Date of Award:

5-2023

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

English

Committee Chair(s)

Rylish Moeller

Committee

Rylish Moeller

Committee

Avery Edenfield

Committee

Keith Grant-Davie

Committee

Emma Mecham

Committee

Jessica Rivera-Mueller

Abstract

While many efforts have been made to make higher education in the US more equitable, there are still academic spaces in which some knowledges and some knowledge makers are marginalized. In this dissertation, I identify three such spaces: technical editing, graduate instructor training, and online academic research in trans communities. When editors make revisions based solely in American Standard English, as most editing practices and teaching are currently based, they risk marginalizing non-heritage speakers of English and speakers of various dialects of English, like African American Vernacular English. I suggest that by shifting our focus of editing from grammar policing to editing for underrepresented audiences, we can make editing a more inclusive space for marginalized voices. I give examples of how to create these kinds of interventions both in the editing classroom and through workshops for faculty. Next, I address how programs can better support graduate student instructors’ sense of wellbeing. I suggest that one of the best ways to develop inclusive interventions in graduate instructor training is by inviting graduate students to help design the ways in which departments communicate student wellbeing. Finally, to intervene into the anti-trans violence that continues to scour the United States, I propose an intervention into the ways that academics study online trans communities. Through these kinds of interventions, I demonstrate that we can continue the work of creating more inclusive spaces in higher education.

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