2025 Bedford New Scholars Advisory Board

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Bedford/St. Martin's is pleased to announce the participants in the 2025 Bedford New Scholars Advisory Board!

This year's Bedford New Scholars are:

	Janette Byrd is a PhD student and graduate assistant in rhetoric and composition at the University of Arkansas (U of A) where she teaches first year composition, technical writing, and style for professional writers. Janette recognizes every student in her classroom as a rhetor and embraces a social justice focused pedagogy. Janette completed her MA in applied cultural anthropology at Oregon State University (OSU) where she studied food in culture and social justice and was a peer reviewer for the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Janette is the program director on a National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant at the U of A and previously served as assistant editor of the ADVANCE Journal at OSU. Current research interests include how systems, such as the criminal justice system, are narratively constructed, and the intersections of rhetoric and literacy in narrative change and system reform efforts. (Janette was recommended by Megan McIntyre.)
	Courtney Crisp is a PhD candidate in Rhetoric and Composition with a specialization in Writing Across the Curriculum programming at Ball State University. Their research and pedagogical interests center rhetoric in popular culture, anti-racism, and linguistic justice. As they continue to teach first-year composition courses at both Ball State as well as a local community college, Courtney continues to research the ways that culture, embodiment, and experience shape students' perceptions of their roles as writers, scholars, and community members. (Courtney was recommended by Michael Donnelly.)
	Greg Gillespie is a PhD student in Rhetoric, Writing, & Linguistics and teaches first-year composition at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He also tutors and coaches at the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center. His research interests include multimodal composition pedagogy, L2 writing, and technical/professional communication. Greg draws on 15 years of experience in the government and corporate sector to use engaging pedagogy in the classroom in addition to building supportive networks among graduate students and newer instructors. (Greg was recommended by Sean Morey.)
	Jackson Martin is pursuing his MA in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition at North Carolina State University. Jackson’s research interests include writing studies, pedagogy, writing program administration, digital rhetorics, and ambient rhetorics. Jackson has taught a range of courses, including various high school English Language Arts classes and first-year writing at North Carolina State University. Jackson values teaching multimodality, linguistic diversity, and genre studies in the classroom. (Jackson was recommended by Chris Anson.)
	Marie Nour Nakhle is a PhD Candidate at the University of Connecticut studying Romanticism, with an emphasis on the figure of the critic in Romantic writing. She is also the Assistant Director for the First-Year Writing Program, where she works closely with colleagues on all aspects of the program, including planning professional development opportunities for instructors and providing teaching support. In her role, she also joined Director Dr. Lisa Blansett and former Assistant Director Mckenzie Bergan in writing a textbook for the program. (Marie Nour was recommended by Lisa Blansett.)
	Shelby Ramsey is a PhD candidate in Rhetoric and Composition at Florida State University where she currently teaches first-year composition, upper-level courses in FSU's Editing, Writing, & Media program, and other courses in English studies more broadly. Her research interests include inclusive and anti-oppression pedagogies, digital writing, and writing technologies. She is particularly interested in how students engage with generative AI critically through their own writing processes, reflection, and most recently, peer review. Her other ongoing work explores how digital writing classrooms can better support linguistic justice, accessibility, and students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. In addition to her teaching and research, she has served as an elected liaison between the graduate student organization and the College Composition Program (FYC), and she has helped manage the FSU Museum of Everyday Writing where she mentors undergraduate students. She holds a BA and MA in English from the University of Alabama. (Shelby was recommended by Elias Dominguez Barajas.)
	Allison Steinmeyer is a PhD candidate in Rhetoric and Digital Humanities at the University of Oklahoma (OU). She has taught First-Year Composition, Native American Children’s and Young Adult literature, and various multidisciplinary classes within the university. She is also the Assistant Director for the OU Honors College Writing Center. Throughout her time at OU she has assisted the FYC Online development team in creating virtual assignments, and constructing the Honors College Writing Assistant curriculum. Allison’s research interests include rhetorical theory, pedagogy, digital humanities, and Indigenous methodologies. For her dissertation, she is working on a project that examines structures of belonging in Indigenous society that contribute to or destroy a longing for displaced Native peoples to be part of their home communities. (Allison was recommended by Roxanne Mountford)
	Ryan Vojtisek is a PhD student in Public Rhetoric & Community Engagement at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In his research, he uses psychoanalysis to explore how political feelings, disingenuous rhetorics, and contradictions influence conceptual formations of (anti-)democratic publics and citizenship. He is UWM Writing Center’s Graduate Assistant Coordinator and, in fall, will serve on the UWM composition program’s Graduate Teaching Assistant Training and Mentorship Team. He has taught Composition 1 and 2, Business Writing, and Technoscience writing wherein he strives to help students embrace human collaboration's value to writing and revising. He’s committed to departmental community formation and serves as English Department Policy Committee Graduate Student Representative and Co-Chairs UWM's chapter of Rhetoric Society of America. (Ryan was recommended by Shevaun Watson.)