Sara Kelm
WBH President
Degree and Focus Area
PhD, Rhetoric and Composition
Previous degrees/universities
MA in English, Baylor University
BA in Writing/Literature, George Fox University
Describe your research and its purpose/applications
I study the intersections of personal narrative/memoir, feminist rhetorics, and composition pedagogy. My dissertation advances a more robust rhetorical definition of memoir by looking at how women who define themselves as professionals in the fields of American comedy, politics, and protestant Christianity--women like Tina Fey, Ali Wong, Sonia Sotomayor, and Nadia Bolz-Weber--build their ethos in their professional memoirs. My master's thesis explored the intersection between composition pedagogy, creative nonfiction (spiritual autobiography), and the spiritual/religious lives of emerging adult undergraduate students.
Conference presentations
“Becoming Ethical Researchers: Graduate Students on the Messiness of Learning Research Methodologies,” Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition, October 2018 (Louisville, KY)
“The Values of Resist!ance: Comics Newspaper Resist! as Feminist Epideictic Rhetoric,” Rhetoric Society of America, June 2018 (Minneapolis, MN)
“Arguing Peacefully: Creating a Nonviolent Composition Classroom within a Violent Public Discourse,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2018 (Kansas City, MO)
“A Conversion Narrative: The Effect of Adapting a Narrative from Paper to Audio on Students…”, Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2017 (Portland, OR)
"Coming to Terms: The Value of Spiritual Identity and Autobiography in the Composition Classroom,” Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, October 2016 (Waco, TX)
“A Dangerous Liaison: Creative Nonfiction and Spiritual Identity in the Composition Classroom,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2015 (Tampa, FL)
"Sharing What We Know: Celebrate and Participate with the SCWCA Newsletter,” South Center Writing Center Association, March 2014 (Stillwater, OK)
“A Failed Success: Divine Right Davenport as a Hero for the Hippie Counterculture,” SW/TX Popular Culture and American Culture Association, February 2012 (Albuquerque, NM)
Why TCU English?
I chose TCU English because of the department's commitment to both teaching and research through the teacher-scholar model. TCU English has knowledgeable and engaging faculty, valuable professional resources, and a supportive graduate community. My thinking has been challenged, my abilities affirmed, and my scholarly interests encouraged at TCU.
What interests you about being involved in WBH?
WBH is an opportunity to engage with my colleagues, both faculty and fellow students, about recent scholarship, professional careers, and personal identities (and the intersections of all three) in a relaxed and open atmosphere.
Fun Fact?
I desperately wanted a pet hedgehog growing up, but I was forced to settle for hermit crabs instead (I named one H.C. Dud because he was so boring.)
PhD, Rhetoric and Composition
Previous degrees/universities
MA in English, Baylor University
BA in Writing/Literature, George Fox University
Describe your research and its purpose/applications
I study the intersections of personal narrative/memoir, feminist rhetorics, and composition pedagogy. My dissertation advances a more robust rhetorical definition of memoir by looking at how women who define themselves as professionals in the fields of American comedy, politics, and protestant Christianity--women like Tina Fey, Ali Wong, Sonia Sotomayor, and Nadia Bolz-Weber--build their ethos in their professional memoirs. My master's thesis explored the intersection between composition pedagogy, creative nonfiction (spiritual autobiography), and the spiritual/religious lives of emerging adult undergraduate students.
Conference presentations
“Becoming Ethical Researchers: Graduate Students on the Messiness of Learning Research Methodologies,” Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition, October 2018 (Louisville, KY)
“The Values of Resist!ance: Comics Newspaper Resist! as Feminist Epideictic Rhetoric,” Rhetoric Society of America, June 2018 (Minneapolis, MN)
“Arguing Peacefully: Creating a Nonviolent Composition Classroom within a Violent Public Discourse,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2018 (Kansas City, MO)
“A Conversion Narrative: The Effect of Adapting a Narrative from Paper to Audio on Students…”, Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2017 (Portland, OR)
"Coming to Terms: The Value of Spiritual Identity and Autobiography in the Composition Classroom,” Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, October 2016 (Waco, TX)
“A Dangerous Liaison: Creative Nonfiction and Spiritual Identity in the Composition Classroom,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2015 (Tampa, FL)
"Sharing What We Know: Celebrate and Participate with the SCWCA Newsletter,” South Center Writing Center Association, March 2014 (Stillwater, OK)
“A Failed Success: Divine Right Davenport as a Hero for the Hippie Counterculture,” SW/TX Popular Culture and American Culture Association, February 2012 (Albuquerque, NM)
Why TCU English?
I chose TCU English because of the department's commitment to both teaching and research through the teacher-scholar model. TCU English has knowledgeable and engaging faculty, valuable professional resources, and a supportive graduate community. My thinking has been challenged, my abilities affirmed, and my scholarly interests encouraged at TCU.
What interests you about being involved in WBH?
WBH is an opportunity to engage with my colleagues, both faculty and fellow students, about recent scholarship, professional careers, and personal identities (and the intersections of all three) in a relaxed and open atmosphere.
Fun Fact?
I desperately wanted a pet hedgehog growing up, but I was forced to settle for hermit crabs instead (I named one H.C. Dud because he was so boring.)
