Patricia Fancher

Patricia Fancher is a Continuing Lecturer in the Writing Program at the University of California Santa Barbara, within the College of Letters and Science. She holds a PhD in Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design from Clemson University (2014), an MA in Communication, Culture, and Technology from Georgetown University (2009), and a BA in Communication and Music from Columbia College (2005). Her research focuses on feminist rhetoric, digital media, queer techné, and the history of computing. She has published extensively in journals like Peitho, Rhetoric Review, and Composition Studies, with notable works including Queer Techné: Bodies, Rhetorics, and Desire in the History of Computing (2024) and Embodying Turing’s Machine (2017).

Her pedagogical work includes courses on Digital Storytelling, Writing and Gender Studies, and Writing Research for Public Audiences. Fancher’s research emphasizes feminist methodologies in digital humanities, such as her collaborative project visualizing early 20th-century women physicians’ networks. She advocates for embodied, ethical approaches to algorithmic research, blending close reading with computational methods.

Her creative nonfiction essays explore personal and queer narratives, appearing in outlets like The Sun Magazine and Catapult. Fancher’s work challenges tech’s gendered biases, interrogates AI ethics, and reclaims Peitho—a goddess of persuasive rhetoric—as a feminist symbol for consent culture. She collaborates with interdisciplinary teams, leveraging grants like the CCCC Emerging Research Grant, and mentors students in programming and DH practices.

Her contributions span academic, creative, and activist realms, centering intersectional feminist praxis in digital spaces. Current projects include an erotic book club exploring ‘dirty talk’ as feminist praxis and ongoing investigations into queer computing histories.