Current Students: MA Rhetoric, Writing, and Digital Media Studies (RWDMS)
Abigail Blank is in her final semester of the MA RWDMS program. Her research focuses on cross-cultural communication in digital spaces and new media, with a particular interest in user content creation. Currently, she is revising portions of this research in hopes of publication before graduation in Spring 2020. She is the 2019/2020 recipient of the Alex Weirich Memorial Scholarship for outstanding performance in Rhetoric, Writing, and Digital Media Studies. Abigail aims to continue her research in a PhD program and pursue the path to professorship, educating the next generation of writers.
Sarah Begovac is a second-year graduate student in the MA RWDMS program. She is also a second-year graduate teaching assistant for ENG 105 and a second-year graduate writing assistant for the University Writing Commons. Right now, she is researching the relationship between audience construction and collaboration within a first-year writing course. She hopes to have an article published on this by the time she graduates. Her plans are to graduate in Spring 2020, take a gap year, and then potentially apply to Ph.D. programs.
Hope Blaess is an RWDMS graduate student at NAU. She is also in the Navy. Although she does not have an English classroom of her own, she is currently an instructor, and she has used many of the principles from her courses with her students. She looks forward to pursuing a second career as a high school English teacher when she retires, and the RWDMS program has been great for helping her to pursue her goals while she serves on active duty.
Lauren Sigel is in her final year of the MA RWDMS. She is also getting a graduate certificate in Community College and Higher Education (CCHE). After graduation, Lauren plans on finding a job teaching introductory writing and composition classes at a community college level. Her research interests involve how communication is altered through social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Ideally, she would like to find ways to show students how rhetoric and writing in today’s digital society is drastically affected by computer-mediated-communications software and to teach them how to navigate the terrain of digital literacy.
Haley Stammen is an MA student in Rhetoric, Writing, and Digital Media Studies and Professional Writing. She received her BA in English/ Writing with a minor in Communications Studies from Eastern Oregon University and Associates Degree from Umpqua Community College. Currently, Stammen teaching first-year composition courses in the University Writing Program and works in the University Writing Commons tutoring online and graduate students. She also works with the STAR English, a summer program that supports first generation and at-risk students as they transition into their first year of college at NAU. Stammen has published work in the Eastern Oregon Social Science Journal and Journal of Basic Writing and presented her work at a graduate, regional, and national conferences. Stammen also serves as Vice-President of the Graduate English Organization (GEO). Upon completion of her MA, Stammen hopes to pursue a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition. In her free time, she like to hang out with her cats, read, and travel.