Jeffrey Gerding

Jeffrey M. Gerding received his B.A. from Eastern Michigan University and both his M.A. and Ph.D. from Purdue University. At Xavier, he has taught Honors Rhetoric, English Composition, Professional Writing, Technical Writing, Digital Writing, Senior Seminar, and the Writing Internship course. His teaching is primarily project-oriented with assignments that challenge students to first analyze rhetorical situations and then create original works that apply and enhance what they’ve learned. He is especially interested in engaged learning projects that bring community partners into the course and provide opportunities for students to practice real-world writing skills while learning about social justice, solidarity, and anti-racism. Past community partners include the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, MORTAR, and Purdue University’s Center for Advocacy, Response & Education. He has also completed the Eigel Center for Engaged Learning’s Community Engaged Faculty Learning Academy and received a Community Engaged Research mini-grant in 2019 to provide support for an undergraduate research assistant.

His research specializes in rhetoric and composition, professional and technical communication, digital rhetorics, and the rhetoric of civic engagement. His scholarship has appeared in the Journal of Business and Technical Communication, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, and Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy. He has presented at wide range of academic conferences, including the Conference on College Composition and Communication, the National Council of Teachers of English annual conference, the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing conference, the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication conference, IEEE International Professional Communication Conference, and Computers & Writing. He is currently co-editing a special issue of Technical Communication about storytelling in professional and technical communication; awaiting publication of a chapter about user experience design in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Digital Service; collaborating on an ongoing research project investigating community-engaged learning in the professional writing course; and beginning a research project about teaching podcasting projects in undergraduate rhetoric and writing courses.

Expertise

Rhetoric, Composition, Professional and Technical Writing, Internships, Digital Rhetoric, Engaged Learning