Faculty

Assistant Professor Matthew Bost joined the Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse (RWPD) Department in the fall of 2016. He has a Ph.D. in Communication Studies and his work focuses on the relationship between rhetoric, philosophy and social change. Bost's teaching specialties include classical and contemporary rhetorical theory, rhetorical studies of visual, auditory, tactile and other sensory registers, and the intersections between rhetoric, identity and social change.

Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse Ellen Defossez teaches courses in rhetorical theory, the rhetorics of health and medicine, and science communication. She specializes in the rhetorical study of medicalization—a process by which certain traits, behaviors and conditions come to be defined as medical problems with medical solutions. 

Associate Professor Lydia McDermott loves the power that language has to shape our lived experiences. She loves to write in practically any genre and especially loves helping others find a passion for writing. She actively publishes poetry alongside her scholarly research. McDermott's recent research has centered on midwifery in the global context and rhetorics of racism. 

Assistant Professor Kaitlyn Patia teaches in the Rhetoric, Writing, and Public Discourse and the Gender Studies departments at Whitman. She received her B.A. from Northwestern University, her M.A. from the University of Minnesota, and her Ph.D. from Penn State. She teaches classes on public speaking, the rhetoric of social protest, rhetoric, gender, and sexuality, rhetoric and violence, immigration and border discourses, the black freedom struggle and voices of women's rights activism.

Rob Schlegel’s award-winning teaching encourages students to write into authenticity. Schlegel fell in love with the poems, essays and stories of William Stafford, Ursula Le Guin, Juan Felipe Herrera, David James Duncan, Elizabeth Bishop and Primus St. John. His writing has appeared in Boston Review, Poetry, Poetry Northwest, The Nation and elsewhere.

Senior Adjunct Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse Johanna Stoberock is the author of two novels, “Pigs” (Red Hen Press) and “City of Ghosts”  (W. W. Norton). She has an M.F.A in Fiction from the University of Washington. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Review of Books, Lit Hub, the Best of the Net Anthology and elsewhere. She has extensive experience in both magazine and book publishing.

Senior Adjunct Assistant Professor Jenna Terry earned a B.A. with honors in history from Wesleyan University and an M.F.A. in fiction from the University of Houston. In addition to teaching writing at Whitman, Professor Terry is the rhetoric, writing and bublic discourse 170 course coordinator.

Victor Villanueva is the Edward F. Arnold visiting professor of composition and rhetoric. He is Regents Professor, Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor and director of the University Writing Program at Washington State University. Villanueva's work centers on the connections between language and racism. He has written eight books, over 50 articles or chapters in books and has given over 100 talks.