faculty

Alexis Teagarden, PhD

Associate Professor / Writing Program Administrator

English & Communication

Contact

508-999-8287

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Liberal Arts 339

Education

2014

Carnegie Mellon University

PhD

2008

Johns Hopkins University

2005

Georgetown University

Teaching

First-Year Writing
Rhetorical Theory and Methods
Teaching Methods
Composition Theory and Pedagogy

Teaching

Programs

English BA

Teaching

Courses

ENL 101: Critical Writing & Reading I

Argument-focused course that introduces students to scholarly reading and writing strategies. Students practice widely-applicable methods of reading, writing, and revising arguments. Students read college-level arguments from diverse popular, public, and academic genres in order to develop their academic skills of analyzing single arguments, synthesizing multiple perspectives, and composing informed responses to an ongoing conversation.

ENL 257: Rhetoric I: Intro to Rhetoric

The study and contemporary application of ancient Greek and Roman rhetorical theory. Students will apply rhetorical theory in ongoing analyses of a wide range of communication media (written, spoken, visual) and in their own writing.

ENL 357: Sp Topics Rhetorical Studies

Advanced study of rhetorical communication within a specific genre, field, historical period, or community. Focus will change with instructor, but may include such topics as: Social Activism; Photography and Iconography; Music; Public Policy; more. Course may be repeated for credit with a change in topic.

ENL 750: Grad Thesis/Project I

First semester. Graded CR/NC (upon approval of completed thesis or project).

Research

Research interests

First-Year Composition
Information Literacy/Research Skills
Intellectual Risk
Student Evaluations of Teaching
Faculty/Professional Development

Curious about rhetoric writ large and small, Alexis Teagarden’s research follows three questions: How do national and local publics interact, how does language shape public policy, and how do we negotiate US education’s many competing values? Her current work focuses on where these questions intersect: the lively, highly argumentative reform called charter schools. She also grounds her research in classroom practice, asking how college writing pedagogy, assessment, and program administration can better foster student development. To that end she is currently examining the role intellectual risk can and should play in the writing classroom. She teaches courses in the First Year English program, which she also directs.

She holds Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Carnegie Mellon University and a Masters of Teaching (Secondary English) from The Johns Hopkins University. She is an alumna of Teach for America and did her undergraduate work at Georgetown University.