Ben Wetherbee, PhD

I am an Assistant Professor of English and Interdisciplinary Studies and the Coordinator of Writing at The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma — a public liberal arts school in Chickasha, OK — where I teach courses in rhetoric, writing, and literature. My research concerns the theory and history of rhetoric, particularly intersections of rhetoric and cultural evolution, theories of rhetorical invention, and intersections of rhetoric and poetics. I also specialize in writing pedagogy and film studies.

My current book project, Places in the Polity of Rhetoric, brings ancient rhetoric into conversation with postmodern theories of discursive fragmentation, examining cultural evolution through the interaction of human agents and rhetorical topoi. Elsewhere, my work has appeared in The Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics, Present Tense, JAC, The Henry James Review, Literacy in Composition Studies, Ethos Review, Excursions, and the edited collection Reading Mystery Science Theater 3000: Critical Approaches. I frequent the Rhetoric Society of America national conference, the Conference on College Composition and Communication, and the Thomas R. Watson Conference, among others.

My research also fuels my teaching. As a teacher or rhetoric and writing, I want to help students become sophisticated critics of and contributors to the worlds of rhetorical text that surround them. I want students to understand themselves as writers speaking in meaningful conversation with other writers. I want students to merge their own interests and experience with an intellectually rich appreciation of rhetorical invention, style, and audience awareness.

I believe, further, that undergraduate writing should be read, discussed, and celebrated as writing. Toward that end, I have founded and edit The Drover Review, a journal of standout undergraduate writing by USAO students.

I hold a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Louisville, an MA in Rhetoric and Composition from Miami University (Ohio), and a BA in English from the University of Michigan. A Michigan native, hockey fan, and insufferable cold-weather snob, I now live in Norman, OK, with my wife, cats, hamster, guitars, and books.

You can find me on the USAO website, Twitter, Academia.edu, and contact me by email.