Speaker Series

Virginia Tech’s University Writing Program has hosted several presenters and workshop leaders over the past two decades. Working with the records available, the program’s leadership team in 2021 began to assemble the following list, provisionally historicizing guest presenters who have been invaluable to the program’s quality and reputation. Note that some of the events listed were sponsored among multiple programs, such as the Center for Rhetoric in Society (CRS), the Professional and Technical Writing Program (PTW), the Rhetoric and Writing PhD Program (RW), and the University Writing Center (UWC).

2022

October 28, 2022—Dr. Louis Maraj, University of British Columbia, “Not/Too/Deep (:) T(h)inking Archipelagic Rhetorical Blackness,” University Writing Program Fall Colloquium and featured speaker (hosted by the Rhetoric & Writing PhD Program and the Center for Rhetoric in Society)

April 20, 2022—Dr. Eric Darnell Pritchard, University of Arkansas, hosted by the Rhetoric Club

April 1, 2022—Dr. Rachel Gramer, Illinois State University, University Writing Program Spring Colloquium

2021

October 29, 2021Dr. Jenny Rice, University of Kentucky, “On Loud Sounds, Alien Messages, and Other Forms of Intense Communication,” featured speaker (hosted by the Center for Rhetoric in Society)

August 12, 2021—Dr. Steven Alvarez, St. John’s University, “Brokering Taco Literacies: Foodways, Languages, Communities,” and “An Analytical Autoethnographic Portrait of a Research Trajectory” (workshop), Composition Program Community Day featured speaker and teaching workshop facilitator

April 14, 2021—Dr. Christina Cedillo, University of Houston–Clear Lake, “Race, Disability, and Decolonization: Re-visioning Rhetoric, Space, and Time” (hosted by the Rhetoric Club)

February 26, 2021—Dr. Kelly Concannon and Dr. Janine Morris, Nova Southeastern University, “Mindfulness, Self-Care, & Fostering Well-Being in the Writing Center & Classroom,” Composition Program Spring Colloquium

2020

November 30, 2020—Black Technical & Professional Communication Symposium, Dr. Temptaous Mckoy, Bowie State University; Dr. Cecilia D. Shelton, University of Maryland; Dr. Donnie Sackey, University of Texas at Austin; Dr. Natasha N. Jones, Michigan State University; Dr. Constance Haywood, Michigan State University; Ja’La Wourman, Michigan State University; and Dr. Kimberly C. Harper, North Carolina A&T State University (sponsored by the PTW Program)

October 30, 2020—Dr. Jason Swarts, North Carolina State University, “Computer Assisted Code Development Workshop (sponsored by the Rhetoric & Writing Program)

October 21, 2020—Dr. Asao Inoue, Arizona State University, “How to Engage in Antiracist Classroom Writing Assessment” (co-hosted with Writing Across Virginia (WAVA))

September 19, 2020—Dr. Jody Shipka, University of Maryland–Baltimore County, “Edible Rhetoric: Making Memorable Meals” (Corridors Conference plenary)

September 19, 2020—Dr. Jason Luther, Rowan University, “Make a Quaranzine” (Corridors Conference featured workshop)

August 13, 2020—Dr. Jonathan Alexander, University of California–Irvine, “Rhetoric in Action” (presentation) and “Understanding Rhetoric: A Fresh Look” (workshop), Composition Program Community Day

April 15, 2020—Dr. Kelli Cargile Cook, Texas Tech University, PTW Colloquium, “A Conversation on Teaching Writing Online”

February 28, 2020—Dr. Michelle Bachelor Robinson, Spelman College, Rhetoric & Race Series organized by Dr. Sheila Carter-Tod, “Teaching African American Rhetoric”

2019

October 18, 2019—Dr. Kate Pantelides, Middle Tennessee State University, “After the Accusation: The Lasting Impact of Plagiarism Trauma on Student Writing Behaviors”

September 19, 2019—Dr. Caddie Alford, Virginia Commonwealth University, “Rhetorical Infrastructure, or the Complicity of Systems” (Corridors Conference plenary)

September 10, 2019—Dao Tran, managing editor of the Voice of Witness Book Series, and Cliff Mayotte, Education Program Director at Voice of Witness, “Storytelling as Social Justice” (sponsored by the Center for Rhetoric in Society)

August 15, 2019—Dr. Liz Losh, William & Mary, “Multimodal Rhetorics,” Composition Program Community Day

March 25, 2019—Dr. Zosha Stuckey, Researcher-in-Residence from Towson University, “How Archives Can Work For Disability and Racial Justice”

April 12, 2019—Dr. Linda Flower, Carnegie Mellon University, “Beyond Transfer: Some Public Outcomes of Socially Engaged Education”

Prior to 2019*

November 5, 2018—Dr. Cheryl Geisler, Simon Fraser University, “Coding Language Data: A Framework for a Systematic & Valid Analysis” (sponsored by the Center for Rhetoric in Society)

September 25, 2018—Dr. Annette Vee, University of Pittsburgh, “Artificial Intelligence, Automatic Writing” (sponsored by VT Faculty Affairs/Faculty Mentoring Program and the Center for Rhetoric in Society)

April 18, 2018—Dr. John Mucklebauer, University of South Carolina, “Thinking Through Style: Derrida’s Unteachable Pedagogy” (sponsored by the Center for Rhetoric in Society)

February 21, 2017—Dr. Scott Graham, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, “Conflicted: Big Pharma and The Guardians of Public Trust” (co-sponsored by the Rhetoric & Writing PhD Program, the Center for Rhetoric in Society, and the English Department)

February 15, 2017—Dr. Tim Lockridge, Presentation and discussion

November 15, 2016—Dr. Octavio Pimentel, Presentation and discussion

April 27, 2016—Dr. Carolyn Miller, Rhetoric and Writing Program, presentation and workshop

April 26, 2016—Dr. Rebekka Andersen, Presentation and discussion for professional and technical writing program

April 18, 2015—Dr. Paul Kei Matsuda and Dr. Alexis Hart, 2015 Blue Ridge Symposium, “Creating an Inclusive Writing Classroom”

October 8, 2014—Dr. Cheryl Ball, “Composing in Digital Environments”

September 4, 2014—Dr. Kristin Arola, “Multimodal Texts in Composition”

August 20, 2014—Tiffany Rousculp, Presentation and discussion, University Writing Center

April 11, 2013—Dr. Bruce Horner, Dr. Min Zhan Lu, and Dr. John Trimbur, Workshop and seminar, University Writing Center

February 9, 2013—Dr. Paul Hanstedt, Dr. David Coogan, and Dr. Douglas Downs, Blue Ridge Symposium

October 8, 2012—Dr. Cheryl Ball, Composition Speaker Series

October 1, 2012—Dr. Beverly Sauer, Presentation and discussion sponsored by the Center for Rhetoric in Society

March 22, 2012—Dr. Cynthia Selfe, Composition Speaker Series

February 13, 2012—Dr. Shanti Bruce, Presentation and discussion

January 26, 2012—Dr. Mya Poe, Presentation and discussion, University Writing Center

November 8, 2011—Sarah O’Keefe, Presentation and discussion for professional and technical writing program

October 20, 2011—Dr. Jordynn Jack, Presentation on medical rhetoric

October 10, 2011—Dr. Gail Hawisher, Composition Speaker Series

September 26, 2011—Dr. Victor Villanueva, “Memoria—the Remix”

March 18, 2011—Dr. John Trimbur, Dr. Paula Mathieu, Dr. Susan Jarratt, & Dr. Phyllis Ryder, Public Rhetoric Series

October 8, 2010—Dr. Karl Stolley, presentation and discussion, Composition Speaker Series

February 24, 2011—Dr. Diane Shoos, Keynote speaker for the English Graduate Student Conference

September 24, 2010—Dr. Kathleen Blake Yancey, presentation and discussion, Composition Speaker Series

March 1, 2010—Dr. Keith Gilyard, presentation and discussion

February 27, 2010—Dr. Geoffrey Sirc, Keynote speaker for the English Graduate Student Conference

January 22, 2010—Dr. Nedra Reynolds, presentation and discussion on portfolios

September 29, 2009—Dr. Dànielle Nicole Devoss, “Visual-digital rhetoric: Dominant themes and issues”

September 17, 2009—Dr. John Trimbur, presentation and discussion

September 2, 2009—Dr. Andrea Lunsford, presentation and discussion

March 26, 2009—Dr. David Toomey, presentation on professional writing

February 21, 2009—Dr. Steve Parks, Keynote speaker for the English Graduate Student Conference

September 20, 2008—Dr. Cynthia Selfe & Dr. Richard Selfe, “Digital English in the 21st Century”

March 12, 2008—Dr. Eli Goldblatt, “Centering the University and Community Literacy”

February, 2008—Dr. Carolyn Miller, “Emerging Genres”

April 25-28, 2007—Dr. Patricia Bizzell, Dr. Marilyn Cooper, Dr. Mary Cushman, Dr. Gail Hawisher, Dr. Bruce Horner, Dr. Susan Jarratt, Dr. Gesa Kirsch, Dr. Dale Bauer, Dr. John Trimbur, Dr. Diane Shoos, Dr. Eileen Schell, Dr. Peter Mortensen, Dr. Jacqueline Royster, Dr. Min Zhan Lu, Dr. Pamela Takayoshi, Dr. Beverly Moss, Dr. Cynthia Selfe, and Dr. Shirley Logan, “Researching Women: Issues in Ethics, Methodology and Activism (sponsored by CLAHS, Center for Rhetoric in Society, and the Composition Program

March 17, 2007—Dr. Timothy Mayers, Keynote Speaker for the English Graduate Student Conference

Additional presenters and workshop leaders include Dr. Janice Lauer and Dr. Bill Hart-Davidson.

* Records prior to 2019 may be incomplete. If you know about an event that is missing from this list, we would be grateful to hear from you at writing -AT- vt.edu. Additional events and activities internal to the university are listed on the program calendar.