Department of English University of Massachusetts Lowell 61 Wilder Street Lowell, MA 01854

Jenna Vinson

(978) 934-4655 jenna_vinson@uml.edu jennavinson.com

EDUCATION

PhD	Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English University of Arizona, May 2013 Minor in Gender and Women’s Studies
	Dissertation: “Teenage Mothers as Rhetors and Rhetoric: An Analysis of Embodied Exigence and Constrained Agency” Drs. Adela C. Licona (Chair), Amy Kimme Hea, and Sally Stevens Comprehensive Exams, Pass with Distinction, Oct. 2010
MA	Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English University of Arizona, Dec. 2008
BA	English and Creative Writing University of Arizona, May 2006 Summa Cum Laude

Research and Teaching Interests: Visual Rhetoric, Counter-narratives, Feminist Theory and Pedagogy, Motherhood Studies, Embodied Rhetoric, Professional Writing, Action-Oriented Research and Service Learning

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT

2013-Present	Assistant Professor of English University of Massachusetts Lowell
2010-2013	Crossroads Collaborative Scholar University of Arizona Selected to participate as a funded scholar on this Ford Foundation interdisciplinary grant. Collaborated on qualitative, quantitative, and policy- relevant studies of youth, sexuality, health, and rights in Arizona.
2006-2013	Graduate Associate in Teaching University of Arizona

PUBLICATIONS

Book Vinson, Jenna. Embodying the Problem: The Persuasive Power of the Teen Mother. Rutgers UP, 2017.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles Vinson, Jenna, and Sally Stevens. “Preventing Pregnancy OR Supporting Students? Learning from the Stories of Young Mothers.” Sexuality Research and Social Policy, vol. 11, no. 4, Dec. 2014, pp. 322-36, doi: 10.1007/s13178-014-0157-6.

Stevens, Sally, Elisabeth Morgan-Thompson, Jenna Vinson, Alison Greene, Claudia Powell, Adela Licona, and Stephen Russell. “Informing Sexuality Education through Youth- Generated Anonymous Questions.” Sex Education: Sexuality, Society, and Learning, vol. 13, no. 1, Aug. 2013, pp. S84-S90.

Vinson, Jenna. “Covering National Concerns about Teenage Pregnancy: A Visual Rhetorical Analysis of Images of the Pregnant Teenage Body.” Feminist Formations, vol. 24, no. 2, 2012, pp. 140-62.

Vinson, Jenna. “Spatial Shock: Space, Place, and the Politics of Representation.” Spatial Praxis. Special issue of Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, vol. 16, no. 3, 2012, http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/16.3/praxis/hea-et-al/vinson/index.html.

Book Chapters Vinson, Jenna, and Sally Stevens. “I Was the One Who Opened My Legs: The Tropes and Consequences of Blaming Pregnant and Mothering Teens.” Mother-Blame Game, edited by Vanessa Reimer and Sarah Sahagian, Demeter Press, 2015, pp. 82-104.

Vinson, Jenna. “More Than Just a Website for Young Mamas: Girl-Mom Members’ Strategies for Countering the Dominant Perception of Teen Motherhood.” Motherhood Online, edited by Michelle Moravec. Cambridge Scholars, 2011, pp. 98-116.

Vinson, Jenna. “Mothers & More: Fighting ‘Invisimomibility’ to Make Mothering Count.” 21 ^st Century Motherhood Movement, edited by Andrea O’Reilly, Demeter Press, 2011, pp.

362-472.

Reviews Vinson, Jenna. Review of Zines in Third Space: Radical Cooperation and Borderlands Rhetoric by Adela C. Licona. Community Literacy Journal, vol. 9, no. 1, 2014, pp. 92-5.

Vinson, Jenna. Review of Respect Yourself, Protect Yourself: Latina Girls and Sexual Identity by Lorena Garcia. Community Literacy Journal, vol. 8, no.1, 2013, pp.127-30.

Research Briefs Stevens, Sally, Leah S. Stauber, Jenna Vinson, and the Crossroads Collaborative. “Sexuality Education: Innovating in Sexual Health Education.” Crossroads Connections, vol. 2, no. 2, 2013, https://mcclellandinstitute.arizona.edu/publications.

Vinson, Jenna. “Busting Myths: Confronting Assumptions about Teenage Pregnancy and Motherhood.” Crossroads Connections vol. 2, no.1, 2013, https://mcclellandinstitute.arizona.edu/publications.

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ACADEMIC AWARDS

UMass Lowell’s Chancellor’s 2020 Community Impact Grant, 2018 ($3,000), co-recipient with Dr. Urmitapa Dutta (Psychology Dept) Centennial Achievement Award for Doctoral Student, 2012 ($500) Tilly Warnock Fellowship, 2012 ($3,000) Graduate College Fellowship, 2006 ($3,000) Richard A. Harvill Fellowship, 2006 ($12,000)

TRAVEL GRANTS

Ford Foundation Funding for Sexuality Research Grantee Convening, 2012 ($1,060) Crossroads Collaborative Travel Grant, 2012 ($440) Women’s Studies Advisory Council Travel Grant, 2012 ($100) Graduate Professional Student Council Travel Grant, 2012 ($500) Crossroads Collaborative Travel Grant, 2011 ($690) Women’s Studies Advisory Council Travel Grant, 2009 ($400) Graduate Professional Student Council Travel Grant, 2010 ($450)

CONFERENCES

National and International Conference Presentations “Subverting ‘Teen Pregnancy’: New Action and Research on the Politics of Young Pregnancy and Parenthood” (Roundtable). National Women’s Studies Association Conference. Atlanta, GA. Nov. 2018.

“Confronting the Stranger on the Street: Exploring Everyday Public Spaces as Rhetorical Arenas for Marginalized Teen Mothers.” International Society for the History of Rhetoric Conference. United Kingdom. July 2017.

“Cultivating a Collection of Journalistic Photographs for Analysis: The Nitty-Gritty of Visual Rhetorical Research in Composition Studies.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Portland, OR. Mar. 2017.

“Changing Rhetorics of Teen Parenthood: The Transformational Tactics of the #NoTeenShame Campaign.” Rhetoric Society of America Conference. Atlanta, GA. May 2016.

“Portraying Precarious Bodies: A Visual Rhetorical Analysis of Journalistic Photographs of the Teenage Pregnancy ‘Crisis.’” National Women’s Studies Association Conference. Milwaukee, WI. Nov. 2015.

“Mamas Making Waves: Rhetorics of Resistance in the #NoTeenShame Social Media Campaign.” Feminism(s) and Rhetoric(s) Conference. Phoenix, AZ. Oct. 2015.

“‘I Was the One Who Opened My Legs’: Lessons Women Learn from the Cultural Discourse of Teen Pregnancy Prevention” (Panel Presentation) and “Community Action Research Collaboration at the Crossroads of Literacies and Sexualities” (Roundtable). International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society Conference. Dublin, Ireland. June 2015.

“The Risks and Rewards of Public Writing, Pedagogy, and Activism for Junior Faculty in

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Rhetoric and Composition.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Tampa, FL. Mar. 2015.

“Building a Border between Children and Adults: The Social Construction and Rhetorical Function of Adolescence.” Rhetoric Society of American Conference. San Antonio, TX. May 2014.

“(Teen) Mama Knows Best?: The Role of Experts, Editors, and Experimental Knowledge in Testimonies about Teenage Pregnancy.” Feminism(s) and Rhetoric(s) Conference. Palo Alto, CA. Sept. 2013.

“Putting Feminist Rhetorical Analysis to Public Use: Methods and Ethical Implications of Community Research Briefs.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Las Vegas, NV. Mar. 2013.

“Do You Know Who the Father Is?: A Rhetorical Analysis of Confrontations Between Strangers and Teenage Mothers.” Rhetoric Society of America Conference. Philadelphia, PA. May

2012.

“Embodied Exigence: Teenage Pregnancy as Kairotic for Rhetorical Exchange.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. St. Louis, MO. Mar. 2012.

“Teenage Mom Counter-Narratives Within and Without the Web: Theorizing Web-Based Feminist Narrative Analysis.” Feminism(s) & Rhetoric(s) Conference. Mankato, MN. Oct. 2011.

“Responding to Community Exigencies: Resistance as Seizing Kairotic Moments for Writing and Public Action.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Atlanta, GA. Apr. 2011.

“Beyond the Seminar Paper: Supporting Feminist Activist Rhetoric in Graduate Courses.” 20 ^th Anniversary Feminist Workshop Retrospective. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Atlanta, GA. Apr. 2011.

“The Potentials and Paradoxes of Teenage Mother Narratives as Counter-Rhetorics.” National Women’s Studies Association Conference. Denver, CO. Nov. 2010.

“Critiquing the Move: The Embodied Exigence of the Pregnant Teen Mother and the Disembodied Scholar.” Feminism(s) & Rhetoric(s) Conference. Lansing, MI. Oct. 2009.

“Surveilling Women’s Bodies: What Does the Rhetoric Against Teenage Pregnancy Do for Women?” Feminism(s) & Rhetoric(s) Conference. Little Rock, AR. Oct. 2007.

Regional Conference Presentations “Observing Place or Strolling Space?: The Potentials of ‘Strolling’ as an Analytical Practice.” Western States Rhetoric and Literacy Conference: Places. Tempe, AZ. Oct. 2011.

“Confronting Social Change and Agency in Service-Learning” (Roundtable). Western States Rhetoric and Literacy Conference. Salt Lake City, UT. Oct. 2009.

“Countering Images of Teen Mothers in the Media: Rhetorical Strategies of Resistance on Girl-

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Mom.com.” Southwest Texas Popular/America Cultural Conference. Albuquerque, NM. Feb. 2009.

“Villainous Experts vs. Magical Strippers: Investigating the Rhetorical Strategies of Teen Mothers’ Counter-Narratives.” New Directions in Critical Theory Conference. Tucson, AZ. Apr. 2007.

“From Christian Morality to Hyper-sexuality: Disney’s Adaptation of The Little Mermaid.” Southwest Texas Popular/America Cultural Conference. Albuquerque, NM. Feb. 2007.

INVITED PRESENTATIONS

Keynotes “Changing the Culture: Moving from Stigma to Support in Working with Young Families.” Keynote Presentation for Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Grand Rounds. Boston, MA. Mar. 2018.

“Defining Our Successes Means Defining Our Obstacles.” Keynote Presentation at Summit for Teen Empowerment and Parenting Success. Northeastern University. Boston, MA. July 2015.

“Re-Producing Pathologies: The Problems with the Stories We Tell about Teen Moms in Pregnancy Prevention Campaigns.” Invited Presentation for Baruch College Public Affairs Faculty Research Seminar. New York, NY. Apr. 2014.

“Youth-Centered Action Research: Fostering an Inclusive Civil Discourse.” Keynote

Presentation at New Start Academic Conference with Londie Martin. Tucson, AZ. July

2011.

Guest Lectures “Activist Scholarship.” Invited Participant in Interdisciplinary Roundtable Panel Discussion for Dr. Urmitapa Dutta’s Community Psychology Graduate Course. UMass Lowell. Oct. 2017.

“Busting Myths about Teenage Pregnancy.” Special Presentation for Dr. Maureen Kelly’s Adolescent Development Course in Family Studies. University of Arizona. Mar. 2011.

“Teen Moms in the Media: Gender, Race, and Class Stereotypes.” Special Presentation for Dr. Marissa Juarez’s Freshman Composition Course. University of Arizona. June 2010.

INVITED COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS

“How to be an Effective Teen Parent Ally.” Workshop for nonprofit and youth-organization representatives attending the Annual Summit for Teen Empowerment and Parenting Success (STEPS). Simmons College. June 2017.

“Busting Myths about Teenage Pregnancy and Responding to Street Harassment” Workshop for young parents at STEPS. Simmons College. July 2016.

“‘Aren’t You Too Young to Be a Parent?’ Dealing with Confrontational Strangers and the Myths of Teenage Pregnancy.” Workshop for young parents at STEPS, with young parent

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ambassador Louisha Laguerre. Northeastern University. July 2015.

“How to Write the College Application Essay.” Writing workshop for Lowell High School students in the Gear Up Program, with Dr. Matthew Hurwitz. July 2014 and July 2015.

“How to Write a Resume.” Workshop at Teen Outreach Pregnancy Services. Tucson, AZ. Jan.

2012.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

University of Massachusetts, Lowell Visual Rhetoric (5 sections) Upper-division course that introduces English majors to the theory and practice of visual communication. Students learn to critically read images as arguments, exploring whether and how visual representations persuade audiences and communicate culturally specific meanings about race, gender, class, sexuality, age, nationality, and difference. Writing about Women (2 sections) Upper-division course that prepares students to write about women with a critical understanding of how sexist oppression has limited women as writers, how cultural representations of women may perpetuate gendered stereotypes, and how women have used language to creatively challenge gendered norms and inequalities. Students practice critical reflection, textual analysis, and writing for target audiences beyond the classroom. In spring 2017, the course included a special focus on (re)writing women into history for an audience of Lowell High School students. Rhetoric(s) of Social Movements: Writing for Social Change (2 sections) Upper-division course that examines the communication strategies used to build social movements and agitate for social change. Students are introduced to social movement studies and analyze primary documents from movements in the 1960s in order to ultimately evaluate the persuasive tactics of contemporary social movements. Special attention is paid to the role journalists and other writers play in promoting or rejecting social change. Theories of Rhetoric and Composition (3 sections) Upper-division course that introduces English majors to the history, theories, and discourse conventions of the field of rhetoric and composition. In this discussion-based course, students write analytical papers, facilitate class discussion, share research from the field, and write a final research paper on a topic of their choice. Introduction to Professional Writing (3 sections) Introduces students to journalism, technical writing, and business communication while emphasizing the importance of rhetorical theory and genre research. All assignments call for students to write for public audiences beyond the classroom, including one service- learning project. Personal and Reflective Writing (1 section) Upper-division course for English majors that focuses on personal writing genres, reflective writing practices, and the socio-political implications of making the personal public. Students write, workshop, and revise a series of essays based on their lived experiences while keeping track of their growth and setbacks as a writer by writing daily in a journal.

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Principles of Technical Writing (2 sections) Upper-division course focused on rhetorical strategies and communications technologies appropriate to technical writing situations. Students plan, create, and user-test projects such as technical documentations, resumes, proposals, reports, websites, and other genres as they work with local community non-profits on real technical writing needs. First-Year Composition II: Rhetorical Analysis and Research (1 section) Assignments in this course emphasized classical rhetorical and gender analysis; research; public argument; reflection; and revision. Students examined community-based controversies and composed in multiple modes and genres.

University of Arizona Business Writing (2 sections) Students studied workplace practices, business communications, and writing on behalf of an organization through client-based projects and case studies. Assignments included memos, emails, job search materials, proposals, reports, and promotional documents. Advanced Composition (4 sections) Upper-division, writing-intensive course focused on how language shapes personal experience and community beliefs. Assignments included reflective portfolios, rhetorical analyses, creative non-fiction essays, public arguments, and blogs. Students participated in a student-based university writing contest and public reading event. Technical Writing (1 section) Compressed 8-week, upper-division course focused on rhetorical strategies and communications technologies appropriate to technical writing situations. Students created usability tests, quick reference cards, resumes, proposals, reports, and websites. Writing Center Internship Course (1 section) Collaborated with three instructors to team teach students to work at the writing center as a paid tutor. Assignments and readings emphasized non-hierarchical, collaborative, and student-initiated approaches to tutoring. First-Year Composition I: Textual Analysis and Writing (2 sections) This course focuses on close reading, textual analysis, reflection, and revision. Students examined issues of identity, social justice, and education while exchanging literacy narratives about their college experiences with local high school students. First-Year Composition II: Rhetorical Analysis and Research (6 sections) Assignments in this course emphasized classical rhetorical, visual-spatial, and gender analysis; research; public argument; reflection; and revision. Students examined community-based controversies and composed in multiple modes and genres. Women and Western Culture (1 section) Three-week, online course focused on how gender is conceptualized, embodied, and resisted by women rhetors from the classical Greek period to the present. Assignments included reading quizzes, discussion board posts, reflective papers, a rhetorical research project, and a final essay exam.

TEACHING AWARDS and GRANTS

English Department Excellence in Teaching Award, UML, 2016 Award for Innovations in Teaching: Applied and Experiential Learning, UML, 2014 Student/Faculty Interaction Grant, UA, 2010 ($300)

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Writing Program Funds to Foster Collaboration Grant, UA, 2010 ($140) Student/Faculty Interaction Grant, UA, 2009 ($500) Writing Program Funds to Foster Collaboration Grant, UA, 2009 ($200)

SERVICE

National
2018	External Reviewer, Rutgers University Press. Reviewed book manuscript for potential publication.
2017	External Reviewer, Educational Studies: A Journal of the American Educational Studies Association. Reviewed journal article manuscript for publication.
2016	External Reviewer, MacMillan Learning. Reviewed one textbook.
2015	Panel Discussant, “Mothering from the Margins: Borderlands Mothers Navigating Boundaries of Socio-Civic Legitimacy and (Counter-)Hegemonic Authority.” National Women’s Studies Association Conference. Nov. 2015.
2013	External Reviewer, Feminist Formations. Reviewed journal article manuscript for publication.
2013	External Reviewer, Ashgate Publishing. Reviewed book manuscript and wrote endorsement for book jacket.

University of Massachusetts Lowell University

2018	Invited Panelist, Office of Multicultural Affair’s “Leadership Through Service:
	Celebrating Women Who Serve” High Tea event. March 22, 2018.
2017-Present	Member, Faculty Success Sub-committee of the Transformational Education Committee working on the university’s 2020 strategic plan.
2017-Present	Faculty co-advisor, UML (Student) Parents Club, with Susan Thomson Tripathy
2017-Present	Member, Gender Studies Steering Committee
2017-2018	CWW Representative, UML Women’s Day Planning Committee.
2015-2017	Faculty Senator, English Department
2015	Volunteer, Ally Space Program “You Can Play” Tsongas Center athletic event encouraging pledged support of LGBTQ student athletes

English Department

2017-Present

Member, Curriculum Committee

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2014-Present	Co-Chair (as of 2015), Assessment Committee
2014-Present	Reviewer, Journalism and Professional Writing Concentration Student Awards
2013-Present	Member, Experiential Learning Committee

University of Arizona

2013	Member, Rhetoric Composition and Teaching of English (RCTE) Graduate
	Admissions Committee.
2008-2013	Founding member, Family Advocacy Coalition for English Students (FACES) English Graduate Union subcommittee that developed supports for parenting students on campus.
2008-2010	Mentorship Coordinator, University of Arizona RCTE Program
2009	Event Facilitator for Dr. Vivyan Adair and “The Missing Story of Ourselves” Responded to campus-community tragedy by facilitating this scholar’s visit to the University of Arizona with her critically relevant photo-narrative exhibition. Nominated for a Student Excellence Award for these efforts.
2007-2010	Graduate Student Mentor, University of Arizona

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH

2014-Present	Research Associate, UMass Lowell Center for Women and Work
2015, 2014	Volunteer, Teen Parent Lobby Day for MA Alliance on Teenage Pregnancy
2014	Volunteer judge, Middlesex Community College E-Portfolio Showcase
2009-2013	Founding member, Feminist Action Research in Rhetoric (FARR) Coalition of scholars and activists of public rhetoric who facilitate community discussions, performances, and events related to urgent social issues in Tucson.
2006-2013	Volunteer, Teen Outreach Pregnancy Services (T.O.P.S.)
2011	Writing Coach, YWCA’s Nuestra Voz Youth Manifesto Writing Jam, May 15 th
2007-2009	Service-Learning Coordinator, The Writing Program, University of Arizona Coordinated Wildcat Writers, a service-learning initiative that gives high school students an opportunity to learn about college and encourages college students to get involved in the community.

WRITING PROGRAM ADMINSTRATION

2015, 2014

Summer Writing Placement Administration and Evaluation, UMass Lowell Facilitated a “mock classroom” and writing placement exam for incoming

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freshman students. Evaluated writing exams to determine student placement into first-year writing sequence.

2007-2010	Placement Advisor, The Writing Program, University of Arizona Developed and facilitated first-year composition information sessions during freshman orientation. Assessed student portfolios for placement review and advised students on their composition courses.
2008	Graduate Coordinator, The Writing Center, University of Arizona Trained undergraduate students to work in the writing center as paid tutors. Hired tutors for online-tutoring project and managed incoming high school student essays from that project. Monitored the payroll of participating tutors.
2007	Intern, The Writing Program, University of Arizona Worked with Writing Program Director on outreach projects. Organized professional development events for local high school teachers and counselors. Collaborated with the Office of Admission’s Minority Student Recruitment Office on a community outreach grant that aimed to improve high school students’ college application essays.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

American Studies Association Coalition of Feminist Scholars in History of Rhetoric and Composition Conference on College Composition and Communication National Council for Teachers of English National Women’s Studies Association Rhetoric Society of America

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