Dr. Sarah Summers teaches English, with expertise in rhetoric and composition, engineering communication, and digital writing. She has incorporated grant writing, social media, and visual rhetoric and graphic novels into new courses in the curriculum, actions supported by the Kern Family Foundation. Dr. Summers͛ research interests include advanced writing, collaborative writing, and online writing and civic participation.

Academic Degrees

  • BA, DePauw University, 2008
  • MA, Penn State University, 2010
  • PhD, Penn State University, 2014

Awards & Honors

  • Council of Writing Program Administrators Award, Graduate Writing in WPA Studies, 2014
  • Harold F. Martin Award (Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching), 2013

Publications & Presentations

  • “Building Expertise: The Toolkit in UCLA’s Graduate Writing Center,” Writing Center Journal 35.2, 117-146, 2016
  • Summers, S., Chenette, H., Ingram, E, McCormack, J., Cunningham, P., “Cross-Disciplinary Exploration and Application of Reflection as a High Impact Pedagogy,” InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching 11, 29-47, 2016
  • “Give Me the Giant Wedge Heels: Women and the New Superhero,” Women’s History Month Colloquium, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, 2016
  • “Reflection as Action: Reflective Writing in the STEM Classroom,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Austin, Texas, 2016
  • Summers, S. and Mendenhall, A., “Designing Research: Using Infographics to Teach Design Thinking in Composition,” Journal of Global Literacies, Technologies, and Emerging Pedagogies 3.1, 359-371, 2015
  • Summers, A. and Watt, A., “Quick and Dirty Usability Testing in the Technical Communication Classroom,” International Professional Communication Conference, Limerick, Ireland, 2015

Research Experiences

  • Collaborative writing practices, particularly in global and professional contexts
  • Writing practices of advanced undergraduate and graduate writers across the disciplines
  • Writing pedagogy

Teaching Interests

  • Technical and professional writing
  • Digital communication
  • Visual rhetoric
  • Disability studies
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