This page showcases three projects that I completed during my time in the Master’s in English Studies program at Arizona State University. While the aims and purposes of these projects vary, each of them presents different professional and academic skills that I have gained in graduate school.
EcoMedia Presentation: Air Travel in the Anthropocene
This presentation was completed for an EcoMedia assignment in Dr. Joni Adamson’s English 598: Environmental Humanities course. It addresses the problems associated with air travel’s role in climate change and globalization through the lens of the Anthropocene. In the presentation, I analyze Vox Media’s 2020 video “Is it Wrong to Fly?” from an environmental humanities perspective to uncover the complexities of popular environmental rhetoric. This video provides an example of my presentation and design skills, as well as my research in the environmental humanities.
PEN Project Open Letter
In spring 2022 I was an intern for the PEN Project, where I provided remote writing instruction to inmates incarcerated in New Mexico corrections facilities. At the end of the project, I wrote an open letter to the incarcerated participants in the PEN Project, expressing my gratitude for their creativity, perseverance, and the opportunity for pedagogical practice. This letter shows my enthusiasm for instructing marginalized populations and the influence of my work outside of research and the academic sphere. It also shows my commitment to the public humanities and English Studies praxis.
Annotated Bibliography: Composition Studies and Disability Studies
This paper, written for Dr. Patricia Webb’s course English 552: Composition Studies, provides an example of my skills in completing annotated bibliographies. It considers the intersection between composition studies and disability studies, approaching this disciplinary interchange from the perspectives of pedagogy and rhetoric. Arguing for more inclusivity within English Studies, this annotated bibliography also provides a starting point for understanding the role of disability in rhetoric and composition.
Kathleen Swain 