Graduate School Newsblog

Tag: Rhetoric Theory and Culture

Finishing Fellowship- Spring 2025- Elizabeth Novotny

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Elizabeth Novotny, PhD in Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture

I began my PhD in Fall 2020 in the Department of Humanities interdisciplinary Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture program. Through my position as a Graduate Teaching Instructor, I quickly discovered my passion for teaching. At Michigan Tech, I have taught First-Year Composition and other writing courses, such as Advanced Composition and Technical and Professional Communication. I have also served as Assistant Director of our Composition Program.

These experiences led me to specialize in writing studies and my research focuses on the needs of student writers. My dissertation is a classroom research project that investigates how students conceptualize their agency as writers and how this impacts their writing practice. I designed lessons that introduced students to ways of thinking about agency and collected student work throughout a semester, which I analyze through holistic and longitudinal coding to determine the changes in student conceptions of their agency and the effect this has on their writing.

I am very grateful to receive this Doctoral Finishing Fellowship and extend my thanks to the Graduate School and the donors who make this fellowship possible. The time to focus on my research will be invaluable. I also want to thank my advisor, Oren Abeles, and committee members Holly Hassel and Jennifer Nish for consistently going above and beyond to support me and my work.

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Finishing Fellowship- Spring 2025- Kendall Belopavlovich

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Kendall Belopavlovich, PhD in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture

I’ve been a Husky since 2014, when I started at Michigan Tech as an undecided undergraduate major. Upon finding my way in my first year to the Communication, Culture, and Media program I knew I found a place where I truly fit in. Since then, I’ve been interested in research and was told by several of my faculty mentors that I’d be a good fit for graduate school. I’m so grateful to those folks for introducing me to the idea, because that’s exactly what I wanted! I started my Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture degree in 2020 and have been honored to do the work I’m passionate about.

My dissertation, ““The Animated Frontier: Fluctuations of Power Across Time and Space in Flows of U.S. and Japanese Animated Media“, is a critique of the historical and contemporary relationship between the U.S., Japan, and their marginalized Others through the lens of animation. In addition to this project, I’ve been able to publish several journal articles and book chapters on various critiques of animation, related to queer studies and Indigenous studies. I currently serve as the Indigenous Studies area chair for the Midwest Popular Culture Association conference. I have also had the privilege of working with folks in the CFRES college on projects related to sustainability ethics. In all of the work I’ve done thus far in my degree, I’m grateful for the support, guidance, and mentorship I’ve received from countless people.

I especially want to thank my advisor, Stefka Hristova. Without her support, encouragement, and kindness, I don’t think I’d be able to finish this work. In addition, I’d like to thank my committee, my cohort, and my research partners for their motivation, guidance, and collaboration. Finally, I’d like to thank the Graduate School for their generous fellowship, and for believing in my work. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to finish my degree!

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship – Summer 2024 Recipient – Brilynn Janckila

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Brilynn Janckila indoors
Brilynn Janckila – Rhetoric, Theory and Culture

My PhD journey began at Michigan Tech began in August 2020 in the Department of Humanities. Although it was difficult to find my footing while feeling so isolated in a new place, the Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture program welcomed me with open arms. This program, the faculty and staff, and especially my connection to my committee, has shaped my growth as a scholar, teacher, and learner. As a girlhood studies scholar, my research has focused primarily on how the figure of the girl is created—both through media and toys and by girls themselves. In other projects or coursework at Michigan Tech, I’ve focused on feminist methodologies, fan culture, dollhouses, social justice and usability in technical communication, interdisciplinary curriculum, and writing program or writing center administration. Through the support of my advisor, I received the G. Rollie Adams Research Fellowship at The Strong Museum of Play to study dollhouses, girls, and play at their library.

My dissertation explores how girls aged 5-9 view teen girls, and what they think of becoming teen girl. Themes from focus groups include girls’ maturity and self-expression. My study also reviews the Barbie Vlogs and analyzes themes evident throughout the series, including self-expression, self-disclosure, and friendship. This project offers a methodological contribution to girlhood studies and importantly considers little girls’ opinions and ideas. The discussion of media for girls and how media impacts them is largely adult-mediated and I endeavor to begin to recover the voice of girls and ask what they are actually doing with the media and toys they engage with.

I want to give a heartfelt thank you to my committee, Sarah Bell, Patricia Sotirin, and Andrew Fiss, for their support, knowledge, and guidance throughout this project. I also want to thank the Graduate Dean Awards Advisory Panel for granting me this award—according to other scholars, this dedicated time to write will be one of the most exciting and fruitful times of my life!

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship – Spring 2024 Recipient – Basanti Timalsina

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Basanti Timalsina standing in the midst of many tree trunks
Bisanti Timalsina – Rhetoric Theory and Culture

My PhD journey at Michigan Tech began in August 2019 in the Department of Humanities. The interdisciplinary Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture program has uniquely shaped not only my learning, research, and teaching but also my values and identity as an international, interdisciplinary scholar. As a communication and media studies scholar, my research primarily focuses on the connection between digital media and visual culture, centering around cultural practices, interactions between media and society, the influence of media on shaping ideologies and discourse, and the affordances of new media technology in creative reworking and adaptations in digital activism works.

My dissertation examines the active, purposeful, and consistent use of media tools and rhetorical protest strategies, and their roles and impacts in the context of the Indian farmers’ protest movement of 2020-2021. My study also engages in social media content analysis, establishing connections between the narrative formation, visual representation, and protest mobilization, from a rhetorical, discourse, and social justice perspective. The knowledge and experience I have gained during my time at Michigan Tech have helped me in becoming a better scholar in understanding, examining, and analyzing socio-cultural complexities.

I want to extend my gratitude to the Graduate School, Graduate Dean Awards Advisory Panel, and dean for this fellowship. I am also thankful to my advisor, Dr. Stefka Hristova, for her continuous guidance and support.

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Distinguished Dissertation Award – Summer 2023 – Marina Choy

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I received my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Toulouse Jean Jaures, in France, before joining the Rhetoric, Theory and Culture doctoral program at Michigan Tech in 2017. During the last stages of my dissertation in Fall 2022, I began working as a full-time faculty member and Writing Center manager at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology near Albuquerque, NM. I am now in the midst of moving to Baltimore, MD to start a new position at Johns Hopkins University in Fall 2023.

My dissertation, “Articulating Nationalism through the “Problem of Immigration:” the Case of Foreign Unaccompanied Minors in France” examines how far-right nationalist logics and discourses permeate and articulate the system of protection of foreign unaccompanied minors in France, in the recent context of the so-called European “migrant crisis.” In-depth interviews with child welfare social workers revealed that the very structure and design of the system of protection of foreign minors, articulated through cultural and political perspectives hostile to (im)migration, compromises the protection and chances of integration of this group from the get-go. This case study illustrates national institutional responses to contemporary migration events, and explores the articulation of the question of immigration as a driving force of contemporary nationalism.

I am deeply grateful for my dissertation advisor, Dr. Patricia Sotirin, who has mentored and supported me through my PhD journey and beyond. I would also like to thank my co-advisor Dr. Jennifer Slack, whose feedback was always immensely helpful and critical to my progress, and Dr. Andy Fiss, for his endorsement and support with several professional projects. Thank you all for your support and for endorsing this nomination.

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship – Summer 2023 Recipient – Laura Vidal Chiesa

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I first joined MTU in Fall of 2017 as a Masters student in the Humanities Department. In Spring of 2019, I successfully defended my MS project and that following Fall semester, I rejoined the Rhetoric, Theory and Culture program as a PhD student.

In my dissertation, “The Unappreciated and Disposable Wife”: Liminality, Emotional Labor and Feminization in Graduate Student Writing Program Administrators”, I explore the systemic, structural, and rhetorical factors that contribute to the marginalization, feminization, and emotional labor burden required for graduate students in Writing Program Administrator positions (gWPAs). My study has the following goals: First, by interviewing fellow graduate students, I aim to document and compile stories of those who have experience in Writing Program Administration (WPA) in order to model what that experience looks like in the US college context. Second, to understand what emotional labor means in this kind of position and its implications for those involved. Third, to understand the conditions of the precarity of this kind of labor, particularly in the context of feminization. Ultimately, I suggest interventions that would make WPA work more equitable for graduate students who seek to gain administrative experience prior to graduation. This work draws from and contributes to scholarship in disciplines such as rhetoric and composition, feminism and gender studies, and organizational communication.

My experience at Michigan Tech has been quite a journey, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my advisor, Dr. Marika Seigel, who helped me realize what my true passion was: teaching. I would also like to thank the rest of my committee, Dr. Patricia Sotirin, Dr. Laura K. Fiss & Dr. Laura R. Micciche, your feedback has been essential for my progress. This PhD degree wouldn’t have been possible without the support and encouragement of my family, my friends (in Houghton, Montevideo & Argentina), and my partner Kevin, thank you for being there unconditionally.

Last but not least, I am extremely grateful to the Graduate Dean Awards Advisory Panel and the Graduate School for awarding me the Finishing Fellowship during the final period of completing and defending my dissertation.

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship – Spring 2023 Recipient – John Velat

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I returned to Michigan Tech for graduate studies in 2000 and soon started working as a staff researcher for Michigan’s Local Technical Assistance Program and later director of the Eastern Tribal Technical Assistance Program, two federally sponsored transportation research and technology transfer programs in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. I eventually left Michigan Tech as an employee but have continued work on my dissertation while developing a successful freelance technical communicator career. For the last 22 years I juggled work and family while chipping away at a masters in Rhetoric and Technical Communication and PhD in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture. 

Working in transportation may seem like a long way from the humanities, but transportation is a truly human endeavor. Unfortunately, one impact of transportation systems on humans (and non-humans) is a staggering toll of injuries and lives lost due to motor vehicle crashes. In 2020, nearly 39,000 people were killed in crashes in the US, and over 1.3 million people die annually in traffic-related crashes worldwide. Those most affected in the US are young rural and tribal people: A young American Indian or Alaska Native is 2-5 times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than the average American. Addressing this ongoing tragedy became my passion.

My research examines how we collect, analyze, and communicate risk, especially risk related to transportation. I have applied this research to help the most vulnerable populations—rural and tribal people in the US—understand transportation risk and safety in their own communities. By teaching people with few resources and knowledge how to evaluate and communicate risk in their own communities, local, non-experts can take steps to understand and mitigate risks from transportation and any other natural or anthropogenic causes. This work affected me so deeply that I even decided to become an EMT, firefighter, and EMT instructor so that I could directly apply this research and teach others how to understand and mitigate risk.

I am grateful to the many faculty and advisors who have worked with me in a decades-long education path at Michigan Tech, and especially thankful to my committee—Dr. Karla Kitalong, Dr. Andrew Fiss, Dr. Marika Seigel, and Dr. Melissa Baird—who have helped me stay committed to this work through a very difficult time for them and me in the past few years. I also thank the Graduate Dean Awards Advisory Panel for recognizing and supporting my unusual and drawn-out educational path with an award that will help me focus on completing my dissertation and degree. Last, but definitely not least, I thank my family for supporting me while I’ve always had too much on my plate! I look forward to continuing to learn and apply my education and research in our own community and to sharing this experience with others to help them live and thrive in communities large and small.

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Laura Vidal-Chiesa Inducted Into AAC&U Future Leaders Society

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Department of Humanities Ph.D. candidate Laura Vidal-Chiesa (rhetoric, theory, and culture) has been inducted into the American Association of Colleges and Universities Future Leaders Society. The honor was presented at the AAC&U Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, on Jan. 18-20.

According to AAC&U’s website: “The Inductees into the AAC&U Future Leaders Society share a profound commitment to high-quality teaching and learning, equity, and community engagement.” Membership includes access to “unique, cross-disciplinary opportunities for professional development, networking, and mentorship” as well as training and development resources for future educators.

Read more at the Humanities News, Features, and Other Updates blog.

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship – Spring 2022 Recipient – Modupe Yusuf

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I am currently a PhD candidate in the Rhetoric, Theory and Culture (RTC) program of the Department of Humanities. My research is situated at the intersection of discourse studies, technical communication and rhetoric of health and medicine. In my dissertation, I examine the discourses surrounding the adoption and implementation of ICT-driven health technologies (such as medical apps and electronic health records) with Nigeria as a case study while I draw broader implications for other low- and middle-income countries and contexts. 

My research contributes to understandings of health disparities as intersectional and layered between multiple socio-economic, political, cultural, and geo-locational contexts. I argue for a bottom-up approach to the development of ICT-driven health systems that thinks from the lives of situated users in LMICs instead of duplicating models which may not serve the communities for which they are designed in the long term. This research also contributes to understandings of technological models developing from Global South contexts and how these models might contribute to the development of health technologies for social justice work in healthcare systems in the Global North.

I am immensely grateful to the Graduate School and The Graduate Dean Awards Advisory Panel for granting me the finishing fellowship. This award will enable me to focus on completing my dissertation as scheduled. I am also grateful to my co-advisors, Dr. Marika Seigel and Dr. Victoria Bergvall, and my committee member, Dr. Diane shoos for their support and mentorship.

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Summer 2021 Recipient – Josh Chase

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I am currently a PhD candidate in the Rhetoric, Theory and Culture program in the Department of Humanities. I previously earned a Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Writing from St. Cloud State University, as well as undergraduate degrees in English literature and creative writing.

The Finishing Fellowship will allow me to continue my research on the rhetoric of conspiracy culture. My dissertation examines how conspiracy theories and anti-conspiracy discourses both draw from and shape public understandings of science and technology. I am especially interested in the rhetorical struggle for epistemic supremacy between conspiracy theorists and their detractors, as well as the emulation of scientific disciplinary practices by users of online conspiracy forums. My project seeks to better understand how terms like “conspiracy theorist,” “truther,” “debunker,” and “skeptic,” operate rhetorically to reify and mediate the boundaries between outlandish ideas and legitimated knowledge.

My time at Michigan Tech has allowed me to pursue interests in digital rhetoric and public understanding of science, to develop a critical and transdisciplinary pedagogy, and to refine my interests in writing program administration and writing center studies. I am grateful for the support of the Department of Humanities and the Graduate School. I am particularly thankful for my advisory committee—Dr. Abraham Romney, Dr. Marika Seigel, and Dr. Carlos Amador—whose mentorship and encouragement has been invaluable.

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