Elisa A.

Findlay
English Department email: efindlay@gmail.com
University of Wisconsin, Madison phone: 425.320.6962
600 N. Park Street
Madison, WI 53706

Education
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ph.D. English, concentration in Composition and Rhetoric (expected graduation: May 2019)
Minor: Communication Arts—Rhetoric
Dissertation: “When Writers Aren’t Authors: Workplace Literacies in the Age of Mass Writing”
Committee: Kate Vieira (chair), Deborah Brandt, Jenell Johnson, Christa Olson, Morris Young
Brigham Young University
M.A. English, concentration in American Literature (August 2010)
Thesis: “Reason, Conflict, and Psychological Haunting: Considering The Turn of the Screw as an
Adaptation of Wieland”
B.A. English Education (December 2005)
Certification: Secondary Education teacher certificate
Honors: Magna cum laude

Academic and Professional Employment

Writing Program Administration
Assistant Director, Writing Fellows Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison 2018-present
Assistant Director, Madison Writing Assistance, University of Wisconsin-Madison 2018-present
Assistant Director, First-Year Composition Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison 2016-2018

Teaching and Assistantships

Project Assistant, Assistant to Prof. Christa Olson, Book Review Editor for JHR 2018-present
Instructor, Madison Writing Assistance (MWA) Community Literacy Program 2016-2018
Tutor, Writing Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison 2015-2018
Teaching Assistant, Department of English, University of Wisconsin-Madison 2014-2016
Visiting Faculty, Department of English, Brigham Young University 2010-2011
Teaching Assistant, Department of English, Brigham Young University 2008-2010

Professional Writing
Writer, Freelance 2014-present
Writer, Technical and Strategic Communication, Epic Systems, Verona, WI 2011-2014

Grants, Awards, and Honors

Mellon-Wisconsin Dissertation Fellowship, declined Spring 2019
TA Leadership Award, UW-Madison English Department Spring 2019
Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship, alternate 2018-2019
Evjue Community Foundation Grant for Madison Writing Assistance ($15,000) 2018-2019
Joyce Melville Award for Best Scholarly Project in Composition and Rhetoric, UW-Madison 2018
Summer Dissertation Fellowship, UW-Madison English Department Summer 2018

1
Travel Grant, Computers and Writing Conference Spring 2018
UW-Madison Writing Center Teaching Award, nominee Spring 2017, Spring 2018
Travel Grant, UW-Madison Graduate School Fall 2017
“High Pass” on Preliminary PhD Examination, both written and oral portions Summer 2017
Travel Grant, Mormon History Association Conference Summer 2017
Travel Grant, Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW) Workshop Spring 2016
Ed. M. and Minnie Berry Rowe Teaching Award, BYU, finalist Spring 2010

Publications
Articles
“When Writers Aren’t Authors: A Qualitative Study of Unattributed Writers.” Forthcoming in May 2019
issue of College English.

Reviews
Review of Literacy Work in the Reign of Human Capital by Evan Watkins. Literacy in Composition
Studies (forthcoming)

Selected Web Publications

“With, Not For: Building and Strategizing Diversity in the Writing Center.” Co-authored with Hyonbin
Choi et al. Another Word: From the Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Blog Post.
May 1, 2017.
https://writing.wisc.edu/blog/with-not-for-building-and-strategizing-diversity-in-the-writing-center/

“Proceed with Confidence: Teaching Information Literacy in the Age of Fake News.” Co-authored with
Stephanie Larson. Sweetland Digital Rhetoric Collaborative (DRC). Blog Post. April 3, 2017
http://www.digitalrhetoriccollaborative.org/2017/04/03/proceed-with-confidence-teaching-information-
literacy-in-the-age-of-fake-news/

“Implementing Critical Pedagogy at a Religious University.” Co-authored with Matt Dinger. Locutorium,
an online graduate journal of composition studies at Brigham Young University. Fall 2008.
http://locutorium.byu.edu/issues/volume-3-2008/implementing-critical-pedagogy-at-a-religious-university

Works In Progress
“De-Identifying Through Writing: The Literacy Practices of Twitter Writers-for-Hire.” Article.

“State-Sanctioned Counterpublicity: Protected Anonymity and Feeling American.” Article.

Conference Presentations
“Strategic (Dis)Connection: Performing a Multiplicity of Writerly Selves in the Workplace.” Conference
on College Composition and Communication. Pittsburgh, PA (March 2019)

“Writing to Hide: Unattributed Workaday Writers Leaning Into Anonymity.” Thomas R. Watson
Conference on Rhetoric and Composition. Louisville, KY (October 2018)

2
“State-Sanctioned Counterpublicity: Protected Anonymity and the #altgov Movement.” Rhetoric Society
of America Conference. Minneapolis, MN (June 2018)

“Remediating Technologies, Remediating Writers: The Many Selves of Code-Writers.” Computers and
Writing Conference. Fairfax, VA (May 2018)

“De-Identifying Through Writing: An Ethnographic Study of Twitter Writers-for-Hire.” Conference on

College Composition and Communication. Kansas City, MO (March 2018)

“No More Strangers: Identity Negotiation in Late Twentieth-Century Mormon Women’s Writing.”
Mormon History Association Conference. St. Louis, MO (June 2017)

“Pseudonymous Digital Micro-Activism: Dismantling Sexist Ideology One Tweet at a Time.” Conference
on College Composition and Communication. Portland, OR (March 2017)

“(Un)Commodified Texts: Ownership, Authorship, and Identity-Assertion in Workplace Writing.”

Conference on College Composition and Communication. Houston, TX (April 2016)

“Becoming Michael Scott: Hyperreality and First-Person Narrative in The Office.” National Popular
Culture & American Culture Associations Conference. New Orleans, LA (April 2009)

“Finding a Voice: The Masculinization of Jo March.” Rocky Mountain MLA. Snowbird, UT (October
2009)

Courses Taught
University of Wisconsin-Madison
English 790, Graduate Practicum and Pro-Seminar in the Teaching of Writing Fall 2017, Fall 2016
English 142, Mystery and Crime Fiction (online) Summer 2017
English 201, Intermediate Composition: Writing and Work Spring 2016
English 201, Intermediate Composition: Argumentation in Digital Space Fall 2015
English 100, First-Year Composition: Writing About Writing Fall 2014, Spring 2015

Brigham Young University

Writing 150, Introduction to College Composition (15 sections total) Fall 2008-Summer 2011
English 293, American Literary History Summer 2011
English 251, Fundamentals of Literary Interpretation & Criticism Fall 2010, Spring 2011

Invited Talks & Teaching

Invited talk, UW-Madison Composition and Rhetoric Colloquium, “Remediating Technologies,
Remediating Writers: The Many Selves of Code-Writers” (October 2018)
Invited panel moderator, Writing Fellows/Writing Center joint all-staff meeting, "Opportunities and
Issues in Writing Across the Curriculum" (March 2018)
Invited session leader, UW-Madison High School to College Writing Symposium, “Portfolio
Assessment” (January 2018)
Invited session leader, UW-Madison High School to College Writing Symposium, “Overview of First-
Year Composition in the UW System” (January 2018)

3
Invited panel speaker, UW-Madison High School to College Writing Symposium, “Expectations,
Assignments, and Instruction” (January 2018)
Invited panel speaker, UW-Madison Composition and Rhetoric Colloquium, “Preparing For the
Dissertation Stage” (October 2017)
Invited guest lecturer, English 204: Writing and Money (taught by Kate Vieira), “‘I Put It Down on
Paper’: An Ethnographic Study of Writers Who Write for Pay” (October 2017)
Invited session leader, UW-Madison Writing Center Staff Meeting, “The History and Mission of Madison
Writing Assistance” (October 2017)
Invited panel speaker, English 204: Writing and Money (taught by Kate Vieira), “Writing For Pay” (Oct
2015; March 2017)
Invited panel speaker, English Department Graduate Welcome Days, “Teaching Panel” (March 2016)
Invited panel speaker, UW-Madison High School to College Writing Symposium, “Engaging in the
Writing Dialogue” (January 2016)

Service
Administrator, Composition and Rhetoric Programming Committee (Fall 2015-Spring 2016, Fall 2018-
present)
Undergraduate Mentor, Writing Fellows Program, UW-Madison (Fall 2015-Spring 2017)
Graduate Student Mentor, UW-Madison Composition and Rhetoric Program (Fall 2015-Spring 2017)
Co-coordinator, American Literature & Culture Circle, Brigham Young University (Fall 2009-Spring
2010)

Professional Development
Writing Center and Writing Across the Curriculum Leadership Discussion Series. Facilitated by Brad
Hughes. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Spring 2018.

Seminar on “Digital Rhetoric Behind & Beyond the Screen.” Facilitated by Jim Brown, Stephanie Ceraso,
and Casey Boyle. Rhetoric Society of America (RSA) 2017 Summer Institute. Bloomington, Indiana.
May 2017.

Workshop on “Modeling Qualitative Data.” Facilitated by Clay Spinuzzi. Association of Teachers of

Technical Writing (ATTW) 2016 Research Methods Workshops. Houston, Texas. April 2016.

Professional Development Course, English 795, Pro-Seminar for English 201 Instructors. University of
Wisconsin-Madison. Fall 2015-Spring 2016.

Professional Development Course, English 790, Pro-Seminar for English 100 Teacher Training.
University of Wisconsin-Madison. Fall 2014.

Professional Organizations
Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW)
College Composition and Communication
National Council of Teachers of English
Rhetoric Society of America, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Student Chapter
Rhetoric Society of America
Society for Technical Communication

4
References
Dr. Kate Vieira (Chair)
Susan J. Cellmer Distinguished Chair in Literacy, Associate Professor
Faculty Affiliate in Language Sciences; Secondary Language Acquisition;
Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies; Chican@/Latin@ Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
kevieira@wisc.edu

Dr. Deborah Brandt

Professor Emerita of English
University of Wisconsin-Madison
dlbrandt@wisc.edu

Dr. Christa Olson

Nancy C. Hoefs Associate Professor of English
Faculty Affiliate in Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies
Faculty Affiliate in Visual Cultures
Director of English 201—Intermediate Composition
University of Wisconsin-Madison
christa.olson@wisc.edu

Dr. Morris Young

Nancy C. Hoefs Professor of English
Faculty Affiliate in Asian American Studies
Director of English 100—First-Year Composition
University of Wisconsin-Madison
msyoung4@wisc.edu