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Kirsten Benson

Kirsten Benson

Kirsten Benson

Director, Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center

212 Humanities and Social Sciences Building
Phone: (865) 974-8266
kbenson@utk.edu

Biography

Kirsten Benson is director of the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center, recipient of a CCCC Writing Program Certificate of Excellence award. Her research focuses include writing studies, writing program administration, and writing center theory and practice. She teaches courses in qualitative research methods in composition studies, composition pedagogy, public writing, and persuasive writing.

Education

  • B.A., Boston University
  • M.A., The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Ed.D., The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Selected Publications

  • “International Graduate Students’ Perceptions of Their Scholarly Writing and Communication Needs.” With Brenna Butler, Jennifer Morrow, and Hannah Soblo. CATESOL, 32.1, 2020-21.
  • “Hearing the Bass Line: Giving Attention to Writing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.” With Shirley K. Rose. WPA: Writing Program Administration, 40.2 (Spring 2017) 180-192.  
  • “’What’s your name, kid?’: The Acousmatic Voiceovers of Private Edward P. Train in The Thin Red Line.” With Clint Stivers. POST SCRIPT, 34.2-3 (Winter/Spring & Summer 2015) 36-52.
  • “Applying the Communication Techniques of University Writing Center Tutors to the Medical-Author Dialogue.” With Anne Weber-Main and Misty Bailey. American Medical Writers Association Journal. 30.2 (Summer 2015) 51-55. Reprinted, 2020: http://blog.amwa.org/applying-writing-tutors-communication-techniques-as-a-medical-editor.
  • “Writing Center Tests Mentoring Program.” Southern Discourse (October 1998): 3.
  • “Annotated Bibliography of Writing Center Scholarship.”  Focuses 6.2 (1994). (Contributor)
  • “Annotated Bibliography of Writing Center Scholarship.”  Focuses 5.2 (1993). (Contributor)
  • “Assessment and Development in Graduate Tutor Training.”  Focuses 3.1 (1990): 24-36.
  • “The Writer First: Using Computers to Make One-to-One Conferencing More Successful.” The Computer-Assisted Composition Journal 3.2 (1989): 51-56.
  • “Who Will Staff the Writing Center?” The Writing Lab Newsletter 14.2 (1989): 13-16

Authored or Edited textbooks

  • Rhetoric of Inquiry, 5th Editor and Contributor. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2020.
  • Rhetorical Choices, 2nd edition.Editor and contributor. With Jeff Ringer, Tawnysha Greene, and Coralyn Nottingham. New York:Pearson, 2018.
  • The College Writer’s Workshop: Reading, Writing, and Revising Essays.  Volume 1: Writing Arguments.  Volume 2: Writing About Literature.  (With Tim Edwards and Amanda Lawrence.) Boston: Pearson, 2002.
  • Instructor’s Manual to Accompany The Harbrace College Handbook, 13th ed.  Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace, 1997.