Associate Professor of English, Rhetoric and Composition
Director of Rhetoric and Composition
Office: Knutti 201E
Phone: 304-876-5117
E-Mail: cwenger@shepherd.edu
Areas of Specialization
First-Year Writing, Writing Program Administration, Embodied and Feminist Rhetorics, Contemplative Writing Pedagogy, Rhetorics of Illness and Disability, Transatlantic Modernism
Dr. Christy I. Wenger currently holds the position of Associate Professor and Director of Rhetoric and Writing in the Department of English and Modern Languages. She teaches first-year writing on topics such as writing about writing and digital literacies, as well as advanced writing and rhetoric courses on multimodal composing, mindfulness and writing, and the rhetorics of disability. Her book, Yoga Minds, Writing Bodies: Contemplative Writing Pedagogy, explores the value of contemplative practices like yoga and meditation for writers. Dr. Wenger received a Ph.D. in English, Rhetoric and Composition, from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and an M.A. from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. She has published in writing studies on non-cognitive factors of learning, feminist rhetorics, and the importance of contemplative pedagogy. She has presented at national and international conferences, including the College Composition and Communication Annual Convention, the Council of Writing Program Administrators Conference, and Feminisms and Rhetorics. Currently Dr. Wenger continues to research contemplative writing pedagogy and is working on a book-length project on mindful leadership and administration in higher education. When not teaching or writing, you can find Dr. Wenger playing outside with her two daughters, lifting heavy things in the gym, or on her yoga mat.