Research
I decided to begin a career researching rhetoric, technology, and race during my time as a user content specialist at Yahoo. My embodied experiences as a Black woman motivated me to look deeper into the ways that race serves as a technology as explained by Ruha Benjamin (2019). As a trained rhetorician, I became curious about how language can serve as a host for this framing of race. I transitioned from being a tech industry professional to an academic with the following question guiding my research: what is the nature of the reciprocal relationships between race and technologies? I channel my responses to this inquiry through rhetorical criticism, community literacy studies, and writing studies. These disciplinary approaches guide me through unpacking language as it is socially situated in the artifacts and cultures that I study. Drawing on Gilyard and Banks’ (2018) call for scholars to be attentive to the composing practices of Black rhetors in settings outside of school, I work to answer my research question at sites within family and local communities.
Curriculum Vitae
Below, you will find a short and curated version of my CV. Please contact me for a copy of my expanded CV.
EDUCATION
The Ohio State University | Columbus, OH
Doctor of Philosophy in English, August 2020
Concentration: Rhetoric, Composition, & Literacy
Dissertation: Hospitable Literacies: The Writing and Rhetorical Practices of Black Family Reunions Online and Offline
Committee: Beverly J. Moss (Chair), Christa Teston, and Scott L. DeWitt
Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI
Master of Arts in Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing, May 2013
Advisor: Jeffrey T. Grabill
Spelman College | Atlanta, GA
Bachelor of Arts in English, May 2010
PEER-REVIWED PUBLICATIONS
Allen, Laura L. “Handling Family Business: Technical Communication Literacies in Black Family Reunions.” Technical Communication Quarterly, special issue on Black Technical and Professional Communication, vol. 31, no. 3, 2022, pp. 229-244. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2022.2069290
Allen, Laura L., and Gavin P. Johnson. “Driving Innovation: Analyzing Mobile Ridesharing App Interfaces and Moving Toward Community-Based User Experience (CBX)” Technical Communication, special issue on Digital Interface Analysis and Social Justice. Accepted for publication. Forthcoming November 2023.
Work In Progress
Morris, Christopher., and Laura L. Allen. “Mentorship, Kinship, and Professional Development Among Black Scholars in Writing Studies: A Narrative Ethnography” Technical Communication Quarterly, special issue on (Re)Defining ‘Professional’ in Technical and Professional Communication. Abstract accepted May 2, 2023. Manuscript (under review) submitted August 11, 2023.
Allen, Laura L. “Kinship Rhetorics: Unpacking Black Familial Ethos Online and Offline” Article under review. Submitted July 2023.
UNIVERSITY TEACHING APPOINTMENTS
York University, Writing Department
Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetorics of Advocacy
- Writing in Digital Cultures | Fall 2022
- Rhetoric: Strategy & Application | Fall 2022
- Activist Rhetorics | Fall 2020, 2021, Winter 2023
- Race and Culture in Professional Writing| Winter 2021, Winter 2023
- Graduate Café for Dissertation Writers | Fall 2020, Winter 2021
The Ohio State University, Department of English
Graduate Teaching Associate (Instructor of Record)
- Digital Media Composing | English 2269 | Spring 2019, Autumn 2018
- Second-Year Writing | English 2367 | Spring 2018, Autumn 2017
- First-Year Composition | English 1110 | Spring 2017, Autumn 2016
Michigan State University, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures,
Graduate Assistant Instructor (Instructor of Record)
- Writing the American Ethnic and Racial Experience | WRA 125 | Spring 2013, Fall 2012
- Writing the Evolution of American Thought | WRA 150 | Spring 2012, Fall 2011
ADMINISTRATIVE APPOINTMENTS
Appointments Committee, York University
Chair | Fall 2022
Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Program, The Ohio State University
Graduate Administrative Associate | Summer 2018 – Spring 2020
Professional Writing Minor Program, The Ohio State University
Graduate Administrative Associate | Spring 2018
Buckeye Language Network – Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
The Ohio State University
Graduate Administrative and Research Associate | 2017, 2018, and 2019
Digital Media and Composition Institute (DMAC), The Ohio State University
Co-Associate Director | 2018, 2019
Social Media Specialist | 2017
RELEVANT WORK EXPERIENCE
Yahoo!
User Content Specialist | August 2013 – July 2015
- Wrote and published troubleshooting articles for help.yahoo.com. Recommended changes to existing articles to ensure information was accurate and easy to navigate for all users. Communicated technical issues to users with varying levels of computer literacy.
SELECT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
“Intersectional Rhetorics of Technology”
Roundtable with Krista Kennedy, Laura Gonzales, Ames Hawkins, and Sonia Arellano
Rhetoric Society of America Conference
Virtual – May 2022
“#InvitedToTheCookout: Black Family Reunion Rhetoric Online and Offline”
Black Communities Conference
Carolina Theater – Durham, NC | September 2019
“Decolonizing Digital Pedagogy: Teaching with Mobile Technologies”
Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance Collaboratory (HASTAC) Conference
University of British Columbia – Vancouver, BC | May 2019
“Do We Count!?: Documenting the Lived Experiences of Black Women Graduate Students in the Community-Engaged Classroom”
Co-Presenter with Amelia Lawson, Conference on College Composition and Communication
David L. Lawrence Convention Center – Pittsburgh, PA | March 2019
“Sustaining Black Family Reunions in the Digital Era”
Intentionally Digital, Intentionally Black: The African American History, Culture, and Digital Humanities (AADHum) Conference
University of Maryland – College Park. College Park, MD | October 2018
“Mobile Technologies: A Mini-Workshop on Pedagogy, Identity, and Mobile Technologies”
Co-Presenter with Gavin Johnson, Computers and Writing Conference
George Mason University – Fairfax, VA | June 2018
“Rhetoric and the Reclamation of Black Women’s Digital Histories”
Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference
University of Dayton – Dayton, OH | October 2017
SELECT INVITED PRESENTATIONS
“Closing Panel: Imagination and the Way Forward”
Panelist, Digital Pedagogy Lab
University of Mary Washington – Fredericksburg, VA | July 2018
“Teaching with Mobile Technologies”
Co-Presenter, Digital Media and Composition Institute
The Ohio State University – Columbus, OH | May 2018
“Digital Blackness and Online Algorithm Rhetoric”
Digital Media and Composition Institute
The Ohio State University – Columbus, OH | May 2017
“Academia and Industry: My Path Towards a Career in Rhetoric and Composition” Buckeye Language Network’s REU Summer Lunch Series
The Ohio State University – Columbus, OH | June 2016
“Multimodal Composing and Race”
Panelist, Digital Media and Composition Institute
The Ohio State University – Columbus, OH | May 2016
WORKSHOPS
“From ‘Crisis’ to the Classroom: AI, Generative Text, and Digital Composing”
Co-Facilitator with Gavin P. Johnson, English Department Professional Development (Virtual)
University of Maryland, College Park – College Park, MD | August 2023
“Composing with Mobile Technologies”
Workshop Co-Facilitator with Gavin Johnson, Digital Media and Composition Institute
Ohio State University – Columbus, OH | May 2019
“The Politics of the Interface: 25 Years Later”
Workshop Co-Facilitator with Gavin Johnson, Digital Media and Composition Institute
Ohio State University – Columbus, OH | May 2019
“Mobile Technologies and Composing: Smartphones, Pedagogy, and Social Diversity”
Digital Pedagogy Lab
University of Mary Washington – Fredericksburg, VA | July 2018
AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Nell Ann Picket Award
Association of Teachers of Technical Writing
June 2023
Genevieve M. Critel Fellowship in Digital Media
Ohio State English Department
Columbus, OH, May 2019
Scholars for the Dream Award
Conference on College Composition and Communication
Pittsburgh, PA, March 2019
The Edward J. Ray Travel Award for Scholarship and Service
The Ohio State University Council of Graduate Students
Columbus, OH, February 2019
African American History, Culture, and Digital Humanities Graduate Travel Grant
Intentionally Digital, Intentionally Black Conference
University of Maryland – College Park, October 2018
Kitty O. Locker Small Research Grant
Ohio State Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Program
The Ohio State University, September 2018
Digital Pedagogy Lab Fellowship
University of Mary Washington, August 2018