Graduates with the Designated Emphasis in Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition Studies have gone on to a range of related careers.
| Name | Affiliated Program | Year | Dissertation | Dissertation Committee | Current Employment/Occupation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabina Simon | Education | 2024 | A Portrait of a Community College Post AB 705: Investigating Ideologies and Experiences of Students, Faculty and Staff | Dana Ferris (Chair, UWP); Kory Ching (UWP); Vai Ramanathan (Linguistics) | Assistant Professor of English as a Second Language (ESL) at American River College (ARC) |
| Jason Hockaday | Native American Studies | 2024 | Belonging: A feminist rhetorical analysis of themes that have come up during the early grassroots of Konomihu music reMatriation, 2019-2024. | Jessica Bissett Perea (Chair, NAS); Inés Hernández-Ávila (NAS); Justin Spence (NAS) | Applying for positions |
| Jennifer Burke Reifman | Education | 2024 | The Lies We Tell about Writing Placement: Countering Normative Understandings of Agency in Self-Placement Practices | Trish Serviss (Chair, UWP); Jennifer Higgs (Education); Danny Martinez (Education); Dan Melzer (UWP); Carl Whithaus (UWP) | Assistant Professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies at San Diego State University |
| Shelley Dykstra | Spanish | 2023 | Writing Anxiety and Enjoyment in University Spanish as a Second and Heritage Language Learners | Agustina Carando, (Chair, Spanish); Claudia Sánchez-Gutiérrez (Spanish); Vaidehi Ramanathan (Linguistics) | Multilingual Support Specialist at the California Department of Education (CDE) |
| Amy Lombardi | Education | 2022 | Hidden in Plain Sight? The Effects of Content-Evaluative Stance Markers on Readers’ Attitudes and Perception of Author Stance in Persuasive Text | Dana Ferris (Chair, UWP); Vaidehi Ramanathan (Linguistics); Laura Aull (University of Michigan) | Media Analyst at Ads Fontes Media |
| Dani Ahuicapahtzin Cornejo | Native American Studies | 2022 | Confronting Erasure: Educational Challenges and Interventions that Empower Intertribal Youth in the Bay Area | Liza Grandia (Chair, NAS); Ines Hernandez-Avila (NAS); Dan Melzer (UWP) | Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at Diablo Valley College |
| Stacy Wittstock | Education | 2022 | Reflections in Funhouse Mirrors: Using Institutional Ethnography to Understand Constructions of "Remediation" in a Basic Writing Program | Trish Serviss (Chair, UWP); Cynthia Carter Ching (Education); Kory Ching (UWP); Dan Melzer (UWP) | Assistant Professor-in-Residence, Department of English, UNLV |
| Sophia Bamert | English | 2021 | Plotting Race: Narrative Form and Urban Racial Geographies
| Hsuan Hsu (Co-Chair, English); Matthew Stratton (Co-Chair, English); Mark Jerng (English) | Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in the Engagements Core Curriculum at the University of Virginia |
| Diana Recouvreur | Education | 2021 | Building Pathways in California’s Corrections to Education Pipeline: Striving Towards Sustainability at California Community Colleges | Michal Kurlaender (Chair, Education); Gloria Rodriguez (Education); Rebekka Andersen (UWP) | Education Program Consultant |
| DJ Quinn | Education | 2020 | Passion, Compassion, and Professionalization: A Digital Ethnography of Online Professional Development for Faculty Teaching Writing-Intensive Courses | Carl Whithaus (Chair, UWP); Dan Melzer (UWP); Jennifer M. Higgs (Education) | Lecturer, University Writing Program, UC Davis |
| Alexandria Rockey | Education | 2020 | The Ecology of Feedback in an Online STEM Course | Carl Whithaus (Chair, UWP); Dana Ferris (UWP); Rebekka Andersen (UWP) | Instructional Designer, Bakersfield College |
| David Coad | Education | 2019 | Teaching Rhetorical Strategies through Social Media: A Qualitative Study of FYC Instructors and Students | Carl Whithaus (Chair, UWP); Cynthia Carter Ching (Education); Amber Buck (University of Alabama) | Lecturer, Department of English, Santa Clara University |
| Becky Kling | English | 2019 | Civil Ghosts: Transatlantic (Il)literacy and Personhood | Elizabeth Miller (Chair, English); Kathleen Frederickson (English); Mark Jerng (English) | Lecturer, Department of English & Comparative Literature, San Jose State University |
| Aaron Lanser | Education | 2019 | Community and Identity in the Academic Borderlands: Digital Underlife Among First Generation College Student Writers | Carl Whithaus (Chair, UWP); Dana Ferris (UWP); Chris Thaiss (UWP) | Lecturer, English Department, Cal State Stanislaus |
| Tori White | Comparative Literature | 2019 | Petrarchizing Genders and Genres in English, Italian and Spanish Literatures | Margaret Ferguson (Co-chair, English), Juliana Schiesari (Co-chair, Italian and Comparative Literature), Frances Dolan (English), and Michael Subialka (Comparative Literature) | Coordinator for Success Coaching and Learning Strategies, Office of Educational Opportunity and Enrichment Services (OEOES), UC Davis |
| Michele Zugnoni | Education | 2019 | Encouraging Empowerment Through Expression: Creation of a Self-Reflective Writing Group for First-Generation College Students | Chris Thaiss (Chair, UWP); Carl Whithaus (UWP); Nancy Pearsall (UWP) | Assistant Professor of Instruction, Northwestern University |
| Matthew Zajic | Education | 2018 | Assessing Attention and Engagement During Writing in High-Functioning, School-Age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder | Peter Mundy (Chair, Education); Christopher Thaiss (UWP); Megan Welsh (Education); Steve Graham (Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University) | Assistant Professor, Teachers College, Columbia University |
| Katie Evans | Education | 2017 | Engaging undergraduate writers: A study of motivational dynamics in the second language writing classroom | Dana Ferris (chair, UWP); Vaidehi Ramanathan (Linguistics); Chris Thaiss (UWP) | Lecturer, University Writing Program, UC Davis |
| Kendon Kurzer | Education | 2017 | Writing in Economics Classes: Departmental Practices and Multilingual Student Challenges | Dana Ferris (chair, UWP); Chris Thaiss (UWP); Michelle Cox (Cornell University) | Lecturer, University Writing Program, UC Davis |
| Kenya Mitchell | Education | 2017 | The Deleted Drafts | Chris Thaiss (chair, UWP); Paul Heckman (Education); Mary Soliday (San Francisco State) | Academic Writing Consultant at The Dissertation Lab |
| Manuel Senna | Education | 2017 | Variations in Support for Second Language Writers: Lessons from Top International Student Destinations | Dana Ferris (chair, UWP); Carl Whithaus (UWP); Chris Thaiss (UWP) | EFL Lecturer at Fukuoka University, Japan |
| Katherina Sibbald | Education | 2017 | Tyranny in the Mirror: Critical Reflections on Literary Talk with High School Juniors in Writing Conferences | Kerry Enright (chair, Education); Steven Athanases (Education); Sarah Perrault (UWP); Danny Martinez (Education) | Adjunct Professor, English and Education, Sonoma State University |
| Rusty Bartels | Cultural Studies | 2016 | War Memories, Imperial Ambitions: Commemorating WWII in the U.S. Pacific National Park System | Robyn Rodriguez (chair, Asian American Studies); Caren Kaplan (American Studies); Sarah Perrault (UWP) | Assistant Teaching Professor in Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition at Syracuse University |
| Jenae Cohn | English | 2016 | The Books that Bind Us: Remediation of the Printed Book as Social Practice in the 21st Century | Carl Whithaus (co-chair, UWP); Evan Watkins (co-chair, English); John Marx (English) | Executive Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, UC Berkeley |
| Michal Reznizki | Education | 2016 | Doctoral Preparation in Rhetoric and Composition: Understanding Postsecondary Teacher Education | Dana Ferris (chair, UWP); Christopher Thaiss (UWP); James Jerry Murphy (English) | Lecturer, UC Berkeley |
| Mary K. Stewart | Education | 2016 | Interactive Learning in Technology-Mediated First-Year Composition Courses: A Grounded Theory Study of Small Group Discussion and Peer Review | Carl Whithaus (chair, UWP); Chris Thaiss (UWP); Rebekka Andersen (UWP) | Associate Professor of Literature and Writing Studies, Cal State San Marcos |
| Hogan Hayes | Education | 2015 | Mapping the Writing Resources Present as Students Transition into Upper Division Course Work in the Biological Science | Dana Ferris (chair, UWP); Carl Whithaus (UWP); Lee Martin (Education) | Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Composition in the English Department at Sacramento State University |
| Kelsey Krausen | Education | 2015 | District Leadership and the Politics of Portfolio Management in an Urban School District | Thomas Timar (co-chair, Education); Michal Kurlaender (co-chair, Education); Carl Whithaus (UWP) | Senior Research Associate, WestEd, Comprehensive School Assistance Program |
| Tara Porter | Education | 2015 | Success and Sustainability of Writing-across-the-Curriculum Programs | Chris Thaiss (chair, UWP); Carl Whithaus (UWP); Dan Melzer (UWP) | Self-employed, Web Developer |
| Grant Eckstein | Linguistics | 2014 | Ideal versus Reality: Student Expectations and Experiences in Multilingual Writing Center Tutorials | Dana Ferris (chair, UWP); Vai Ramanathan (Linguistics); Chris Thaiss (UWP) | Associate Professor & Associate Chair, Department of Linguistics and English Language, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah |
| Sarah Klotz | English | 2014 | Sentimental Literacies: Grief, Writing, and American Indigenous Rights | Carl Whithaus (co-chair, UWP); Mark Jerng (co-chair, English); Hsuan Hsu (English) | Associate Professor & Director of Rhetoric and Composition, English Department, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts |
| Miki Mori | Linguistics | 2014 | Negotiating Ownership when Incorporating Outside Sources: A Qualitative Study with Multilingual Undergraduate Students | Julia Menard-Warwick (chair, Linguistics); Dana Ferris (UWP); Vai Ramanathan (Linguistics) | Associate Professor of Linguistics at the Centre Universitaire de Formation et Recherche (CUFR) de Mayotte |
| Aparna Sinha | Education | 2014 | Exploring Directed Self Placement as a Placement Alternative for First year College Students in Writing Classe | Chris Thaiss (chair, UWP); Carl Whithaus (UWP); Karen Watson-Geogeo (Education); Kory Ching (UWP) | Associate Professor, Culture and Communication, CSU, Maritime Academy |
| Joanna W. Wong | Education | 2014 | What to Write: Elementary Bilingual Students Writing in a Second Language | Christian Faltis (chair, Education); Dana Ferris (UWP); Karen Watson-Gegeo (Education) | Associate Professor & Elementary Education Program Coordinator, Department of Education and Leadership in the College of Education, California State University, Monterey Bay |
| Juliet Michelsen Wahleithner | Education | 2013 | High School Teachers’ Instruction of Writing: Negotiating Knowledge, Student Need, and Policy | Steve Athanases (chair, Education); Carl Whithaus (UWP); Michal Kurlaender (Education) | Associate Professor, Literacy, Kremen School of Education & Human Development, CSU Fresno & Co-Director, San Joaquin Valley Writing Project |
| Betsy Gilliland | Education | 2012 | Talking about writing: Culturally and linguistically diverse adolesecents' socialization inot academic literacy | Kerry Enright (chair, Education); Dana Ferris (UWP); Chris Faltis (Education) | Associate Professor & Undergraduate Chair, Department of Second Language Studies, University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa |
| Linda Florence Matheson | Comparative Literature | 2012 | Divinely Attired | Brenda Schildgen (chair, Comparative Literature) and Susan Kaiser (Textiles & Clothing/Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies) | Retired as a Lecturer in Comparative Literature & Textiles & Clothing, UC Davis |
| Shannon Pella | Education | 2012 | A Situative Perspective on Developing Writing Pedagogy in a Teacher Professional Learning Community | Chris Thaiss (chair, UWP); Christian Faltis (Education); Karen Watson-Gegeo (Education) | Assistant Professor, English Language Development and Bilingual/Biliteracy in Secondary Education. College of Education: Teaching Credentials, Sacramento State University |
| Brenda Rinard | Education | 2010 | The Persuasive and Evaluative Essays of Adolescent English Learners: How Context Shapes Genre | Chris Thaiss (chair, UWP); Kerry Enright (Education); Dana Ferris (UWP) | Continuing Lecturer, University Writing Program, UC Davis |