- Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh 2013
BIO
Jean Bessette’s research and teaching bridge rhetoric and composition; gender, sexuality, and women's studies; archival and historiographic theory; and digital and multimedia studies. Her recent book, Retroactivism in the Lesbian Archives: Composing Pasts and Futures (2018) examines how American lesbian collectives have composed and leveraged the past to shape identity and navigate difficult cultural and political terrain. She has also published essays on feminist and queer historiography, digital humanistic methods, and pedagogical approaches concerned with feminist and queer theory and audio composing. Her work has received the Winifred Bryan Horner Outstanding Book Award, the CCCC Lavender Rhetorics Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship, and the Rhetoric Society of America Outstanding Dissertation Award, among others.
Courses
- Feminist Critical/Rhetorical Theory
- Written Expression
- Digital Rhetorics
- Expository Writing
Publications
Jean Bessette Publications (DOCX)
Awards and Achievements
- Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition, Winifred B. Horner Outstanding Book Award, 2018
- University of Vermont Graduate Student Senate, Excellence in Teaching Award, 2018
- Conference on College Composition and Communication, Lavender Rhetorics Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship—Article, 2017
- Rhetoric Society of America, Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2014
- University of Pittsburgh Women’s and Gender Studies, Tamara Horowitz Graduate Writing Award, 2013
- University of Pittsburgh English, Graduate Writing Award in Literacy, Pedagogy, and Rhetoric, 2012
- Seattle University, Richard P. Hickey Award for Most Outstanding Student in the College, 2006
Area(s) of expertise
Rhetorical theory; composition pedagogy; Feminist rhetorics, historiographies, and pedagogies; Queer theory and studies; digital rhetorics; archival theory
Bio
Jean Bessette’s research and teaching bridge rhetoric and composition; gender, sexuality, and women's studies; archival and historiographic theory; and digital and multimedia studies. Her recent book, Retroactivism in the Lesbian Archives: Composing Pasts and Futures (2018) examines how American lesbian collectives have composed and leveraged the past to shape identity and navigate difficult cultural and political terrain. She has also published essays on feminist and queer historiography, digital humanistic methods, and pedagogical approaches concerned with feminist and queer theory and audio composing. Her work has received the Winifred Bryan Horner Outstanding Book Award, the CCCC Lavender Rhetorics Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship, and the Rhetoric Society of America Outstanding Dissertation Award, among others.
Courses
- Feminist Critical/Rhetorical Theory
- Written Expression
- Digital Rhetorics
- Expository Writing
Publications
Awards and Achievements
- Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition, Winifred B. Horner Outstanding Book Award, 2018
- University of Vermont Graduate Student Senate, Excellence in Teaching Award, 2018
- Conference on College Composition and Communication, Lavender Rhetorics Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship—Article, 2017
- Rhetoric Society of America, Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2014
- University of Pittsburgh Women’s and Gender Studies, Tamara Horowitz Graduate Writing Award, 2013
- University of Pittsburgh English, Graduate Writing Award in Literacy, Pedagogy, and Rhetoric, 2012
- Seattle University, Richard P. Hickey Award for Most Outstanding Student in the College, 2006
Areas of Expertise
Rhetorical theory; composition pedagogy; Feminist rhetorics, historiographies, and pedagogies; Queer theory and studies; digital rhetorics; archival theory