Students

Current Students

As you'll see from the profiles below, the doctoral students pursuing a designated emphasis in Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition Studies at UC Davis have a wide range of interests and expertise.

Wendah Alvarez (Native American Studies)
Ana Castellon (Education)
Chloe Crull (Education)
Garrett DeHond (Education)
Sanjana Dhamankar (Education)
Roxanne Elliott (Education)
Andrea Hernandez (Spanish)
Julia Houk (Education)
Beshara Kehdi (Cultural Studies)
Casey Manogue (Education)
Sophia Minnillo (Linguistics)
Mikenna Modesto (Education)
Sasha Osorio (Education)
Anna Peñaloza (Education)
Kirsten Schuhmacher (English)
Nick Stillman (English)
Sydney Sullivan (Education)

Wendah Alvarez

Email Address: wpalvarez@ucdavis.edu

Home Department: Native American Studies

Research Interests: Native American literature, poetry, social justice, humanizing research, indigenous pedagogies, language studies, poetic rhetorics, and genre writing

Education:

A.S. Nursing, Natural Science and Biological Science, Sierra College
A.A. in English and Humanities, Sierra College
B.A. in English with Minor in Native American Studies, UC Davis
M.A. in Native American Studies, UC Davis

Teaching Experience:

Teaching Assistant: UC Davis Winter and Spring Quarter SY 2017-18, NAS 01.
Associate Instructor: NAS 5 SY 2018-19.
Guest lecturer:
- Sierra College: Intro to Ethnic Studies
- UC Davis: NAS 188 and NAS 01 SQ 18.

Why did you choose the DE in Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition Studies?

I'm interested in the rhetorical moves in literature and how it has been used to perpetuate the diminutive perception of the oral tradition. With that being said, I am also interested in composition pedagogy that invites emerging English speaking students to write.

Ana Castellon

Email Address: acastellon@ucdavis.edu

Home Department: Education

Research Interests:

Chloe Crull

Email Address: cvcrull@ucdavis.edu

Home Department: Education

Research Interests: Writing centers, peer tutors, writing pedagogy

Education: B.A., English, UC Berkeley, 2022

Garrett DeHond

Email Address: gdehond@ucdavis.edu

Home Department: School of Education

Research interests: Second language writing, feedback and revision, first-year composition, technology and writing

Education:
B.A., English; Temple University, 2003
M.Ed., Education, TESOL; Turabo University @ Penn State - Abington, 2012

Teaching Experience:

K-12 ESL, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, South Korea (2007 - 2009)
7-12 English Language Arts, School District of Philadelphia (2009 - 2012)
University Writing Program, UC Davis (2013 - 2014)
Institute for Language Education and Research, SeoulTech (2014 - Present)

Why did you choose the DE in Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition?
Second language writing in first-year composition is my chief research interest here at UCD. The WRACS DE allows for multidisciplinary exposure to both theory and practice within my interest areas. I also feel fortunate to be surrounded by brilliant minds in the faculty and graduate student body associated with WRACS, both of which will be valuable assets for developing my academic career.

Sanjana Dhamankar

Email Address: ssdhamankar@ucdavis.edu

Home Department: Education

Research Interests: Argumentation in science writing, STEM education, Biology.

Education:

Roxanne Elliott

Email Address: rmelliott@ucdavis.edu

Home Department: Education

Research Interests: Second language writing

Education:

MA in Translation & MA in TESOL
Middlebury Institute of International Studies, Monterey, CA
BA in Foreign Languages & Art History
Scripps College, Claremont, CA

Andrea Hernandez

Email Address: ndhernandez@ucdavis.edu

Home Department: Spanish

Research Interests: Spanish linguistics, second language writing, heritage speakers, language pedagogy.

Julia Houk

Email Address: jghouk@ucdavis.edu

Home Department: Education

Research Interests: Arts education, drama, writing pedagogies, visual rhetorics

Beshara Kehdi

Email Address: bwkehdi@ucdavis.edu

Home Department: Cultural Studies

Research Interests: Arab American history, third world student and social movements, ethnic studies education, curricula and teaching training, digital media production and literacies

Education:

Critical Languages Scholarship-Tangier, Morocco, Arabic, 2019
City College of San Francisco- Audio and Video for the Web Certificate, 2016
Middlebury Language Schools- Summer Intensive Arabic Program, 2015
B.A. University of Oregon, Eugene OR- History and Comparative Literature, Minors: Political Science and Religious Studies, 2012
Oxford Seminars, Eugene, OR- TESOL/TESL/TEFL Certification, 2012

Teaching Experience: Global History, Asian American Cultural Studies, Asian American History, History of Childhood in America, Film Studies and Filmmaking, Arab and Asian American Media Justice, and more.

Why did you choose the DE in Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition? When I came to UC Davis, I wanted to find a program that paired both practical training with useful conceptual frameworks to help me use and think about writing as a tool for liberation. WRaCS allowed me to take classes I was passionate about, meet and work with amazing faculty, and get credit for a sub-speciality all in one.