Curriculum vitae

Education

2017
PhD in English (Rhetoric and Composition; technical communication)
Certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Fall 2015
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL
 
Dissertation: Memes and 4chan and Haters, Oh My! Rhetoric, Identity, and Online Aggression
Committee: Jessica Reyman (chair); Michael Day; Kristen Myers
2011
​MA in English
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
​2008
BA in English
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

Academic Appointments

2017 - Present
Illinois State University, Assistant Professor of  Digital Rhetorics and Technical Communication
Affiliate Faculty status with Women's and Gender Studies

Publications

Published Manuscripts
2020

​Reyman, Jessica & Sparby, Erika M. (Eds.). Digital ethics: Rhetoric and responsibility in online aggression. New York: Routledge.
​Winner of the 2019 Computers and Composition Distinguished Book Award
​2016
Breastfeeding, authority, and genre: Women’s ethos in Wikipedia and blogs (with Alison Lukowski). In Establishing and Evaluating Digital Ethos and Online Credibility, pp. 329-347.
Accepted Manuscripts
Estimated Publication 2021


​
Estimated Publication 2022
​
Toward a feminist ethic of self-care and protection when researching digital aggression. Chapter accepted for Crystal VanKooten & Victor del Hierro (Eds.) Methods and Methodologies for Research in Digital Writing and Rhetoric. Colorado Springs: WAC Clearinghouse.

Reading mean comments to subvert gendered hate on YouTube: Toward a spectrum of digital aggression response. Article accepted for enculturation.
Cox, Courtney & Sparby, Erika M. Investigating disembodied risk in university crisis communications during COVID-19. Chapter accepted for Samuel Stinson & Mary Le Rouge (Eds.) Embodied Environmental Risk in Technical Communication: Local and Global Contexts.
​Manuscripts Under Review
​Estimated Publication 2021

Meming Misogyny at the political divide. Under review, invited submission for a special issue on digital rhetoric in the post truth age to be published through enculturation.

Bishop, Tiffany, Capan, Emily, Larsen, Brittany, Preston, Raven, & Sparby, Erika M. Tactical Technical Communication and COVID-19: Observations from Teaching and Learning about Risk Communication During a Pandemic. Revise and resubmit from Technical Communication Quarterly.
Manuscripts in Progress
Estimated completion 2021

Memetic Rhetorics: Building a Rhetorical Toolkit for Ethical Meming, book manuscript. Proposal under review at #writing (WAC Clearinghouse) and Digital Rhetoric Collaborative (University of Michigan Press)

Awards and Grants

National
2020
2019 Distinguished Book Award, Computers and Composition
​2018
2017 Hugh Burns Best Dissertation Award, Computers and Composition
2016
Gloria Anzaldúa Rhetorician Award, Conference on College Composition and Communication
Institutional
2020
​Nominated for the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching by a Pre-Tenured Faculty Member, ISU

Alice and Fannie Fell Trust (with Ela Przybylo), ISU, to fund “Podcasting Toward Social Change: Sound-Based Pedagogy and Scholarship”
 
Teaching Innovation Grant (with Ela Przybylo), CTLT/ISU, to fund “Developing Anti-Racist Pedagogies at ISU”
2019
Sigma Tau Delta Outstanding Faculty Member Award, ISU

Exceptional Teacher of the Year Award—Assistant Professor, ISU English department

Pre-Tenure Faculty Initiative Grant, ISU

​2017-2018 Outstanding Dissertation Award in Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, NIU

​Nominated for the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching by a Pre-Tenured Faculty Member, ISU
2018
New Faculty Initiative Grant, ISU

​Nominated for the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching by a Pre-Tenured Faculty Member, ISU
2017
New Faculty Startup Support, ISU

​Outstanding Women Student Award, NIU’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women
2016
Dr. Mary Sue Schriber Junior Scholar in Women’s Literature and Language Scholarship, NIU            ​
 
Director's Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award for Excellence in Teaching First-Year Composition, NIU 
​
Graduate Student Travel Grant, NIU
2015
Arnold B. Fox Graduate Research Writing Award (second place), NIU

Graduate Student Travel Grant, NIU
2014
Graduate Student Travel Grant, NIU

Presentations

National and International Conferences
2020
Ethically Engaging with Digital Activism and Digital Media. Roundtable accepted to Computers and Writing, Greenville, NC. (Conference was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
 
YouTube, Haters, and Reading Mean Comments: Testing a Rhetorical-Ethical Approach to Studying Online Aggression. Paper accepted to Conference on College Composition and Communication, Milwaukee, WI. (Conference was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic)

Memetic Critical Power Tools: Teaching an Ethic of Privacy and Identity for Memes in the Technical Communication Classroom. Paper accepted to the Association for the Teachers of Technical Writing Conference, Milwaukee, WI. (Conference was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
2019
Toward a Theory of Digital Aggression and Memetic Screens. Paper presented at Computers and Writing, June 2019, East Lansing, MI
 
Toward an Ethic of Self-Care and Protection When Researching Digital Aggression. Paper presented as part of a co-organized panel on “New Ethical Frameworks for Researching Digital Aggression” at Computers and Writing, June 2019, East Lansing, MI
 
Political Memes and the Party Divide: A Case Study of Kim Davis and Hillary Clinton Memes. Paper presented at the Digital Rhetoric/Digital Media in the Post-Truth Age symposium, March 2019, Tuscaloosa, AL
2018
Toward a Theory of Memetic Screens. Paper accepted to the Rhetoric Society of America Conference, June 2018, Minneapolis, MN (accepted, but was unable to attend because of family emergency)

Behind the Scenes of Digital Aggression Research: Identity, Method, Action, and Self-Care. Roundtable at Computers and Writing, May 2018, Fairfax, VA

When Trolls Become Technical Communicators: A Case Study of iOS8 and Wave. Paper presented at the Association for the Teachers of Technical Writing Conference, March 2018, Kansas City, KS
2017
​
Meming/Counter-Meming: Remixing Negative Memes to Deconstruct Stereotypes. Paper presented at the Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2017, Portland, OR
2016
Fake Geek Girl, Remixed: Resisting Negative Stereotypes through Counter-Memes. Paper presented at Cultural Rhetorics, October 2016, East Lansing, MI

Anonymity, Design, and Identification: The Rhetorical Construction of Identity on Digital Social Media. Paper presented at the Conference on College Composition and Communication, April 2016, Houston, TX
2015
​
Digitizing Analog Networks to Share and Reflect on Student Writing (with Michael Day, Alison Lukowski, and Dustin ​Marquis) Paper presented at Computers and Writing, May 2015, Menomonie, WI
2014
Where Do Women Work? Wikipedia, Blogs, and the Space of Authority (with Alison Lukowski). Paper presented at the Conference on College Composition and Communication Feminisms Workshop, April 2014, Indianapolis, IN
Invited Speaker
2020
Digital aggression: Research, experience, and policy. Invited participant for Leveled: Gendered online aggression and the move toward equality in the digital workplace, hosted by the University of Michigan IRWG program.
2019
Ethical meming—How can we meme inclusively? Invited keynote presentation at 2019 LangRhet Conference (University of Michigan). Ann Arbor, MI.
Workshops and Working Groups
2019
Digital Aggression Working Group, Computers and Writing, June 2019, East Lansing, MI

Indigenous Working Group, Rhetoric Society of America Project in Power, Place, and Publics, May 2019, Reno, NV
​
Local Speaking Invitations
2019
​Digital rhetorics and an ethic of responsibility in online aggression. ISU English Department’s faculty speaker series. November 2019, Normal, IL.

Online Aggression and What We Can Do About It (with Jessica Reyman), NIU STEM Cafe, March 2019, DeKalb, IL
2018
Presentation on methods and methodology used in my dissertation, for Bob Broad’s ENG 497 Research Methods in Composition Studies course at ISU, Spring 2018

Panelist at a roundtable about the first-year faculty experience, for ISU’s Graduate School, Spring 2018
2017
Meme/Counter-Meme: Remixing Negative Memes to Deconstruct Stereotypes, for the ISU Sigma Tau Delta initiation ceremony, Fall 2017
​
Panelist at the “Navigating the Writing Process” workshop, for ISU’s Graduate School, October 2017

Panelist at the “Preparing for the Job Market” workshop, for NIU’s English department, May 2017

Panelist at the “How do I get published?” workshop, for NIU’s Graduate School and Office of Research Compliance, April 6, 2017

Methods and Methodology in Rhetoric, for Courtney Gallaher's WOMS 630 Feminist Research course at NIU, March 22, 2016 and March 29, 2017
2016
​
Design, Ethos, and Identification: Memetic Identity Performance on Digital Social Media, for Jessica Reyman's ​ENGL 703 Seminar in Digital Rhetoric at NIU, March 29, 2016
2015
Eportfolio Integration, for First Friday Professional Development with NIU's First-Year Composition Program. ​February 13, 2015

FYComp Writing in the Domains (with Kelsey Williams), for NIU's First-Year Composition Retention Summit. January 9, 2015
2014



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"Integrating ePortfolios in the FYC Classroom." For First Friday Professional Development with NIU's First-Year Composition Program. October 6, 2014
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"Using Blogs in the Classroom." For First Friday Professional Development with NIU's First-Year Composition Program. ​​March 3, 2014

Professional Activities

Organizational Membership
Digital Aggression Working Group (DAWG) - Founder
Association for Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW)
Society of Technical Communication (STC)
Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC)
National Council of Teachers of English (NTCE)
Rhetoric Society of America (RSA)
Illinois State University
2018 - 2020
2017 - Present
2017 - Present
Co-Faculty Advisor, Rhetoric Society of America, ISU Chapter
Faculty Advisor, Nintendo Appreciation Club, ISU, 2018 - Presen
Faculty member, Rhetoric Society of America, ISU Chapter
Northern Illinois University
Fall 2016 - Spring 2017
Member, Digital Humanities Initiative
Fall 2016 - Spring 2017
Founding Member, Rhetoric Research Forum
2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Panel Moderator, Midwest Conference on Language, Literature, and Media, NIU
2012
First-Year Composition pedagogical training:
Week-long workshop and two-course sequence on teaching first-year composition courses and classroom visits from First-Year Composition administrators
2011
Editorial Staff for Style, Volume 46, Issues 3 and 4 (Fall/Winter 2012)
University of Colorado
2010
Certificate in College Teaching:
Certification through the Graduate Teacher Program of 20+ hours of pedagogy workshops, one semester of weekly pedagogy seminars, two video-taped consultations, and two recommendation letters of teaching excellence from home department

Teaching Experience

Illinois State University, 2017 - Present
Technical Writing I (ENG 249 | F2F and online)
​Rhetorical Theory and Application (ENG 283)
Technical Writing II (ENG 349 | F2F and online)
Visible Rhetorics (ENG 350)
Hypertext/Digital Rhetorics (ENG 351 | F2F and emergency remote)
Topics in Technical Writing: Technical Communication in the Zombie Apocalypse (ENG 451 | F2F and emergency remote)
Technology and English Studies (ENG 467)
Research Methods in Rhetoric and Composition (ENG 497)
Northern Illinois University, 2012 – 2017
Writing for Electronic Media (ENGL 424)  
Technical Writing (ENGL 308)   
Introduction to Rhetoric and Composition (ENGL 103) 
Introduction to Researched Writing in the Domains (ENGL 104/203)     
Introduction to the Basics of Grammar (ENGL 207, Teaching Assistant)
University of Colorado, 2009
Introduction to Literary Theory (ENGL 1010, Teaching Assistant)
Institute of Reading Development, Summer 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017; Fall 2015

Mentorship

​MA Students Mentored
In Progress
Raven Preston, thesis reader "Risky Business: Black and Indigenous Feminist Rhetorics of Risk Communication"
2020
2019
Nkeiruka Nwodobo, portfolio reader for "The Dynamics of Effective Usability in Technical Writing: A Portfolio in Professional Writing and Rhetoric"
Brittany Larsen, thesis advisor for "Gatekeeping Remix; Fandom Spaces and Identity Politics"
Sydney Klem, thesis advisor for Toward a Theory of Procedural Rhetorical Systems: Demonstrations of Player Agency in Uptake of Rules in Video Games"
Timothy Wyland, portfolio advisor for "A User Centered Participation Framework for Marketing"
PhD Students Mentored
In progress
Charles Woods, dissertation director for "​Interrogating Privacy Rhetorics on Genealogy Websites"
​Courtney Cox, dissertation committee member for "Defining Compulsory Academic Genres: A Feminist Rhetorical Interrogation of Required Institutional Practices"
Matthew Schering, dissertation committee member for "TBD"
Emily Capan, English studies exam advisor
Brittany Larsen, Teaching internship advisor
2020
​
2019
Charles Woods, specialization exam director and teaching internship advisor
Matthew Schering, teaching internship advisor
Teigha Van Hester, teaching internship advisor

Service

Professional
​Spring 2019
J​udge for Hugh Burns Dissertation Award
October 2018 – Present
Reviewer for Rhetoric Review
2019, 2020
Invited reviewer for conference proposals, Computers and Writing
2018, 2019, 2020
Invited reviewer for conference proposals, ATTW
Institutional
2015 - 2017
​Member, Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, NIU
​-  Media Intern, Spring 2015
Spring 2015
​​Participant in Illinois Regional Eportfolio Partnership (IREP), NIU
​IREP was an initiative to connect surrounding community colleges with NIU through a shared eportfolio system to allow students to easily transfer among colleges and to NIU
Department
​August 2020 - Present
​Department Faculty Status Committee, ISU (elected position)
August 2019 - May 2020
Graduate Studies Committee, ISU
August 2018 - May 2019 
Department Council, ISU (elected position)
August 2017 - May 2018
Professional Growth Committee, ISU
Fall 2017 - Spring 2018
Curriculum and course development for ENG 351, ISU
2013 - 2017
First-Year Composition Committee, NIU
​-  Assessment Subcommittee, 2013 – 2017
-  Textbook Subcommittee, 2013 – 2017
-  Eportfolio Assessment Leader, 2013 - 2017
-  Handbook Subcommittee, Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017
-  Working Conditions Subcommittee Chair, 2014 – 2017
-  Eportfolio Coordinator, 2014 – 2016
-  Showcase of Student Writing Subcommittee, 2013 – 2014, 2015 – 2017
2012 - 2013
Graduate Student Advisor for Sigma Tau Delta, Xi Delta, NIU
2009 - 2010
MA student-faculty liaison, University of Colorado
Fall 2008 
Reactivated Sigma Tau Delta, Alpha Iota Sigma, University of Colorado, Fall 2008
-  Graduate Student Advisor, Spring 2009 – Spring 2011
​-  President, Fall 2008 – Spring 2009