Rhetoric and Composition Faculty

Pictured left to right are Tarez Graban, Kris Fleckenstein, Elias Dominguez, Deborah Teague, Kathi Yancey, Jacki Fiscus-Cannaday, and Michael Neal.
Pictured left to right are Tarez Graban, Kris Fleckenstein, Elias Dominguez, Deborah Teague (retired), Kathi Yancey (professor emeritus), Jacki Fiscus-Cannaday, and Michael Neal.

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

Jaclyn Fiscus-Cannaday, Assistant Professor of English
Interests: composition, feminist theory and pedagogies, inclusive pedagogies, and sociolinguistics

Kristie S. Fleckenstein, Professor of English
Interests: materiality, visual literacy, feminist theory, and composition pedagogy

Tarez Samra Graban, Associate Professor of English [link to ePortfolio]
Interests: histories of rhetoric and composition, global and transnational rhetorics, feminist rhetorical theory, archival studies, digital humanities, multilingual writing

Rhea Estelle Lathan, Associate Professor English
Interests: African American and women's literacies, literacy development, the teaching of writing, critical race theory, identity politics

Michael Neal, Associate Professor of English, Program Director [link to ePortfolio]
Interests: writing assessment, digital composing technologies, undergraduate research, multi-media authorship and ownership, online writing instruction, disabilities and accessibility 

Kathleen Blake Yancey, Kellogg Hunt Professor and Distinguished Research Professor, professor emeritus: composition studies, writing assessment, reflection, and the intersections of culture, literacy and technologies

    Graduate Students

    The graduate students are the heart of our program. Their work is exceptional, and their enthusiasm is contagious. We strategically limit the number of students each year to ensure small graduate classes, personal mentoring, and plenty of professional opportunities. 

    PhD Students

    • Amanda Ayers

      Amanda received her BA in English Writing and Publication from the Univ. of North Georgia and her MA in Rhetoric and Composition at Florida State. Her research interests include pedagogy, assessment, digital discourse, & multimodality.

    • Brittany Barron

      Brittany graduated with her BA in English at the University of North Georgia, Gainesville and MFA in Creative Writing at Georgia College. Her research interests include composition pedagogy and feminist theory. In her spare time, she writes poetry about mad girls, and she bakes vegan cuisine.

    • Hannah Betz

      Hannah received her BA in English from Flagler College and her MA in Rhetoric and Composition from Florida State. Her research interests include writing center studies, composition pedagogy, and digital/visual rhetoric.

    • Kyle Bond

      Kyle Bond earned an MA in English. He is published in NCTE, the Thomas Hardy Journal, and Dialogue. He has presented at Sunstone. His research interests include composition studies, transfer, philosophy and rhetoric, rhetoric and ideology, labor rhetorics, and rhetorics of reflection.

    • Andrew Canino

      Andrew (he/him) received his BA in English Education from UNC-Greensboro and his MA in Literature from Appalachian State University. When not working on schoolwork, Andrew enjoys listening to music, reading, and going on drives.

    • Robert Cole

      Rob got his BA at Alabama and his MFA in poetry at Northern Michigan. He was an instructor at AUM for six years and a Visiting Professor at the Air Force War College Center for Writing Excellence for two terms. He has a dog who always barks whenever Rob writes a bio.

    • Micaela Cuellar

      Micaela's interests lie at the intersection of composition and trauma studies. Her research considers the way writing heals both the individual and marginalized communities at large. Outside of school, Mica enjoys listening to live music, traveling, and finding the best Mexican food in town.

    • Gabriela Diaz Guerrero

      Gabi earned her BA in English with a Certificate in Professional and Public Writing from Florida International University and her MA in Rhetoric and Composition from Florida State. Her research interests include public memory, digital humanities, and writing center studies.

    • Angela D.

      Angela holds a BS in Professional Communication and a MS in Digital Media and Communication Studies. Her research focuses on inclusive pedagogy and assessment, disability and health rhetoric, and online writing instruction. Angela enjoys boating, painting, and spending time with her dog.

    • Jake Hennessy

      Jake's research interests include composition pedagogy, mental health, labor, and assessment. He enjoys weightlifting, basketball, and gaming.

    • Drew Hundnall

      Drew earned his MA in English from Florida Atlantic University. His research interests include literacy, rhetoric, religion, and identity. In his free time, Drew enjoys skateboarding, skateboard filming and photography, surfing, thrifting, and cooking.

    • Sam Kronforst

      Sam earned his BA and MA in English: Rhetoric and Composition from the University of North Florida. His research interests include writing center studies, whiteness studies, and antiracism writing pedagogies and language practices.

    • Amory Orchard

      Amory earned her MA in English from Ball State University. Her dissertation focuses on academic labor and social justice in writing programs. At home, Amory can be found experimenting with her air fryer and attempting to keep her rambunctious cat, Teddy, out of her Zoom background.

    • Nitya Pandey

      Nitya Pandey is a fifth year PhD in the Rhetoric and Composition program. Her areas of research are composition pedagogy, online writing instruction, affect, and digital writing. When she is not teaching, writing, or researching, she goes for long walks, pampers her cat, and cooks fusion cuisines.

    • Ashley Pendleton

      Ashley earned a BS in English and English Education from William Woods University and a MA in English from UMKC. Her research interests lie in archival work, feminist rhetorics, and composition pedagogy. She also loves hot tea, the Great British Baking Show, and traveling with friends and family.

    • Shelby Ramsey

      Shelby earned both a BA and MA in English from the University of Alabama with a focus in Rhetoric and Composition. Her research interests include composition pedagogy, digital rhetorics, feminist rhetorics, and decolonization. Shelby also enjoys gardening, baking, and playing with her dog and cat.

    • Lauren Reilly

      Lauren Reilly (she/her) received her BS in English Secondary Education and MA in English from Southern Connecticut State University. Her research interests include writing center administration, digital rhetoric, and composition pedagogy.

    • Bridgette Sanders

      Bridgette received her BS in journalism and minor in English from UF, an MA in English from UWF, an MBA from St. Leo Univ., and a JD from Stetson. Her research interests include composition studies, WAC, and digital/visual rhetoric. She enjoys writing poetry and playing the piano.

    • Nicole Sirota

      Nicole earned her BA and MA in Writing & Rhetoric from Florida International Univ. Her research interests include composition pedagogy, translingual writing, and writing program administration. She enjoy cooking for family and friends, lounging around with her pets, and visiting family in Brazil.

    • Daniel Stefanelli

      Daniel received a BA in English from McDaniel College and an MA in Rhet-Comp from Texas Woman’s Univ. Their research interests include writing center studies, digital humanities, and the intersections of language and identity. In their free time, they enjoy studying new languages and petting dogs.

    • Ashleah Wimberly

      Ashleah received a BA in English from Mississippi State University and an MA in English from the University of North Dakota. Her research interests include pedagogy, literacy studies, writing assessment, and graduate instructor training & mentorship.

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    MA Students

    • Kelly Chamorro

      Kelly received her BA in Editing, Writing, and Media and Classical Civilizations from Florida State University. Her research interests include feminist pedagogies, multimodal composition, Multicultural studies, & empathetic pedagogy. interests are cooking, fishing, painting, reading, & gaming.

    • Clarke Crockett

      Clarke graduated from FSU with a bachelor’s degree in Editing, Writing and Media. When they aren’t attending classes or tutoring in the writing center, they like to read books for their queer book club, cycle on St. Marks Trail and experiment with craft coffee.

    • Alberto Herrera

      Alberto received his BA in Writing Studies at the University of South Florida. His research focuses on intersecting systems theory with composition pedagogy to cultivate spaces of compassionate intervention for students and instructors. He enjoys cooking for others and playing a ton of Pokémon Go.

    • Adedamola Oluwafisayomi Iboyi

      Adedamola Oluwafisayomi Iboyi earned a B.A. in English language from Kwara State University, Malate, Nigeria. She is interested in pragmatics, rhetorical analysis of English standardization, sociolinguistics, and multilingualism. She enjoys content creation, editing videos, cooking, and exercising.

    • Anwen Jones

      Anwen Jones (she/they) holds a B.A. from Scripps College with dual majors in Writing & Rhetoric and Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. She is a first year MA student interested in studying rhetorics of pain, disability, and the body.

    • Claire Kirchner

      Claire earned a BA in English and a BA in dance at Kansas University. She's pursuing an MA in English, Rhetoric and Composition at FSU, and her current but expanding research interests include composition pedagogy and embodied rhetorics.

    • Megan Smith

      Megan earned a BA in Editing, Writing, and Media from Florida State. Her research interests are varied and constantly evolving; however, she is currently enthralled with feminist rhetorics, composition pedagogy, and visual rhetoric. Her favorite pastime is cheering for the Seminoles at Doak!

    • Emily Tomczak

      Emily graduated from FSU with a bachelor's degree in Editing, Writing, and Media. Her research interests include digital composing, digital technologies, technofeminism, technical writing, and computational linguistics.

    • Sophia Ziemer

      Sophia earned her BA in Editing, Writing, and Media (with honors) from FSU. Her research interests include transfer and assessment, composition pedagogy, and digital/visual rhetorics. When she's not on campus, you can find her cooking up new recipes, finding unique craft beers, or walking her cat.

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    Alumni

    Alums from FSU's Rhetoric and Composition Program continue to make valuable contributions to the profession:

    • Logan Bearden ('16). Making Progress: Programmatic and Administrative Approaches for Multimodal Curricular Transformation. Utah State UP, 2022.

    • Scott Gage ('12) Kristie S. Fleckenstein, eds. Violence in the Work of Composition: Recognition, Intervention, Amelioration. Utah State UP, 2022.

    • Matt Davis ('12) and Kara Taczak ('11), editors, Composition Studies

    • Kathleen Blake Yancey and Stephen McElroy ('14), editors, Assembling Composition. NCTE, 2017.  

    • Kathleen Blake Yancey, Liane Robertson ('11), and Kara Taczak ('11). Writing Across Contexts: Transfer, Composition, and Sites of Writing. UP of Colorado and Utah State UP, 2014.

    Williams Building by Bret Zawilski ('15)

     

    A complete list of PhD graduates, dissertation titles, and what they are doing now:

    2022

    • Joel Bergholtz "Birtherism of a Nation: Racial Ideologies and Antiracist Strategies in Response to Circulating Media Artifacts" / Instructor, University of Central Florida
    • Brendan Hawkins "Generic Desires: Genre, Agency, and the Potential for Change in the Research Article Composing Process of Newcomers" / Senior Learning Experience Designer, Villanova University
    • Amanda Presswood "Contending with Language Difference in the Writing Center: An Investigation of Attitudes and Expectations toward Second Language Writers" / Lecturer, Brandeis University
    • Tricia Rizza "Pulling Back the Curtain and Breaking Down Barriers: A Study of Race, Writing, and First-Year Composition at Two-Year Open Access Institutions" / Associate Dean of Faculty Initiatives, Tallahassee Community College 

    2021

    • Kamila Albert "Design Thinking in Writing Centers" / Specialized Teaching Faculty and Director of the Reading Writing Centers and Digital Studios, Florida State University
    • Mandy Brooks "Constellations of Beliefs: Self-Efficacy in an Online Writing Course" 
    • Michael Healy "Tracing Techne: Distributed Histories of Invention, Creativity, and Text-Technologies in Rhetoric and Composition Scholarship from the 1990s" / Instructor, Western Kentucky University
    • Katelyn Stark "Writer Development Within and Outside the Composition Classroom: A Study of Concurrent Transfer" / Manager, Marketing and Creative Media, Grow Healthy
    • Jessi Thomsen "Alternative Cartographies: Reflection(s) for the Complexities of Writing and Sustainability" / Assistant Professor of English, Western Kentucky University
    2020
    • Ellen Cecil-Lemkin "Including Disability in Collaborative Writing Pedagogy"/ Teaching Faculty, University of Wisconsin
    • Amanda May "New(er) Accounts, New(er) Networks: An Examination of Writing Center Social Media Practice" / Assistant Professor and Writing Center Director, New Mexico Highlands University
    • Kyllikki Rytov "iRhetoric: Classical Rhetoric in Digital Multimodal Compositions"
    • Meghan Velez "Framing ‘Quality’ in Context: A Study of Writing, Assessment, and What We Value in Quality Enhancement Plans" / Assistant Professor, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
    2019
    • Amy Cicchino "Notes Toward A Panoramic View: A National Portrait Of GTA Writing Pedagogy Education Across Doctoral Programs In Rhetoric and Composition" / Associate Director for CTLE, and Adjunct Faculty, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
    • Anna Worm "Embodied Experiences in the Online Writing Center" / Assistant Professor, West Virginia University Institute of Technology
    • Jeanette Lehn "A Renewed Critical Pedagogy: Rethinking Activism within Writing Program Administration" / Assistant Professor, Barry University
    • Travis Maynard "A Curriculum Delivered, A Curriculum Remembered: An Alumni Study of a Undergraduate Concentration in Writing and Rhetoric" / Assistant Professor, Elon University
    • Julianna Edmonds "Revitalizing Feminist Ethics for Composition Studies: From Standpoint to Epistemology" / Instructor, Florida Atlantic University
    • David Bedsole "Striking a Chord: Playing (with) Music in the Writing Classroom" / Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Culverhouse College of Business, University of Alabama
    2018
    • Martha McKay Canter "Rhetoric on a Slant: Eighteenth-Century Performances in Sarah Fielding" / Visiting Instructor, University of South Florida
    • Joe Cirio "Everyday Writing Assessment: An Alternate Approach to Writing Assessment Theory" / Assistant Professor, Stockton University
    • Jason Custer "More Modes, More Problems: Examining Tutor Education in Multimodal Writing Centers" / Assistant Professor, Midway University
    • Jennifer Enoch "'Do Not Forget His Name': Making and Remaking the Self in Everyday Writing" / Assistant Professor, Northwestern State University of Louisiana
    • Jeff Naftzinger "A Portrait of Everyday Writing: A Writer-Informed Approach" / Assistant Professor, Sacred Heart University
    2017
    • Andrew Burgess "'Like a Rolling Stone': Moving Toward Methodologies for Analysis of Multimodal Musical Performance" / Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Buffalo
    • Aimee Jones "The Role of Motivation in International ESL Graduate Students' Engagement with Writing at the University Writing Center" / Assistant Professor, Barry University
    • Megan Keaton "'I Just Kinda Messed with It': Investigating Students' Resources for Learning Digital Composing Technologies Outside of Class" / Assistant Professor, Pfeiffer University
    • Heather Lang "Understanding, Perception, and Accommodation of Disability in Writing Centers" / Assistant Professor, Susquehanna University
    • Erin Workman "Visualizing Transfer: How Do Students' Conceptual Writing Knowledge Structures Connect to Their Transfer of Writing Knowledge and Practice?" / Assistant Professor and Director of First-Year Writing, DePaul University
    • Kendall Sanchez "Requisite to Great Undertakings: Impacts of Self-Efficacy Beliefs in College Composition Instructors"
    2016
    • Molly Daniel "Dancing into the Digital: Embodied Performance and Digital Multimodal Composition" / Assistant Professor, University of North Georgia
    • Bruce Bowles "Taken Out of Context?: Examining the Influence of Context on Teachers' Written Responses to Student Writing" / Assistant Professor and Director of the University Writing Center, Texas A&M University-Central Texas
    • Logan Bearden "Favorable Outcomes: The Role of Outcomes Statements in Multimodal Curricular Transformation" / Associate Professor, Nova Southeastern University
    • Jacob Craig "The Past is Awake: Situating Composers' Mobile Practices within their Composing Histories" / Assistant Professor and Director of Writing, Rhetoric, and Publication, College of Charleston
    • Brittany Boykins "Inclusive Pulpit? Rhetoric and Gender in the African Methodist Episcopal Church" / Assistant Professor, Florida A&M University
    2015
    • Leah Cassorla "The Shifting Sands of Authority in the Age of Digital Convergence" / Visiting Assistant Professor, Trinity College Hartford, CT
    • Kendra Mitchell "Language in the Center: A Case Study of Multilingual Learners in a Historically Black University Writing Center" / Assistant Professor, Florida A&M University
    • Christine Martorana "Looking Outside to Empower Within: Feminist Activists, Feminist Agency, and the Composition Classroom" / Instructor, Florida International University, Writing Across the Curriculum Consultant
    • Bret Zawilski "When All That Is Old Becomes New: Transferring Writing Knowledge and Practice Across Print, Screen, and Network Spaces" / Lecturer in Critical Skills, Maynooth University, Ireland
    2014
    • Leigh Graziano "Mourning the Dead: Living Memorials, Rhetorical Functions, and Everyday Multimodality" / Associate Professor, Western Oregon University
    • Rory Lee "Now with More Modes?: The Curricular Design and Implementation of Multimodality in Undergraduate Major Programs in Writing/Rhetoric" / Assistant Professor, Ball State University
    • Stephen McElroy "Assembling Postcards: The Multimodal Production of Curt Teich & Company" / Assistant Professor and Director of First-Year Writing, Babson College
    • Josh Mehler "Mobile Vulgus: Everyday Writing, Portable Technology, and Counterpublics" / Learning Consultant at Healthesystems
    • Jennifer O'Malley "Writing as a Social Practice: How Interaction and Circulation are Enacted in the First-Year Writing Class" / Learning Consultant at Healthesystems
    • Elizabeth Powers "Reconstructing Florida's Ethos" / Associate Professor and Writing Center Director, University of Maine at Augusta
    • Natalie Szymanski "Untangling the Ecological Knots: Exploring the Creation and Maintenance of Sustainable Technology-enabled First Year Composition Programs" / Assistant Professor and Director of the College Writing Program, Buffalo State University
    • Katherine Bridgman "Dissolving Transnational Boundaries: Interfaces and Invitations to Embody" / Associate Professor and Writing Center Director at Texas A&M University, San Antonio
    2011-2012
    • Matt Davis "Rhetorical Composing: A Multimodal, Multimedia Model of Literacy" / Associate Professor and Director of the Center on Media and Society, University of Massachusetts, Boston
    • Scott Gage "Creating the Cult: Image-Word in the Formation of a Supremacist Community" / Associate Professor, Texas A&M, San Antonio
    • Tony Ricks "Communal Belief and Textual Invention: An Ethnographic Analysis of First-Year College Students' Writing Processes in a Living Learning Community" / Assistant Professor, Alabama A&M University
    • Liane Robertson "The Significance of Course Content in the Transfer of Writing Knowledge from First-Year Composition to Other Academic Contexts" / Associate Professor and WPA, University of South Florida, Tampa
    • Kara Taczak "Connecting the Dots: Does Reflection Foster Transfer?" / Teaching Associate Professor and ePortfolio Coordinator, University of Denver
    1990-2010
    • Tara Williams Bradley "Student Discussion of Assigned Reading in Online First-Year Writing Courses" / Senior Editor, Office of Research in the College of Education, Florida State University
    • Amy Hodges Hamilton "Writing From the Inside Out: Connecting Self and Community in the First-Year Writing Classroom" / Professor, Belmont University
    • Dan Melzer "Assignments across the Curriculum: A Study of Writing in the Disciplines" / Associate Professor and Associate Director of First-Year Writing, University of California, Davis
    • Deborah Teague "The Effects of College-Level Academic SkillsTest Instruction on the Development of First-Year Writers" / Director of College Writing, Flagler College
    • Kenya MaKonnen Thompkins "One Size Doesn't Fit All: A Descriptive Study of First-Year Writing at Selected Florida Colleges and Universities" / Professor, Tallahassee Community College
    • Pavel Zemiliansky "Genuine Training in Academic Discourse or an Artificial Construct?: Reconsidering the Past, Present, and Future of the College Research Paper" / Associate Professor of English for Academic Purposes, Oslo Metropolitan University

    Affiliated Faculty

    These are faculty members with whom we share interests and who have offered applicable courses and/or regularly serve on Rhetoric and Composition graduate committees.

    • Tamara Bertrand Jones, Associate Professor of Higher Education: socialization during graduate education, professional experiences of underrepresented populations (especially black women) in the academy
    • Vanessa Dennen, Professor of Instructional Systems & Learning Technologies: cognitive, motivational, and social elements of computer-mediated communication
    • Leigh H. Edwards, Associate Professor of English: media studies and popular culture
    • Davis Houck, Professor of Communication: the American civil rights movement, mediated representations of sport, archival research and how it affects the writing of history
    • Allan Jeong, Associate Professor of Instructional Systems: computer-mediated communication, computer-supported collaborative work, collaborative learning
    • Don Latham, Professor of Communication: young adult literature, information behavior of youth, and information literacy
    • Paul Marty, Professor and Associate Dean in the College of Communication and Information: museum informatics, technology and culture, innovation and design, information and society
    • Donna Nudd, Professor of Communication, radical performance, media adaptation, feminism, pedagogy
    • Andy Opel, Associate Professor of Communication, video and documentary theory and production, environmentalism, and media and consumer culture
    • Jennifer Proffitt, Associate Professor of Communication, political rhetoric, media production, mass communication
    • Suzanne Sinke, Professor of History and Associate Chair for Graduate Studies, migration and gender studies in the U.S.