Melissa Stone

Melissa Stone serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Appalachian State University, specializing in the Rhetoric and Technical Writing program. Her scholarly work critically examines intersections between rhetorical studies, technical communication, and material feminist theory with focused attention on reproductive health technologies and science & technology studies.

Her academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in Communication, Rhetoric & Digital Media from North Carolina State University
• M.A. in English from University of North Carolina Wilmington
• Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies from University of North Carolina Wilmington
• B.A. in Communication Studies from University of North Carolina Wilmington

Dr. Stone's research traverses technical and professional communication, feminist rhetorics, and rhetorics of reproductive justice through frameworks of posthumanism and new materialism. She investigates material-discursive phenomena in digital health contexts—particularly menstruation tracking apps and reproductive healthcare platforms—using feminist science and technology studies to analyze embodiment, affective politics, and technological mediation. Her methodology frequently employs diffractive approaches to unravel how technologies shape bodily experiences and social inequities.

Analysis of her 2023-2025 publications reveals concentrated exploration of reproductive health technologies and digital gender rhetorics. Key contributions examine mobile menstruation apps in post-Roe America, safety applications for precarious mobilities, and the rhetoric of reproductive justice, consistently utilizing interdisciplinary lenses from feminist theory and new materialism to address embodiment, equity, and neoliberal affective politics. These works demonstrate methodological innovation through material-discursive analysis of health technologies.