ph.D. student in Rhetoric and Composition, a teaching assistant in the First-Year Composition program, and CCC editorial assistant. Kara graduated from Walsh University with a M.A. in Education and from Mount Union College with a B.A. in Creative Writing. Kara has previously taught at the University of Akron, Malone College, and Walsh University. Her research interests and dissertation will focus on transfer in the First-Year Composition classroom, specifically looking at reflection's role in transfer. Kara has been published in Teaching English in a Two-Year College and has presented at conferences such as CCCC, WSRL, Writing Across the Borders and The Purpose(s) of English: A Conference on the Future of English Studies.