Profile
Jennifer Burgess earned her MA in English from the College of Charleston and her PhD in Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies from the Ohio State University. She teaches professional writing and composition courses. Dr. Burgess, using primarily archival methods, researches the rhetorical practices and performances of late nineteenth and early twentieth century American women as deployed through their business, professional, and technical writing. Originally from South Carolina, Dr. Burgess, her husband, and their three children are thrilled to be back in the Carolinas after spending five years in the Midwest.
Academic Credentials
Ph.D. – English, concentration in Rhetoric, Composition, & Literacy Studies, The Ohio State University, 2018
M.A. – English, College of Charleston, 2009
B.A. – History, College of Charleston, 2004
Presentations
“Catholic Women’s Use of Technical Writing to Deploy a Coexistent Ethos of Professionalism and Catholic Lay Womanhood.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Kansas City, MO, March 2018.
“’Extending a welcome hand to the stranger coming to our shores’: Catholic Women’s Groups and the Use of Annual Reports to Preserve Business Ethos.” 11th Biennial Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference, The University of Dayton, Dayton, OH.
“The Rhetorical Force of Business Writing: Catholic Women’s Groups and a Rhetoric of Business Ethos.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Portland, OR, March 2017.
“The Lived and Rhetorical Responses of Catholic Women’s Groups Following Vatican II.” Rhetoric Society of America 2016 Conference, Atlanta, GA, May 2016.
“‘To give all possible material aid to the members of the Order, by encouraging one another in business’: How the Catholic Ladies of Columbia Cultivated Professional Ethos through Business and Technical Writing.” 10th Biennial Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, October 2015.
“Backward Designing with Students: Piloting Pedagogy Instruction in Undergraduate Writing Courses.” Panel, Council of Writing Program Administrators Conference, Boise, ID, July 2015.
“Linguistic Study of Portfolio Coaching During the First Year of Medical School.” 2015 CGSA/CGEA Joint Regional Meeting, Columbus, OH, April 2015.
“The Affordances of a Mixed Methods Approach to Breast Cancer Illness Narratives.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Tampa, FL, March 2015.
“The Battleground of Breast Cancer Awareness: Literacy, Rhetoric, and Debate.” 8th Biennial Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference, Minnesota State University, Mankato, October 2011.
“South Carolina Catholic Women and the Rhetoric of Activism.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Atlanta, GA, April 2011.
“Downsizing as an Opportunity: Program Revision in a Budget Crisis.” Carolina Writing Program Administrators Annual Retreat, Little Switzerland, NC, September 2009.
“Adjunct Anxiety: The Position of Part-time Composition Instructors at the College of Charleston.” Writing into the Profession Conference, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, September 2008.
Awards
Kitty O. Locker Award for Excellence in Business Communication, The Ohio State University, Spring 2018
Andrea A. Lunsford Dissertation Fellowship Recipient, The Ohio State University, Spring 2018
Kitty O. Locker Travel Award, The Ohio State University, Spring 2015 – 2018
University Fellow, The Ohio State University, 2013 – 2014
Professional Equity Participation Grant, Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2011
Outstanding Graduate Student Award, College of Charleston, 2009
Graduate Student Presentation Grant, College of Charleston, September 2009
Phi Kappa Phi, 2004
First Families of South Carolina Scholarship in History, Spring 2003
