Jenna Sheffield, Ph.D.

Jenna Sheffield Headshot
Assistant Provost for Curriculum Innovation
Provost's Office

Assistant Professor
Assistant Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences
Director of Writing Across the Curriculum

English Department
College of Arts & Sciences
Education

Ph.D., Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English, University of Arizona
M.A., English Literature, University of North Florida
B.A., English Literature, University of Florida

About Jenna

Whether I am teaching professional and technical communication, first-year composition, or digital writing courses, I am committed to helping students see writing as a collaborative act and a means for change. I support student writers in setting and achieving their own aims with writing, whether to express their ideas, communicate effectively in the workplace, or transform inequitable practices in their communities. I have paired my students with a variety of community partners, asking them to compose marketing materials, technical documents, or reports for these local non-profits because I find that student engagements deepen and writing improves when course concepts are tied to “real-world” experiences. I am also committed to helping students identify themselves as writers in an active writing community who are capable of providing useful feedback.

Positioning myself as a facilitator and fellow writer, I invite students to participate in team writing conferences, paired brainstorming interviews, online peer reviews, and whole-class workshops that spark conversations about students’ research and writing. Many of these classroom activities take place in online settings, which is where my research intersects most with my teaching. I am constantly inviting students to engage in digital and visual literacies along with alphabetic literacies, asking them to critically consider how their communication practices are shaped and being shaped by emerging technologies and media.

See More See Less
Selected Publications (Peer Reviewed)
  • “Digital Scholarship and Interactivity: A Study of Commenting Features in Networked Books.” Computers and Composition. (Forthcoming March 2016). Print.
  • “Open Peer Review: Collective Intelligence as a Framework for Theorizing Approaches to Peer Review in the Humanities.” NANO: New American Notes Online 3 (2013): n. pag. Web.
  • “Figuring Programmatic Agency: The Framework as Critical Rearticulatory Practice in Writing Program Administration.” Applications of the Framework for Success in Post-Secondary Writing: Scholarship, Theories, and Practices. Ed. Sherry Rankins-Robertson, Nicholas Behm, Duane Roen. Parlor Press. Print. (Accepted and forthcoming).
  • “Using First Person in an Academic Essay: When is it OK?” Network, Collaborate, Compose: College Writing in the Digital Age. Eds. Joseph Moxley and Jennifer Yirinec. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, 2013. EPUB file.
Other Publications
  • “Networking, Demystifying, and Connecting: How Editing Affects Graduate Student Professional Development.” Symposium: Revaluing the Work of the Editor. College English 77.2 (2014). Print.
  • “Review: Understanding Social Media by Sam Hinton and Larissa Hjorth.” Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy 19.3 (2015): n. pag. Web.
  • “A Review of Toby Coley’s Teaching with Digital Media in Writing Studies: An Exploration of Ethical Reponsibilities.” Computers and Composition Online Winter (2013): n. pag. Web.
  •  “A Rhetorical Analysis of Citation Systems.” A Student’s Guide to First-Year Writing.  Ed. Lee, Jerry W., Caitlin Rodriguez, and Gina Szabady. 33rd ed.  Plymouth, MI:  Hayden-McNeil, 2012. Print.
Selected Conference Presentations
  • “Three Ways In: Exploring Infographic Software for Teaching Visual Design in Professional Writing Contexts.” Computers and Writing Conference. Pullman, WA. 5-8 June.
  • “(Re)Constituting Lived Realities: Complicating the Work of ‘Going Public.’” Conversation Starter. Council of Writing Program Administrators Conference. Savannah, GA. 18-22 July.
  • “The Structure of Service: What is the Role of the Graduate Student Editor?” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Las Vegas, NV. 14-16 March.
  • “Curricular Mapping: Finding the Gaps.” Council of Writing Program Administrators Conference. Albuquerque, NM. 19 July.
  • “New Media Publishing Practices: Overcoming Obstacles to Composing Scholarship in Digital Spaces.” Computers and Writing Conference. Raleigh, North Carolina. 19 May.
  • “Networked Peer Review and Other Possibilities for the Future of the Book.” Computers and Writing Conference. Ann Arbor, Michigan. 20 May.
  • “Heidegger's Enframing and Saving: A Heuristic for a Generative Pedagogy with Technology.” Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), Research Network Forum. Atlanta, GA. 6 April.  
  • “Teach-nology: Heidegger’s Enframing as Educational Innovation.” Enterprising Creativity Conference: Innovation and the Future of Arts and Humanities Research. University of Leeds, UK. November.
See Full Resume Details See Less Full Resume Details

In the Media