Conference Talks (links open as .doc files)

"Forgetting to Remember: Keeping Tabs on Digital Memory." Rhetoric Society of America, Minneapolis, Minnesota. May 2010.

"Memory: Techne, Technology, and Remembering." Conference on College Composition and Communication, Louisville, Kentucky. March 2010.

"Decoding Kryptos and the Failure of Human/Machine Interaction."   Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Atlanta, Georgia. November 2009.  

"Viva Whenever: Suspended and Expanded Bodies in Time."  Computers and Writing, Davis, California, June 2009. 

"Investigating Suspension: Body Expansion and Time Creation." Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Charlotte, North Carolina, November 2008.

"A Page of One's Own: Investigating Hyper-Gendered Blogging." Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender, Nashville, Tennessee, October 2008.

“Linking Up: Blogging and Ethical Self-Consciousness.” Rhetoric Society of America, Seattle, Washington, May 2008.

“Blogging Butler: Digital Sex Versus Digital Gender.” Computers and Writing, Detroit, Michigan, May 2007.

Major Areas of Interest

Memory Studies

History of Rhetoric

Critical and Rhetorical Theory

Digital Media

Qualifying Exam List (PDF)

Dissertation and Research Summary

Making Memory: Techne, Technology, and the Refashioning of Contemporary Memory

Value of Research Specialization
Because the frequency of portable and user-friendly technologies in the marketplace will continue to increase dramatically, there is a growing need in academia to critically engage with such devices.  As a rhetorician, I look at information technologies as a way to promote persuasive techniques by expanding the possibilities to form new sites of argumentation, to understand issues from several perspectives, and to communicate more efficiently and effectively through the technologies themselves.

Argument of Dissertation
The growing quantity of external memory devices (e.g., flash drives, iPods, Google Docs) should prompt rhetoricians to examine whether these available means affect rhetorical memory. I argue that my interpretation of techne suggests possibilities for the creation and production of new types of memories in conjunction with digital media.  I define techne three ways: as a process that is inherently productive; as a force that renegotiates sources of power; and as a skill that balances expert knowledge with instrumentality.  My dissertation explores new possibilities for contemporary memory by arguing that memory is a persuasive construct by examining digital archives and photo manipulation.

Contribution of Dissertation
My research introduces questions about the ways we use technologies to supplement our daily activities.  This allows me to interrogate the benefits and consequences of supplemental technologies while examining the new contributions memory can make in reading and writing activities.  I have found that constructing the classroom as a multimodal space by implementing social networking (e.g., Wikis, blogs) increases student participation and practical application.

Relevance to Future Research
One future project will look at the intersection of biological memory and digital memory by investigating network theory. During my dissertation research, I became heavily interested in network theory and the forms of control established by the combination of techne and memory.  Examining internal and external networks of memory will introduce new perspectives on rhetorical emergence, specifically how technologies enable remembrance via accessibility and search rankings. 

Chapter Descriptions
Chapter 1: How Memory Got its Groove Back
In Chapter One, I begin by reviewing how memory has been employed since its characterization as one of the five canons.  Starting with Plato’s “Phaedrus” and ending with Merlin Donald’s Origins of the Modern Mind and Collin Gifford Brooke’s Lingua Fracta, my thorough treatment of memory illustrates that even though memory has persisted through the centuries, it has not been properly adapted as a foundation of rhetoric for use in connection with information technologies. 

Chapter 2: Techne – Three Ways
Chapter Two is a critical exploration of techne as well as an argument that states how techne and memory should be thought of as complimentary forces.  New technologies afford users the possibilities to create and replicate memories, thus understanding techne as a characteristic of digital memory is critical for contemporary rhetorical practices. In this chapter, I define techne in three ways: as a process that is inherently productive; as a force that renegotiates sources of power; and as a skill that balances expert knowledge with instrumentality.