Jonathan Kotchian

Jonathan Kotchian is a Brittain Fellow in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at the Georgia Institute of Technology's Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, a position he has held since 2012. He teaches first-year composition seminars while developing innovative pedagogical approaches that merge theatrical techniques with digital humanities.

Dr. Kotchian's research centers on early modern English literature, examining how concepts of authorship co-evolved with satire and how "insider" literature relates to intelligence and literary taste. His scholarly work bridges Shakespearean/Milton studies with contemporary digital media forms, particularly interactive fiction.

• Primary research areas: early modern literary history, satire studies, intelligence theory
• Digital humanities focus: interactive fiction applications in composition pedagogy
• Teaching innovation: theater techniques in writing instruction

Known for running composition seminars as acting classes, Kotchian incorporates physical warm-ups, improvisation, and scene study to help students foreground their motivations and affective responses. His digital pedagogy work includes pioneering the use of interactive fiction games to enhance multimodal composition understanding, documented through TECHStyle blog posts and campus presentations.

As an active member of Georgia Tech's academic community, Kotchian serves on the DevLab Committee and has collaborated with colleagues including Drs. Mollie Barnes, Joy Bracewell, Leah Haught, and Amanda Golden on multimodal portfolio assessment and digital composition methods.