Christopher Susak
Assistant Professor of Teaching
#9405.4
5057 Woodward Ave. (Maccabee's Building)
Department
EnglishChristopher Susak
My research and teaching focuses on community writing, technical communication, collaborative problem-solving, as well as developing applied heuristics and procedures to solve writing and communication problems.
My goal as an instructor is to help prepare students for confident decision-making and substantive participation in increasingly high stakes conversations in their communities, disciplines and careers. My classes are designed to put students in situations representing "writing problems" where they must make critically informed, purposeful decisions about their projects using various genres, styles, heuristics and technologies.
My research explores intersections between digital technologies, public discourses, and public community spaces as well as how students, community residents and local institutions compose (with/in) these complex networks.
Research interest(s)/area of expertise
- Rhetoric and Writing Studies
- Technical and Professional Communication
- Community Writing
- Digital, Networked and Public Rhetorics
- Research Methods in Rhetoric and Writing Studies
- Rhetorics of Mass Persuasion
Education
- Ph.D., Rhetoric and Writing Studies, Wayne State University, 2024
- M.A., English, Wayne State University, 2015
- B.A., English, Theatre, & Secondary Education, Baldwin-Wallace University, 2009
- A/YA Integrated Language Arts Ohio Dept. of Education 5-Year Professional License #OH3098088
News mentions
Interview with CBS about AI/ChatGPT use in the classroom.
Selected publications
“Slouching Toward Sustainability: The Thin-Slice Approach to Sustainable and Valid Writing Program Assessment.” Journal of Writing Assessment, vol. 11, issue 1, 2018. 2nd Author. Co-authored with Jeff Pruchnic, Sarah Primeau, Joe Torok, Thomas Trimble, Tanina Foster Jared Grogan and Ellen Barton.