Kathryn Gindlesparger, PhD
Director, Professional and Strategic Writing
Director, University Writing Program
Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric
Contact Information
Director, Professional and Strategic Writing
Director, University Writing Program
Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric
Education
PhD, English - Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English, University of Arizona (2010)
MA, English - Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English, University of Arizona (2005)
BA, English, Minor; Women’s Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2003)
Publications
Gindlesparger, Kathryn. Opening Ceremony: Inviting Inclusion into Faculty Governance. University of Minnesota Press, 2023. https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/opening-ceremony
“Showing Up and Eking Out.” Jenn Fishman, Stephanie Kerschbaum, Sharon Mitchler, Debbie Hawhee, Kathryn Gindlesparger, Sarah Singer, Jess Restaino, Amy Wan. Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics, vol. 7. no.1, 2022, http://journalofmultimodalrhetorics.com/7-1-fishman-et-al
Gindlesparger, Kathryn J. “Trust on Display: The Epideictic Potential of Institutional Governance.” College English, vol. 83 no. 2, 2020, pp.127-146. https://library.ncte.org/journals/ce/issues/v83-2
Gindlesparger, Kathryn J. “Connecting Reflection and Genre Analysis in a Writing for Nonprofit Course.” Prompt: A Journal of Academic Writing Assignments. vol. 3, no.1, 2019. http://thepromptjournal.com/index.php/prompt
Gindlesparger, Kathryn J. “‘Share Your Awesome Time with Others’: Interrogating Privilege and Identification in the Study Abroad Blog.” College English, vol. 81, no.1, 2018, pp. 7-26. http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/CE/0811-sep18/CE0811Sept18Share.pdf
Gindlesparger, Kathryn J. and Holly Ryan. “Feminist Fissures: Navigating Conflict in Mentoring Relationships.” Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition, vol. 19, no. 1, 2017, pp. 54-69. https://cfshrc.org/article/feminist-fissures-navigating-conflict-in-mentoring-relationships/
Gindlesparger, Kathryn J. “Introduction to Activism: Rhetoric, Social Justice, and Professionally-Oriented Students.” Peace Studies Journal, vol. 9, no. 1, 2016, pp. 107-119. http://peacestudiesjournal.org/volume-9-issue-1-march-2016/
Gindlesparger, Kathryn J. “Snapshot of a Tenure Decision.” Writing Program Administration, vol. 35, no. 1, 2011, pp. 152-155. http://wpacouncil.org/archives/35n1/35n1symposium.pdf
Gindlesparger, Kathryn J. “The Sadder the Story, the Bigger the Check: Reciprocity as an Answer to Organizational Deficit Models.” Community Literacy Journal, vol. 5, no. 1, 2010, 91-105.
Certifications
Certificate in Youth Development, The University of Arizona, 2008
Research Interests
Kathryn J. Gindlesparger is the director of the University Writing Program, which won a National Council of Teachers of English Certificate of Excellence in 2020. She studies how language invites and restricts access to higher education. Particular areas of interest within Rhetoric and Composition include ceremonial (epideictic) rhetorics, composition pedagogy, qualitative research methods, and the history of rhetoric (classical, 18th/19th century, reception). Her first book, Opening Ceremony: Inviting Inclusion into University Governance, argues that stakeholders’ belief in institutional values can invite revision of stagnant governance practices. Her next book, tentatively titled Paper Pusher: Finding Advocacy in the University’s Fine Print, argues that the everyday technical communication of the university can mobilize democracy both inside and out of academe and ultimately, restore trust in higher education.