معرفی
Bethany Ober Mannon serves as Assistant Professor of English and Director of Composition at Appalachian State University, where she joined in 2018 as a Visiting Assistant Professor before advancing to her current position in 2020. In her administrative role, she supports faculty teaching RC 1000 and 2001 courses, mentors graduate students teaching composition, and directs the graduate certificate program in Rhetoric & Composition.
Mannon earned her Ph.D. in English and Women's Studies from Penn State University in 2015, following a B.A. in English from the University of Connecticut in 2008. Her scholarly foundation combines rigorous rhetorical training with feminist theoretical perspectives.
Her research program centers on feminist rhetoric, religious rhetoric, and social movements in the United States, with particular attention to how personal narratives function within contemporary discourse. She investigates intersections between writing pedagogy and identity formation, examining how religious, gendered, and mental health identities shape rhetorical practices. Her work on writing program administration reflects practical concerns about supporting both undergraduate and graduate writers in increasingly digital environments.
Mannon's publication record reveals consistent engagement with writing center studies and composition theory, with notable emphasis on how graduate students navigate writing support systems. Her articles demonstrate methodological diversity, employing archival research, discourse analysis, and pedagogical experimentation to examine writing practices across multiple contexts—from digital storytelling projects to climate change communication to dissertation writing support.
She received the prestigious CCCs Emergent Researcher Award in 2021 for her study 'Assessing Online Writing Instruction to Move from Crisis to Sustainability,' highlighting recognition of her contributions to the field during a critical period for online education.
As Director of Composition, Mannon oversees writing instruction for first-year and sophomore composition courses while mentoring graduate teaching assistants. Her leadership extends to developing the graduate certificate program in Rhetoric & Composition, creating structured pathways for advanced study in writing theory and practice.
Mannon maintains active involvement in writing center scholarship, having conducted significant research on graduate student writing support that has informed writing center practices nationally. Her work bridges theoretical insights with practical applications for writing program administrators.
