Pedagogy

My pedagogy compiles approaches from digital studies, rhetorical and critical theory, and writing studies, and my courses focus on the ways dis/misinformation and conspiracy theories circulate, contemporary critical and rhetorical theory, and social media-based communication. I also emphasize visual communication with a focus on user-centered design and accessibility in many of my classes. 

Depending on the topic of my courses, I typically categorize them as Thinking or Making classes (with overlap between the two, of course), wherein the former covers critical and rhetorical theory, as well as theories of writing and communication, and the latter courses work to put theory into practice. I also teach students rhetorical and digital methodologies for working with, in, and for communities, as well as user experience methods for revising and testing materials for their discrete audiences. We have a lot of fun going outside of the classroom, more often than not, and my students often find themselves interviewing others, testing their materials, and getting perspectives that will help shape their projects rather than sitting and listening to a lecture. 

I love talking teaching and pedagogy, especially using technology in daily activities and projects. If you ever want to chat about these topics, please reach out. On this page, you'll find a list of my current courses and brief descriptions. I no longer have my syllabi and other learning materials available on this website, but if you would like to see how I approach these classes, please send me an email.

I'm Currently Teaching ...

Nothing! I am on research leave for Spring / Summer 2026 and will be working on my book projects. 👨🏻‍💻

Other Classes I've Taught Include ...

🗣️ Contemporary Rhetorical Theory

This course familiarizes students with some of the contemporary conversations that highlight debates and trends in writing and rhetoric studies, following the theme of "Rhetoric is..." meaning students explicate rhetorical theory along the lines of what prior scholars have claimed about rhetorical action while undergoing the progymnasmata, a series of rhetorical excerises used in Classical Rhetoric to train rhetors as public-oriented citizens. Drawing from perspectives from across the breadth of the humanities and social sciences (linguistics, literary theory, philosophy, communication studies, anthropology, history), students are familiarized with commonly used terms amongst rhetorical studies (e.g., "Text," "Publics / Counterpublics," "Biopolitics," "Civilization," "Epistemology," among others), as well as common uses for rhetorical theory.

📝️ Current Theories & Applications of Writing

This course covers a wide range of developments, topics, and turns in the field of rhetoric and composition. Reviewing key concepts and theories from the last fifty years, students cover: first-year writing (commonly known as "Freshman Comp," the writing major, critical pedagogies, theories of process and genre, multimodality and multiliteracies, and the implications of identity in composition studies. The course ends with an eye toward the future—both in the classroom and beyond. Core to this class is the notion that history and theory are tangible and felt in the classroom, both as a student and teacher. In that sense, this class prepares students to articulate their experiences as writers against the backdrop of academic history, translate theories of writing to instruct others how to write, and hone their craft and critical thinking with writing at the fore.

🌐 Information Literacy & Digital Composing

This class focuses on how information circulates online and how bad actors use mis- and disinformation, as well as conspiracy theories, to trick others. The class trains students to develop their information literacy skills to identify how specific algorithms boost or suppress certain actions while practicing how to use these methods to reach and to educate a public audience. Students conduct a case study on a cultural community on different platforms (e.g., TikTok, Instagram) to trace an instance of dis/misinformation or a conspiracy theory and to propose a research-based solution. They then turn that research into educational materials to help others not get tricked online, compising for a social media platform of their choosing and creating an accessible social media campaign.

💻 Online Writing: Ethics, Appropriation, and Social Media

This course focuses on issues of responsibility, ownership, and access with regards to online-mediated composing. Writing, that is, composing and participating in any genre requires an awareness of discourse communities, a target audience, motivation/purpose, and writing conventions that one might follow or challenge. Students in this course therefore research and write online content that explores the ethics and accessibility of texts in technological cultures that both facilitate and prevent access, reviewing strategies utilized across writing contexts and invites students to create their own digital writing pieces individually and alongside classmates in a collaborative environment.

🎙️ Reading, Writing, Archiving Charlotte

Researchers who work with the public have a particular need to be comfortable with digital tools. Using the City of Charlotte as its subject, this course offers students a basic grounding in the technological skills needed to conduct online historical research, to conduct primary research,  including interviewing others using oral history methods, and to present the results online by emphasizing how the internet changes the relationship between researchers and their audience, as well as shapes the kinds of texts we circulate and the stories they tell.

⛑️ Rhetorical Health / Digital Medicine

How do marginalized communities keep themselves safe and healthy? In this course, students work toward answering this and other questions to refresh their thinking about the technologies that relate to their and others’ health, the cultural dimensions of what “healthy” really means, and some of the most pressing issues we face today amid public health crises, climate change, and a changing society. Over the semester, students use the affordances of rhetorical theories of health and technology, analyzing key medical documents, practices, and communication practices, and designed online health information, patient education materials (such as decision aids and white papers), public health and pharmaceutical ads on social media sites, and other projects aimed at mental health. Students are also encouraged to find their commitments to their communities, organizations, or interests and to center them within this course.

✍️ First-Year Writing

In this course, students learn to analyze and to compose various texts, using a range of technologies, as well as adapting language and style for particular audiences, contexts, and purposes. Throughout the semester, they develop flexible composing strategies, locate and evaluate primary and secondary research, deepen engagement with source material, and wrangle numerous means of strengthening claims and logical arguments via composing.