Ph.D. Students
Yemi Awotayo
Olayemi Awotayo is from Lagos, Nigeria. His research interests are in displacement and migration narratives, public rhetorics, and intercultural communication. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English, from the University of Lagos, and a master’s degree in Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture from Michigan Technological University. He has taught courses in First-year Writing, Public Speaking, and currently teaches Technical Writing while continuing his doctorate in Rhetoric and Writing.
Megan Bronson
Megan Bronson is a PhD student in the Rhetoric and Writing program.
Marissa Buccilli
Marissa Buccilli is a PhD student in the Rhetoric and Writing program.
Casey Cockrum
Casey Cockrum is a doctoral student pursuing her degree in Rhetoric and Writing hailing from Northeast, Tennessee. Her work primarily focuses on political rhetoric and fandoms, media literacy, and pop culture with concentrations in disability studies, affect theory, and sociopolitical theory. Alongside these interests, Casey also explores the rhetorical functions of horror literature, films, and video games to investigate the role of fear and marginalized peoples in modern society. In her down time, Casey enjoys spending time with her 5 dogs and husband, playing guitar, supporting the Tennessee Volunteers, and arguing with people on TV from the comfort of her couch.
Sarah Cozort
Sarah Cozort is in her fourth year of the PhD in rhetoric and writing studies and holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Memphis. Her primary research interests include history and theory of rhetoric and writing, cultural and queer rhetoric(s), and legal language (with a focus on the relationship between digital culture and the law). The working title of her dissertation is Rhetoric of Sex Work: Current Issues in Language, Law, and Policy, and her article, “Strict Fathers Who Tweet: Propaganda in the Age of Post-Truth,” is forthcoming in a collection of perspectives on post-truth in the field. She is the current assistant editor of the Journal of Forensic Vocational Analysis, as well as the incoming assistant editor of The Minnesota Review. Her creative work and cultural criticism have appeared in LARB, The Academy of American Poets (online), Maggot Brain (a Third Man Records quarterly), and Barely South, among other venues.
Shuvro Das
Shuvro Das is a PhD student from Manikganj, Bangladesh. He has completed his B.A. in English Literature and Language from Jahangirnagar University and M.A. in Rhetoric and Composition from Washington State University. His research interests include Immigration Rhetoric, Visa Policies, Cultural Rhetoric, Non-Western Rhetoric, Writing Program Administration, and Technical Communication. He has presented his work in RSA Computers and Writing, ATTW, CCCC, and PAMLA conferences. He believes is the healing power of words and storytelling. He loves cats and adores dogs. He likes mountains AND beaches. He is super close to his mother and sister. He is a big fan of Indian Classical Music. He dreams of owning a beach house someday.
Patrick Greene
Patrick Greene is a PhD student in the Rhetoric and Writing program.
John Hendrix
John Hendrix is a rhetorician, semiotician, syntax-adjuster, and compositeur from Gloucester, Virginia. He holds a BA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MA in English from East Carolina University.
Seyda Karagulle
Seyda (she/her) is an international student, teacher, and curious explorer who moved quite a bit around the world, until she finally settled in Blacksburg with her spouse shortly before a global pandemic. She earned her MA in English from Virginia Tech and was drawn to pursue her PhD studies there, driven by her fondness for both VT and Blacksburg. In her work, she is interested in language and writing pedagogies, ELL literacy, and intercultural communication. In life, she is particularly interested in food and finds immense joy in exploring new places to eat and experimenting with new recipes.
Sky King
Sky King is a PhD student in the Rhetoric and Writing program.
Gideon Kwawukumey
Gideon Kwawukumey is a PhD student in the Rhetoric and Writing program.
Lin Li
Lin Li was born and raised in China, and earned her M.A. in English language and literature from Xi’an International Studies University, China. She currently serves as a writing center tutor. Her research focuses on composition pedagogy. In her spare time, she enjoys the charm and calm brought by Chinese calligraphy and paintings. She was the third prize winner in her home county sponsored calligraphy competition at the age of 13. Her fine-brush bird-and-flower paintings were exhibited in Ginza, Tokyo,Japan in 2008.
Katie Long
Katie Long: avid gamer, swiftie, reader, writer, squishmallow collector, cat lover, and gel pen/planner aficionado. Born and raised in Southern OK, Katie loves the rain and stormy weather, as she believes it’s the best time to hunker down with a good book and that day’s drink of choice (usually a vanilla chai tea latte).
Sahajiya Nath
Sahajiya Nath is a Bengali scholar, currently pursuing her doctoral studies in the Rhetoric and Writing program. With diverse academic training in comparative literature, digital humanities, and technical communication, she thinks and writes about immigration rhetoric, transnational identities, human rights, social justice, accessibility, and storytelling. She believes in the Oxford comma.
Temitope Ojedele
Temitope Ojedele-Adejumo is a PhD student in the Rhetoric and Writing program. She is from Abeokuta, Ogun State, a south-west region of Nigeria, but grew up and schooled to her master's level in Lagos, Nigeria.
Prior to joining the RW PhD program at Virginia Tech, Temitope had worked as a PR executive at BBB Media, Lagos, where she created PR content for prestigious public brands. Her journey in academia kicked off in 2018, when her alma mater, the University of Lagos, offered to retain her as an assistant lecturer in the Department of English as the best graduating student of her set.
Although she started off as a literary scholar and is a published creative writer, Temitope's research interests have evolved as she continues her PhD journey in the field of rhetoric. Her research interests include transnational rhetorics, diasporic African rhetoric, non-western rhetorical traditions, user-centered communication design, and feminist rhetorics. Temitope’s scholarly work explores the complex dynamics of identity, culture, and power in global communication practices, focusing on the experiences and perspectives of African diaspora communities. She aims to contribute to the development of inclusive and equitable approaches to rhetoric and writing pedagogy that recognize and value diverse ways of knowing and communicating through her teaching and research.
Abigail Robinson
Abigail L. Robinson is from High Point, North Carolina. She holds an MA in English with a focus in Rhetoric and Composition from North Carolina State University. Her writing and research focuses on program administration, multimodality, and digital literacy.
Molly Ryan
Molly Ryan (she/her) graduated from Virginia Tech with her Masters in English in 2022. She is also a 2017 summa cum laude dual- concentration graduate of the English department. Broadly, Molly’s research investigates the theory and practice of composition pedagogies, the implementation of student-centered teaching across academic disciplines, and the formation of mentorship relationships within the field. Specifically, Molly explores the development of cross-campus pedagogical training programs, queer and empathy-forward practices in first-year writing, and the significance of pedagogy programming in the context of higher education policy. Molly was a cohort member of the 2023 Summer Writing Across the Curriculum Faculty Summer Institute, was selected and inducted as a Fellow in VTGrATE in 2023, and is a student representative in the Graduate School Honor Court. In the department, she is President of the English Graduate Student Organization (EGSO) and Chair of Rhetoric Club. Molly won the Hoffman Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching in 2023 and the Barbara Ellen Smith Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in 2022.
Julia Unger
Julia Unger grew up in Amherst, New Hampshire with four siblings and three cats. She received her Bachelor’s degree in English and Writing/Rhetoric in 2020 and her Master’s degree in English in 2023 from the University of Rhode Island. She is completing her PhD in Rhetoric at Virginia Tech, and her research focuses include digital rhetorics, feminist rhetorics, religious rhetorics, queer theory, and performance theory. In her spare time, she likes to watch horror movies, lift weights, hike on the beautiful NRV trails, and bake for her loved ones.