Marissa Christina McKinley

Informed by contemporary composition scholarship on learning theory, metacognition, and writing transfer, Dr. McKinley's teaching focuses on helping students to become more critically aware, self-reflective thinkers, speakers, readers, and writers. To aid students in their learning development, Dr. McKinley employs the pedagogical approach "slow writing," which emphasizes reflection and deep connection-making. For this approach, Dr. McKinley earned a Center for Teaching Excellence Writing Award at her previous institution, Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Aside from her work in the writing classroom, Dr. McKinley produces scholarship within the intersections of medical rhetorics and feminist rhetorics. Her current research focuses on Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and underscores challenges tied to the oppression of women and minorities. Dr. McKinley's scholarship has been presented at the Conference on College Composition and Communication, Feminisms and Rhetoric, and Rhetoric Society of America. Dr. McKinley's first book chapter on PCOS is featured in the 2019 co-edited collection Women's Health Advocacy: Rhetorical Ingenuity for the 21st Century.