Vita

Last  updated 10.12.11

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Academic Degrees

Ph.D., Rhetoric and Composition, 2010

Washington State University

Emphases: Digital Game Studies, Digital Rhetoric, Computers and Writing

Committee: Victor Villanueva (chair), Patricia Freitag Ericsson, Jason Farman

Dissertation: Why the Humans are White: Fantasy, Modernity, and the Rhetorics of Racism in World of Warcraft

M.A., Literature, 2004

University of Idaho

Emphasis: 20^th Century American Literature

Thesis: Annular Fiction: Recursion in the Works of David Foster Wallace

B.A., English, 2002

University of Idaho

Emphasis: Literature

Publications

“How to be a Renegade Paragon: Multivalent Rhetorics and Identities in Mass Effect.” Co-authored with Shawn Lamebull. Under revision for publication in Games and Culture.

“The Rhetorics of a Game Design Document.” Co-authored with Anton Maslennikov. Under review with Kairos for a special issue on undergraduate research.

Conference Presentations

“Race and Gender in Citadel Space.” THATCamp (The Humanities and Technology Camp) Pacific Northwest, Pullman, WA, October, 2009.

“Working in the Metaverse and the Academy: Composing a Game Studies Dissertation Online.” 4Cs, San Francisco, March 2009.

“Reading and Writing Virtual Realities: Computer Games and Writing Instruction.” 4Cs, New Orleans, April 2008.

“What Does it Mean to Write, ‘I be a Troll, Mon’?: Towards a Method for Reading Player Discourse in Online Games.” Oregon Conference on Rhetoric and Composition, La Grande, OR, October 2007.

“Walk Like and Orc, Talk Like an Orc?: Racial Representation and Behavior in World of Warcraft.” Pacific Northwest American Studies Association Conference, Portland, OR, April 2007.

“Real Indians Don’t Rap: Hip-Hop, Tradition, and Other Discursive Influences on the Reservation.” Co-presented with Barbara Monroe. 4Cs, New York, March 2007.

“Tomorrow is Today: Fantastic Technology as Socio-Political Criticism in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest.” The Uses of the Science Fiction Genre: An Interdisciplinary Symposium, St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada, October 2005.

“Inviting Re-Conquest: The Culpability of the Colonized in One Hundred Years of Solitude.” 4th International Conference of Studies in Cultural Meaning, Chantilly, France, October 2003.

Invited Presentations

“Beyond Renegade/Paragon: Multimodal, Multivalent Rhetorics and the Future of Videogames.” Co-presented with Shawn LameBull.  English department colloquium, WSU, February 2010. Video ( .mp4). Audio ( .mp3). Prezi presentation.

“Militarism, Nationalism, and Racism in Videogames.” Guest lecture, DTC 475: Digital Diversity, WSU, November 2009.

“The Misadventures of Renegade Paragons: or how to write a collaborative article on Mass Effect.” Co-presented with Shawn LameBull. American Studies department colloquium, WSU, November 2009. Video (122 mb .mp4). Audio (46 mb .mp3).

“How Identity is Constructed in World of Warcraft.” Guest lecture, English 595: Electronic Literature, Gaming, and Cyberculture, WSU, November 2009.

“Teaching Technical and Professional Writing.” Guest lecture, English 534: Theories and Methods of the Teaching of Technical and Professional Writing. October 14, 2009.

Guest speaker, 8-Bit Electro. KZUU, Pullman. September 30, 2009.

“New Directions in Digital Humanities Scholarship.” English department colloquium. March 6, 2009.

“Teaching with Videogames.” Guest lecture, English 323: Approaches to Teaching English. December 8, 2008.

“Racism in World of Warcraft.” Guest lecture, English 301: Writing and Rhetorical Conventions. April 1, 2008.

“Evaluating Student Papers,” Writing Center Workshop, University of Idaho, Sept. 30, 2003.

“Teaching Revision,” TA Orientation Workshop, University of Idaho, Aug. 20, 2003.

Teaching Experience

Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-present

Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Literature, Communication, and Culture

Technical Communication: Theory and Practice

Instructor, Georgia Tech Language Institute

Better Writing

Personal Statements and Impromptu Writing

College of Western Idaho, 2010

Instructor

First-Year Composition

Washington State University, 2006-2010

Teaching Assistant

Introduction to Videogame Studies

Multimedia Authoring

Technical and Professional Communication

First-Year Composition

Writing Tutorial

World Civilizations (grader)

Boise State University, 2004-2006

Adjunct Instructor

First-Year Composition

Survey of American Literature, 1865-Present

University of Idaho, 2002-2004

Teaching Assistant

First-Year Composition

Honors Literature of Western Civilization (practicum)

Upward Bound Instructor

English

Filmmaking

Study Skills

Professional Service

Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-present

Chair, Technical Communication Committee, 2011-2012

Member, Technical Communication Committee, 2010-2011

Revised programmatic outcomes and promotional materials for Technical Communication minor.

Member, DevLab Committee, 2010-2012

Presented technological tools for pedagogy in Brittain Fellow Bootcamp Series.

Washington State University, 2006-2010

Webmaster, English Graduate Organization, 2009-2010

Maintained EGO’s resource website

President, English Graduate Organization, 2008-2009

Created and administered a resource website for EGO members

Established EGO as a Registered Student Organization

Conducted monthly meetings

Coordinated department colloquia

Conducted the annual department picnic

TA Training Coordinator, English Graduate Organization, 2007-2008

Conducted bimonthly meetings for the professional development of freshman composition TAs and Instructors

Placement Exam Reader, 2006-2009

Evaluated writing exams of incoming freshmen, determining their placement in first-year composition courses 2006-presentBoise State University Adjunct Mentor

Boise State University, 2004-2006

Adjunct Mentor, 2005-2006

Conducted monthly meetings with new adjuncts to share experiences and discuss pedagogy

Observed and counseled new adjuncts on their instruction

Created and maintained a Blackboard website for all English Department adjuncts

Adjunct Rep, Task Force on the Future of the English Department, 2005-2006

Compared the structure and focus of BSU’s English Department to those of similar universities

Provided recommendations to the committee chair regarding adjuncts instructors’ current and future roles in the department

University of Idaho, 1998-2004

Staff Reader, Fugue Literary Journal, 2002-2004

Read and evaluated manuscripts

Copy-edited manuscripts for publication

Writing Center Tutor, 2001-2002

Collaborated with undergraduate and graduate students to improve the content and structure of their writing

Technical Writer, Center for Secure and Dependable Systems, 2002

Edited theses and articles of graduate and professional researchers studying evolutionary security programs on distributed systems

Led a team of five technical writers to assemble reports, presentations, and brochures for present and future granting agencies

Honors and Fellowships

Washington State University, 2006-2010

TA Distinguished Teaching Award, 2009

Edward Meyer Liberal Arts Scholarship, 2006

Relevant Coursework

Contemporary Theories of Rhetoric

Contact Zone Rhetorics

Visual Culture

Theory and Method in American Studies

Theories and Methods of the Teaching of Technical and Professional Writing

Methodology of Composition

Teaching Literature

Teaching with Technology

References

Dr. Victor Villanueva

Regents Professor

Department of English

P.O. Box 5020

Washington State University

Pullman WA 99164-5020

victorv@wsu.edu

509.335.2680

Dr. Jason Farman

Assistant Professor

Department of English

Washington State University Tri-Cities

2710 University Drive

Richland, WA 99354-1671

jfarman@tricity.wsu.edu

509.372.7285

Dr. Patricia Freitag Ericsson

Associate Professor

Department of English

P.O. Box 5020

Washington State University

Pullman WA 99164-5020

ericsson@wsu.edu

509.335.4820

Dr. Barbara Monroe

Associate Professor

Department of English

P.O. Box 5020

Washington State University

Pullman WA 99164-5020

bjmonroe@wsu.edu

509.335.4191