Wendy Olson
Associate Professor of English and Director of Composition and Writing Assessment
Departments:
Arts and Sciences
English
Professional Writing
Writing Assessment
wmolson@wsu.edu
Phone: (360) 546-9513
Located in Multimedia (VMMC) 102K
Office Hours: TBD
Support Staff: Annette Bradstreet
Education
- PhD in Rhetoric and Composition, Washington State University (2006)
- MA in English Studies, Western Washington University (1999)
- BA in Creative Writing, Northern Kentucky University (1997)
About Wendy Olson
I teach courses in academic writing, rhetoric, and American Studies. I also serve as the Director of Composition and oversee Writing Assessment on the Vancouver campus.
Research
Broadly conceived, my research interests center on how discourse operates in society and culture. I am most interested in the role rhetoric plays in both creating and mediating discourse as a meaning making process—that is as both epistemic and persuasive in character. Important in such cultural analyses is an understanding of not only rhetoric, but also the interrelations between the rhetorical and the material, an acknowledgment of the means by which rhetoric as meaning making is formed at the intersections of political, socio-cultural, historical, and economic conditions. Therefore, my theoretical approach often relies on political economy as well as rhetorical theory as a framework for developing analysis. More narrowly defined, my scholarship addresses two complementary and interdisciplinary areas of study: political economies of literacy and feminist rhetoric in contemporary popular culture.
Recent Publications
“Economies of Composition: Mapping Transnational Writing Programs in U.S. Community Colleges.” Transnational Writing Program Administration. Ed. David Martins. Provo: Utah State University Press, 2015. 289-306.
Linked Courses for General Education and Integrative Learning: A Guide for Faculty and Administrators. Eds. Margot Soven, Dolores Lehr, Siskanna Naynaha, and Wendy Olson. Sterling, VA: Stylus Press, 2012.
“Learning Communities in the New University.” With Siskanna Naynaha. Linked Courses for General Education and Integrative Learning: A Guide for Faculty and Administrators. Eds. Margot Soven, Dolores Lehr, Siskanna Naynaha, and Wendy Olson. Sterling, VA: Stylus Press, 2012. 151-166.
“The Politics of Pedagogy: The Outcomes Statement and Basic Writing.” The WPA Outcomes Statement: A Decade Later. Eds, Nicholas Behm, Gregory Glau, Deborah Holdstein, Duane Roen, and Edward M. White. Anderson SC: Parlor Press, 2012. 18-44.
“On the Institutionalization of Basic Writing.” Open Words: Access and English Studies (Fall 2009): 55-74.
“The Shape of a Mother’: Pregnancy, Motherhood, and Feminist Rhetoric in Cyberspace.” Rhizomes: Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge 19 (Summer 2009).
“Enlightenment Rhetoric in BtVS: The Ideological Implications of Buffy’s Worldview.” Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies 7.2 (Spring 2008).
Courses
Course ID | Title | Meeting Time | Location | Semester | Syllabus |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
English 100 | Basic Writing | ||||
English 101 | Introductory Writing | ||||
English 301 | Writing and Rhetorical Conventions | ||||
English 402 | Technical and Professional Writing | ||||
English 502 | Seminar in the Teaching of Writing: Contemporary Theories | ||||
English 532 | Teaching Writing to Nontraditional Students | ||||
English 597 | Literacy Theories and Practices in Composition Studies |