Dr. J. Michael Rifenburg (Updated 9/2019) : Education
Dr. J. Michael Rifenburg (Updated 9/2019) : Education
Education
Academic Employment
Assistant Professor, Department of English, University of North Georgia. Fall 2013-Spring 2017
Administrative Appointments
Interim Assistant Director. Center for Teaching, Learning, and Leadership. University of North
Georgia. Summer 2019-present.
Rifenburg CV 1
Director of First-Year Composition. Department of English. University of North Georgia. Fall
2015-Summer 2019.
Reviewing and revising course outcomes, template syllabi, and course descriptions
Conducting instructor observations
Overseeing course needs and assessment reports to Assessment Coordinator
Senior Faculty Fellow for Scholarly Writing. Center for Teaching, Learning, and Leadership.
University of North Georgia. Fall 2016-Summer 2019.
Establishing multifaceted faculty development programs across five campuses that enrich
scholarly productivity through a focus on research and writing skills
Books
Drilled to Write: A Longitudinal Study of a Cadet Writer at a Senior Military College. Under contract.
University State University Press, an imprint of the University Press of Colorado. (95,000 words; full
ms delivered to publisher in September 2019).
The Embodied Playbook: Writing Practices of Student-Athletes. Utah State University Press, an imprint of
the University Press of Colorado. 2018. Reviewed in Reflective Teaching.
Editing
Teaching on the Intersection of Cognition and Writing. Co-editing with Patricia Portanova and Duane Roen.
Foreword by Susan Miller-Cochran and Afterword by Asao Inoue. Under contract. Parlor Press.
(Full ms due to publisher in January 2020).
Undergraduate Research as a Future of English Studies. Co-editing with Kristine Johnson. Special issue of
Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Language, Literature, Composition, and Culture. Expected
publication January 2021.
Contemporary Perspectives on Cognition and Writing. Co-edited with Patricia Portanova and Duane Roen.
Foreword by John R. Hayes and Afterword by Linda Flower. WAC Clearinghouse, Colorado State
University Open Press, and University Press of Colorado. 2017. Open Access text. Total Visitors:
49,100; Total Downloads (PDF): 22,979 (as of August 2019).
Articles
“To Ensure Warfighting Function: Writing Inside a U.S. Army Brigade Headquarters.” Composition
Studies. 47.1 (2019): 117-135.
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“First-year Cadets’ Conceptions of General Education Writing at a Senior Military College” co-
authored with MAJ. Brian Forester. Teaching & Learning Inquiry. 6.1 (March 2018): 52-66.
“The Performance of Literate Practices: Rhetoric, Writing, and Stand-up Comedy.” Journal for the
Assembly of Expanded Perspectives on Learning. 22 (Winter 2016-2017): 78-91.
“Student-Athletes, Prior Knowledge, and Threshold Concepts.” Teaching English in the Two-Year
College 44.1 (September 2016): 32-48.
“Supporting the Student-Athlete Writer: A Case Study of a Division I Athletics Writing Center and
NCAA Academic Mandates.” The Writing Center Journal 35.2 (2016): 61-87.
“The Literate Practices of a Division II Men’s Basketball Team.” Grassroots Writing Research Journal
6.2 (Spring 2016). 55-63.
“The Woven Body: Embodying Text in Performance Art and the Writing Center.” Co-authored
with Lindsey Allgood. Across the Disciplines 28 (Dec. 2015). Web.
“‘Student-Athletes’ and the Rhetorical Consequences of Naming.” Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric
in Society 4.2 (2015). Web.
“Getting All Interdisciplinary: A Guiding Business Principle for Writing Center Practice.” Southern
Discourse 18.1 (Fall 2013): 4-7.
“Converting the Center: Considering Christianity in the Writing Center.” Co-authored with Michael
Mohon. Dangling Modifier 19.2 (Spring 2013). Web.
“Fleshing Out the Uniqueness of Student-Athlete Writing Centers: A Response to Alanna Bitzel.”
Praxis: A Writing Center Journal 10.1. (2012). Web.
Contributions
“Community: A Response to Marty Townsend.” In Talking Back: Senior Scholars Deliberate the Past,
Present, and Future of Writing Studies, edited by Norbert Elliot and Alice Horning. University Press of
Colorado. Forthcoming.
With Mary Carney, Rebecca Johnston, and Laura Ng. “Cultivating Teacher-Scholars at a Teaching-
Intensive University” Academic Labor beyond the College Classroom: Working for Our Values, edited by
Holly Hassel and Kirsti Cole. Routledge. Forthcoming December 2019.
With Brad Jacobson. “Storying Longitudinal Research: Relationality and Self-Reflexivity.” In Telling
Stories: Perspectives on Longitudinal Writing Research, edited by Jenn Fishman and Amy Kimme Hea.
Under review with publisher.
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“The Potential of Writing Center Case Study Research Design as Public Scholarship.” In Theories and
Methods of Writing Center Studies: A Practical Guide, edited by Jo Mackiewicz and Rebecca Babcock,
141-149. Routledge. 2019.
With Lindsey Allgood. “Performance Art & Performing Text.” Writing In and About the Performing
Arts and Visual Arts: Creating, Performing, and Teaching, edited by Steven J. Corbett, Jennifer Lin
LeMesurier, Teagan E. Decker, and Betsy Cooper, 55-73. WAC Clearinghouse, Colorado State
University Open Press, and University Press of Colorado. 2019.
“Chasing the Team: Participant Recruitment Strategies for Qualitative Research into Student-Athlete
Writers” In Research, Interrupted: Navigating Challenges in Qualitative Education Research, edited by Todd
Ruecker and Vanessa Svihla, 39-50. Routledge, 2019.
“Visual Rhetoric” & “Multimodality.” Contribute a Verse: A Guide to First-Year Composition. Ed. Tanya
Long Bennett. University of North Georgia Press. 2015. Print.
Invited Talks
“Scholar-Athletes and Embodied Learning: Writing Themselves In.” Hofstra University. April 2019.
“How Student-Athletes Learn Plays & What That Means for College Writing Instruction.”
University of Findlay. October 2018.
Reviews
With Matthew Boedy. “The Promises and Perils of Public Scholarship.” Review of Arlene Stein and
Jessie Daniels’s Going Public: A Guide for Social Scientists. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship,
11.1 (2018): 69-72.
Review of Elisabeth H. Buck’s Open-Access, Multimodality, and Writing Center Studies. Writing Center
Journal. Forthcoming.
Recent Non-Juried Publications
“Coach Faulkner has Contributed Much to the Lives of the People He has Met.” Dahlonega Nugget.
19 March 2019.
“Food Insecurity and the Student-Athlete.” University of Colorado blog. 3 April 2018.
“Let’s All Help UNG Students Learn to Become Better Writers.” Gainesville Times. 20 August 2017.
“Student-Athletes and Writing Transfer.” Literacy & NCTE. blogs.ncte.org. 9 March 2017. Web.
“Safety, the NCAA and a Cloudy Future.” Academe Blog Academeblog.com. 9 June 2016. Web.
“What it Means to be Connected.” Center for Teaching, Learning, and Leadership. University of
North Georgia. 2 February 2015. Web.
“The Value of Connection.” Literacy & NCTE. blogs.ncte.org. 11 Dec. 2014. Web.
“Student-Athletes at UNG Represent What is Good about College Athletics.” Dahlonega Nugget 10
Dec. 2014.
“Global Collaboration Around Education.” Literacy & NCTE. blogs.ncte.org. 12 Nov. 2014. Web.
“Automated Essay Scoring Could Lead to High-Tech Ways to Fool it.” Gainesville Times 28 Aug.
2014. Print.
“Transfer Learning the Latest in Teaching Writing Skills.” Vanguard Dahlonega (student newspaper).
16 April 2014. Web.
“People of Dahlonega are Central to Academic Success of UNG Students.” Dahlonega Nugget. 25
December 2013. Print.
“Introverts and the Teaching of Writing.” Center for Teaching, Learning, and Leadership. University
of North Georgia. 6 November 2013. Web.
“Four Classes Undergo Redesign to Align with Momentum Approach.” University Relations, UNG.
November 2019.
The Ohio State University’s Center for The Study and Teaching of Writing. Write.Think.Teach
Podcast. May 2019.
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“UNG English professor publishes book about student-athletes.” University Relations, UNG.
March 2018.
“UNG English professor featured in ‘The Academic Minute’ Broadcast.” University Relations,
UNG. September 2017.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award. University of North Georgia. Fall 2015.
This award recognizes faculty whose research demonstrates valuable work in the scholarship
of teaching and learning. The awardee engages in a systematic examination of student
learning and the instructional conditions that promote learning.
Select Presentations
“Becoming a Cadet: Preliminary Results from a Longitudinal Study into Learning Army Genres”
Conference on College Composition and Communication, Summer Regional Conference. Denver,
CO. July 2018.
“Words for All: Supporting Public Scholarship Through Centers for Teaching and Learning.” With
John Duffy as Respondent. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Kansas City,
MO. March 2018.
Co-Chair, Special Interest Group. “Teaching with Research on Cognition and Writing.” Conference
on College Composition and Communication. Kansas City, MO. March 2018.
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Co-chair, Special Interest Group. “Creating and Maintaining Interdisciplinary Research
Relationships.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Portland, OR. March
2017.
“Embodied Play Literacy in an Auburn University Defensive Football Play.” With Kevin Roozen as
Respondent. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Tampa, FL. March 2015.
Co-chair, Special Interest Group. “A Conversation with Duane Roen: The Eight Habits of Mind.”
Conference on College Composition and Communication. Tampa, FL. March 2015.
“A Literacy Audible: The Embodied Literate Practices of Big-Time College Football.” Biannual
Thomas R. Watson Conference. Louisville, KY. October 2014.
“If Only Merlin Worked Here: The Sword and the Stone and Traveling Writing Support for
Student- Athletes.” International Writing Center Association/National Conference on Peer
Tutoring of Writing. Orlando, FL. October 2014.
Co-chair, Special Interest Group. “Cognition and Writing: A Conversation with John Hayes:
Contemporary Perspectives on Cognitive Science and Writing.” Conference on College
Composition and Communication. Indianapolis, IN. March 2014.
“Penalties, Fouls, and Errors: Student-Athletes and the Trouble of Open Access.” Conference on
College Composition and Communication. Indianapolis, IN. March 2014.
“‘Badges? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badges’: How Interdisciplinary Relations Legitimize Writing
Center Work.” The Future of Writing Centers: 20th Anniversary Symposium. Austin, TX. February
2013.
Co-chair. Special Interest Group. “Rhetoric, Sport, and Student-Athletes.” Conference on College
Composition and Communication. Las Vegas, NV. March 2013.
Co-chair. Workshop. “Expanding the Conversation: Graduate Students, Contingent Faculty, and the
Future of Basic Writing.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Las Vegas, NV.
March 2013.
“From Classical Rhetoric, to Student-Athletes, and Back Again: Tracing a Recursive Relationship
Between the Past and Present.” Teaching Scholars Initiative Colloquium. Norman, OK. October
2011.
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“Sophists and Sports: Competitive Scaffolding in Student-Athlete Tutoring Sessions.” Conference
on College Composition and Communication. Atlanta, GA. May 2011.
Courses Taught
Post-Secondary Education
Rifenburg CV 8
English 2230: Intermediate Composition, Writing for an Online Audience
Engaging with Felder’s Writing for the Web and key readings from Cindy Selfe, Adam
Banks, and Jonathan Alexander, students explore the constraints and affordances of
various digital writing platforms such as Twitter, Wikipedia, and tumblr. Students
wrote press releases for the Holly Theater, the local Dahlonega theater company, and
authored sections of the UNG Wikipedia page.
English 4810/6810: Rhetoric and the Graphic Novel (face to face and online)
This course addresses the communicative power of images by considering graphic
novels. By engaging with key texts such as Mazzucchelli’s Asterios Polyp and Ware’s
Jimmy Corrigan, this class explored how graphic novelists balance multiple modes in
the construction of text. Students presented and authored a 1600 word essay and
practiced graphic novelist skills such as inking, coloring, and lettering.
Secondary Education
Mentoring
Student publications
Franklin, Cheyenne. “Quintilian Education and Additive Bilingualism.” Queen City Writers.
4.1 (2015).
Rifenburg CV 10
Henderson, Sawyer. “Looking Right Now: A Rhetorical Analysis on Gay Men’s Diction
Relative to Grindr.” National Council for Undergraduate Research. University of North
Carolina, Asheville. April 2016. NCUR Proceedings. Spring 2017.
Price, Laura. “Native American Rhetoric: How and Why It’s Important.” Queen City Writers.
5.1 (2016).
Student presentations
Hill, Madison. “From Collective Memory to Personal Coping Mechanisms: The Genre of
Obituaries.” UNG’s Annual Research Conference. Spring 2019.
Pridgen, Emily. “Dead Ends: Obstacles Facing Local Historians, the Effects of Folklore on
Communities, and the Ghostly Legends of South Georgia State College.” UNG’s Annual
Research Conference. Spring 2019.
Regeski, Julia. “An Ethical Rhetorical Question.” Sigma Tau Delta 2016 National
Convention. Minneapolis, MN. March 2016. Written in ENGL 3120: Introduction to
Rhetorical Theory.
Service
National
Associate editor, Perspectives on Writing book series, The WAC Clearinghouse / University
Press of Colorado.
Editorial Member, Young Scholars in Writing. The oldest journal for undergraduate research in
writing studies.
Member, Council of Writing Program Administrators Best Book Committee. 2017, 2018
Reviewer, Writing Center Journal, Composition Studies, and Queen City Writers, a refereed journal
for undergraduate composition
Reviewer, University of North Georgia Press, Utah State University Press, Routledge
External Promotion and Tenure reviewer, Biola University, August 2019; Bowling Green
State University, August 2019
Community
Chair, School Governance Council, Enota Multiple Intelligences Academy (Gainesville [GA]
City Schools System). Fall 2019-Spring 2020
Department
University
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Co-Chair, English Committee, Gateways to Completion initiative in partnership with
the University System of Georgia and the John Gardner Institute for Excellence in
Undergraduate Education. Fall 2018-present.
Professional Development
Facilitating Learning Online Certification Workshop. Office of Distance Education & Technology
Integration. University of North Georgia. Spring 2019
Professional Affiliations
Rifenburg CV 13