Meet the Rhetoric and Technical Writing Faculty
Our faculty is comprised of researchers and practitioners who are current in the field. Our faculty offers students a blend of theoretical and applied knowledge, which is likely why student satisfaction in our program is so high. We are a faculty body committed to student success, and we take pleasure in preparing our graduates to face and solve the increasingly complex ethical challenges of our world.
Rhetoric and Technical Writing Tenure Track Faculty
Jacob Babb | Associate Professor | Associate Chair of Rhetoric and Technical Writing
Dr. Babb teaches a range of courses in the Rhetoric and Technical Writing program includeding including Business Writing and Editing as well as rhetoric and composition courses. He also teaches graduate courses in composition pedagogy. Beyond teaching in the RTW program, he also teaches Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature. In general, Dr. Babb enjoys talking to students about writing and research. Dr. Babb is working on several research project at varying stages of development. For example, he worked with Dr. Blackburn on a study of how writing program administrators responded both professionally and personally to the disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Dr. Babb has written about a wide range of things, including faculty writing practices, emotional labor, horror fiction and film, and bluegrass.
Jessie Blackburn | Professor
Dr. Blackburn teaches courses about rhetoric and composition, professional and technical writing, and cultural rhetorics courses. She especially enjoys teaching courses anchored in cultural and feminist rhetorics. Dr. Blackburn along with Dr. Babb recently co-edited a special issue of WPA: Writing Program Administration. This special issue explores the changes in writing programs around the nation in the era of Covid-19.
Sarah Long | Associate Professor | Internship Coordinator
Dr. Long often teaches several courses in the RTW program including Technical Writing for Computer Science, Writing for Social Media, Technical Writing for RTW concentrators, Introduction to Professional Writing, and Capstone in Rhetoric and Technical Writing. She is currently working on a research project about remote usability study in Vietnam of a beekeeping application. But while most of her scholarly research focuses on the intersections of the environment and technology, she is also a creative nonfiction writer with a memoir and a second nonfiction book under contract. Dr. Long is currently the Internship Coordinator for RTW.
Bethany Mannon | Assistant Professor | Director of Composition in the Rhetoric and Composition Program
Dr. Mannon is the director of composition ,and she specializes in teaching RC 1000 and RC 2001. She also teaches graduate courses in rhetoric and social movements. Additionally, she developed our ENG 2080: Writing for Change elective. Dr. Mannon recently published a book about evangelical rhetorics titled, “I Grew Up in the Church”: Personal Narrative in the Rhetoric of American Evangelical Women. In her book she uses the framework of feminist rhetorics to theorize personal narrative as a persuasion strategy in public discourse and show that women are reshaping the cultural and political rhetoric of the evangelical movement. Dr. Mannon is also working on two Appalachian State research projects about online teaching and evangelical students.
Savannah Paige Murray | Assistant Professor
Dr. Murray teaches a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in RTW. She particularly enjoyes teaching business writing, technical writing, and editing. She is currently working on several projects with a primary focus on environmental rhetorics. Her research projects explore how grassroots activist organizations use their rhetorical savvy to advance environmental and climate justice. As a writing instructor, she is deeply committed to helping students grow, evolve, and enhance their work. Dr. Murray believes that writing is not only an important life skill for a professional career, but is also a powerful tool for civic engagement, social and environmental justice, and securing climate justice in the future.
Melissa Stone | Assistant Professor | English Department Communication Coordinator
Dr. Stone teaches a wide variety of undergradute and graduate courses in RTW. She particularly enjoys teaching the undergradate senior capstone in RTW, technical writing at the graduate level, as well as courses on the intersections of technology, gender, and reproductive health. She deeply enjoys preparing graduating students for the job market or for graduate programs. Student mentorship is important to Dr. Stone, and she is always willing to help hard working students on their research projects and professoinal materials. Dr. Stone is currently working on several research projects in various stages of production about reproductive health, rural health, and food and cooking.
Belinda Walzer | Associate Professor | Rhetoric and Technical Writing Committee Chair
Dr. Walzer's research is focused on rhetorical theory with an applied social justice focus. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the Rhetoric and Technical Writing program that take up topics in rhetorical theory, human rights and reconciliation, advocacy writing, writing for change, community writing, grant writing, transnational feminist rhetorics, and literature and mass violence. Dr. Walzer has also frequently co-teaches a course in post-conflict reconciliation in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In general, her teaching is always grounded in experiential principles. Dr. Walzer is currently working on several research projects in various stages of production. Each of these projects is concerned with real world applications of human rights and social justice.
Rhetoric and Technical Writing Non-Tenure Track Faculty
Madeline Scott | Lecturer
Ms. Scott is an alumi of the Rhetoric and Technical Writing program. She currently teaches RC 1000: Expository Writing, RC 2001: Introduction to Writing Across the Curriculum, and ENG 3100: Business Writing.
Linda Gail York | Lecturer
Ms. York teaches in the RTW and RC Gen-Ed program. In particular she teaches RC 1000: Expository Writing, RC 2001: Introduction to Writing Across the Curriculum, and ENG 3100: Business Writing. She strives for teaching courses that are interesting, engaging, and fun. She believes that it is important for courses to be learning communities where students can become independent learners with a mind for critical thinking.