Wendy S. Hesford

Wendy S. Hesford is a Professor of English and Ohio Eminent Scholar at The Ohio State University, serving as Faculty Director of the Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme. She holds affiliate appointments in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies and Comparative Studies. Her work focuses on human rights rhetoric, critical literacy, and the intersections of vulnerability and transnational feminism.

Education: PhD in English (1992), MA (1987), and BA (1984) from New York University.

Research Interests:

• Human Rights Rhetorics & Visual Culture
• Critical Literacy Pedagogy
• Children’s Human Rights
• Transnational Feminist Theory
• Humanitarian Discourse Analysis

Recent Publications:

• Human Rights on the Move (2024, co-edited)
• Violent Exception: Children’s Human Rights (2021)
• Spectacular Rhetorics (2011, RSA Book Award)

Awards: Over 10 major recognitions including teaching awards and fellowships. Her work appears in journals like Rhetoric Society Quarterly, College English, and Humanity.

Grants: NEH Summer Fellowship, OSU Research Enhancement Grants. Visiting appointments at Columbia, Emory, and Yale Universities.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme, fostering interdisciplinary humanities research.