My research interests include the theory and pedagogy of writing, epistemology, the philosophy of language, and science fiction. Currently, I am working collaboratively with Stephanie Schatz on a course design for Freshman Composition that will focus on writing across the disciplines, with an emphasis on critical thinking and analysis.

My master's thesis will explore the epistemology of writing. Research in composition and the philosophy of language indicates that the structure and lexicon of language significantly influences how we think. From a compositionist perspective, this has led to theories of process writing as a method of generating thought. However, at present the philosophy of language gives little attention to the significant differences between spoken and written language, focusing almost exclusively on spoken language and treating writing as merely the transposition of (vocal or sub-vocal) speech. This view of writing does not adequately address the specific cognitive and embodied activities involved in writing as distinct from those involved in speech. Speech captures what we think at a given moment and is immediately lost to time, but the writing process allows us to trace and retrace our thought processes in both time and space. The specific embodiment of writing, its endurance as well as its malleability, suggests a unique role in the development of human thought. Understanding how we know what we know through writing will clarify and reinforce the place of writing across the disciplines.