Featured WRTC PhD Graduates
Congratulations to our recent and upcoming PhD graduates in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication (WRTC)! Caitlin Baulch, Asmita Ghimire, and Alison Obright each accomplished so much during their programs, developing deep theoretical and methodological expertise as teacher-scholars in their fields. Read below to learn about our graduates’ experiences in WRTC.
Why did you choose WRTC for your graduate studies?
Caitlin: The faculty! I felt that there was a great community of researchers, teachers, and colleagues at the U and wanted to be part of the community.
Asmi: Before joining the program, I taught Legal English at Kathmandu University, Nepal, and worked as a translator for Nepal Red Cross Society. In both roles, I found myself doing "rhetoric" a lot but had a hard time relating to the Western rhetorical notions. I decided why not pursue a degree in "rhetoric" and "technical communication."
Alison: The program's unique focus on scientific and technical communication was a big draw for me. As someone hoping to blend my background in biology with my interest in scientific communication, this seemed like the perfect place to bring my sets of knowledge together in a meaningful way (and it was!). I ultimately chose this program, though, because of the people. The wide variety of topics my peers would be studying, the genuine collaborative kindness they showed in early interactions, and the approachability of faculty assured me it would be a program where I’d be able to thrive as a whole person.
What types of research did you pursue with WRTC?
Caitlin: I did research in both rhetoric and technical communication. My personal research focuses on expertise and rhetoric of health and medicine, but I also served as a research assistant for Dan Card on a larger project on technical communication and artificial intelligence (AI).
Asmi: My research sits at the intersection of international and transnational technical communication, machine learning technologies, AI, and global public policy. I examine technical documents through a transnational feminist perspective. By this, I mean analyzing technical documents (for example, those shaped by paradigms of “efficiency”) through the lens of the Global South.
I approach the Global South not simply as a geographic category, but as a geopolitical condition and, at times, as an experimental site through which many technologies and technical systems developed in the Global North are designed and deployed. The broader perspectives and power analyses offered by transnational feminist theories, methods, and methodologies have expanded my research in important ways and enabled me to pursue interdisciplinary work.
This framework has also shaped how I study machine learning technologies and AI, particularly in relation to how these technologies are produced in the Global North and increasingly reshape the future of the Global South.
Alison: My work sits inside of the subfield of rhetoric of science and technology - emphasis on the technology. I’ve been exploring questions about how scientific (or pseudoscientific) knowledge is formed and circulated with the help of technologies and how we might respond to harmful claims (misinformation, for example) at the heart of many public controversies. I integrate a genre theory twist into a lot of my work, thinking about how texts, bodies, cultures, and ideas co-construct one another as we give shape to our thoughts and values. I also found a lot of energy studying emerging writing technologies, and pedagogical approaches to integrating or intentionally resisting the rise of AI tools. Faced with so much uncertainty around these tools, it was exciting to explore them with an attitude of curiosity with my advisor, Dan Card, and my committee member and methods shepherd Lee-Ann Kastman Breuch.
What was your favorite part of WRTC?
Caitlin: The people - I have met so many incredible friends and mentors in this program and I am going to miss all of them deeply. It is an incredible environment in which to work and research.
Asmi: People, I would say. The community in WRTC is a close knit community where everyone supports each other.
Alison: The people! Leaving this community (at least physically and on official university records; once WRTC always WRTC) is the part of graduating about which I become a bit misty eyed. I felt so seen, accepted, hyped up, and supported by this community and strive to make future spaces I’m a part of feel just as collaborative, kind, and communal. I could not have pushed through my final months without the companionship of fellow grad students (from first year cohorts to my cohort members) and the compassionate encouragement of faculty, those on my committee and those who check up with me while passing one another in the hall.
What was your favorite class that you took as a student and why?
Caitlin: WRIT 8550: Embodied Rhetorics with Molly Kessler - it was a grad seminar on rhetoric of health and medicine (RHM) and disability rhetorics. I really appreciated the approach and reading to blend two subfields of rhetoric in a meaningful way. I really enjoyed the folks in that class and the great classroom community we built.
Asmi: One of my favorite courses was WRIT 8520: Humane Futures: Augmentation Technologies & Technical Communication, which I took in Fall 2021 with Ann Hill Duin. The course examined and mapped emerging augmentation technologies while drawing on critical frameworks such as digital literacy and AI literacy to analyze them.
I valued this course because it helped me identify the direction I wanted my research to take very early in my graduate studies. It gave me the opportunity to think critically about technology, technical communication, and future-oriented research. It also led to work that I later developed further in my scholarship. Much of what I learned in that course continues to shape my research today.
Alison: This question is akin to asking my favorite book - how can I choose!? The class that stands out the most was a seminar titled WRIT 8510: Viral Rhetorics taught by John Logie. The course touched on topics like vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, and memes from a variety of rhetorical perspectives, which offered me the chance to think about my area of research in new ways. Each week we were asked to produce a “500 word argument” that Dr. Logie offered formative, intense feedback on which helped me improve my written argumentation skills. This was just one example of how faculty would take our ideas seriously and these mini arguments helped me come into my academic voice as an emerging scholar. I also have to shout out Dan Card’s WRIT 8520: Computational Rhetorics course which gave us GREAT hands-on project experience and exposure to languages like R and the labyrinthian world of GitHub.
What class(es) did you enjoy teaching and why?
Caitlin: WRIT 3577: Rhetoric, Technology, and the Internet - I got to have a lot of freedom and creativity with the seminar course and I had an excellent group of students. It was fun to watch them blossom in rhetorical theory and explore with creative/academic writing assignments they were unsure about initially.
Asmi: I enjoyed teaching all of my courses, especially first-year composition, technical communication, and business writing. One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching business writing and advanced technical communication at UMN was the opportunity to design my own courses. That experience allowed me to shape the curriculum around questions and practices I care deeply about.
When I began teaching advanced technical communication, I had just completed my coursework, which gave me the opportunity to revisit readings alongside my students and learn with them in real time. I also deeply appreciated UMN’s student community - students were thoughtful, engaged, and genuinely enthusiastic about learning. Teaching them was incredibly rewarding, especially because they brought new ideas and perspectives into the classroom.
Alison: I absolutely loved teaching WRIT 3562W: Technical and Professional Writing. This class is a big one, asking students to work through a variety of genres, topics, and skills, and I was always blown away by how students navigated the variety of challenges the course would throw their way. I especially enjoyed working with students on developing their skills as researchers, in this course and in WRIT 1301: University Writing, where they had a chance to dig into a topic, problem, or question that really excited them.
What are your plans for the future?
Caitlin: I'm going to be an Assistant Teaching Professor at Wake Forest University in their Writing Program! This year I'll be teaching a College Writing/First Year Writing seminar that is based on my time teaching WRIT 3577 that I'm calling: "Writing On, About, and With the Internet" - I hope to continue my research as well.
Asmi: I am continuing to teach as a full-time assistant professor at the University of St. Thomas (UST), Minnesota which I started in my fourth year of my PhD. I am so proud that I wrote most of my dissertation while teaching full-time.
I will be hitting the job market for “my dream” Tenure Track position for the next year's job cycle. I see my future in academia - as a space where I can conduct research while also advocating for communities like my own. My work in technical and professional communication is grounded in lived experience, and I am interested in examining how technical documents shape people’s lives.
As a Global South woman with professional experience outside the United States, I bring both academic and experiential perspectives to the field of technical communication. My research is informed not only by theory but also by firsthand experience navigating institutions, workplaces, and technical systems. I hope to continue contributing to scholarship that highlights how technical documents shape the lives, experiences, and futures of communities often left out of these conversations.
Alison: I’ve accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position in the English Department at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. I’m very excited to continue teaching and researching topics in technical, professional, and scientific writing alongside the students and faculty there. I also look forward to planning more hiking trips, both in the nearby bluffs of the Driftless region and across the country.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue a graduate degree in rhetoric, writing studies and technical communication?
Caitlin: Say yes to things - within reason. Don't spread yourself too thin, but sign up for classes that aren't quite in your wheelhouse, apply for the research assistantship, and get involved in teaching a lot of different classes. The variety of WRTC was really important to me and it's a great time to explore before you find your 'niche.' AND you don't have to stick to one area, you can do research and work in multiple sub-sets of the field.
Asmi: I found a strong intellectual home in this field, and I hope others can too. My advice would be to stay curious and trust what perspectives and experiences you bring with you. Rhetoric, writing studies, and technical communication are strengthened by diverse voices and experiences. This is a field that grows through your contribution, wherever you are coming from. You design the field, not the other way around.
Alison: While it seems counterintuitive in a system that feels (and in many ways is) very prestigious and competitive, I highly encourage new grad students to embrace the attitude of “everything’s made up and the points don’t matter,” at least to some extent. This isn’t to discredit the importance of the work you’ll do in grad school but to make space for, and re-emphasize the value of, your intuition, excitement, and whole-personness during the grad school journey. These are the elements that ultimately make for a rich experience (and compelling research!) so making time and mental space to bring them to the center is always worth it (that includes taking breaks, and getting coffee with a friend even in high stress times). Bonus advice: reach out to alums! I for one would be happy to hear from you.
What is one fun fact about you?
Caitlin: I have twins that were born during my first year in the program!
Asmi: If I had not come to the field of technical and professional communication, I probably would have become a journalist working for the BBC as a reporter from Nepal. I am glad I found my place in the field.
Alison: I play the bassoon! I played with the UMN University Philharmonic Orchestra and the UMN Campus Orchestras during my time here (among other community groups). I highly recommend these organizations to anyone. It’s a lovely community with fantastic musicians and it was so vital for me to have a creative processing space away from the world of my dissertation.
