Brenda Helmbrecht received her Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition from Miami University (Ohio) in 2004. Dr. Helmbrecht’s research and teaching interests include Composition Theory and Pedagogy, Rhetorical Theory, Writing Assessment, Developmental Writing, Feminist Pedagogy, Women’s Rhetoric, Visual Rhetoric, Film Studies, and Feminist Film Theory. Dr. Helmbrecht is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of English, which she joined in 2004. As Director of Writing, she coordinates Cal Poly’s composition courses (ENGL 102, 134, 145), which includes supporting the instructors, writing curriculum, and mentoring the English Department’s TAs. She is also currently coordinating university-wide writing assessment efforts. Though Dr. Helmbrecht’s research interests are broad, her current research examines the role of remediation in the CSU system. She is working with other faculty in the CSU to edit a collection currently titled, The End of Remediation: Assessment, Accountability, and Access in College Writing. She will soon be taking a two-quarter sabbatical to work on a project that seeks to study the California Missions from a rhetorical standpoint. More specifically, she will be touring mission sites along the coast to study how they construct and present their own histories.
Articles
The BUSTin' and Bitchin' Ethe of Third-Wave Zines (with Meredith A. Love), College Communication and Composition (2009)
Our article seeks to integrate alternative voices into traditional rhetorical study by turning to Bitch...
Giving Grades, Taking Tolls: Assessing the Impact of Evaluation on Developing Writers, Teaching English in the Two-Year College (2007)
This article uses one basic writer’s experience with assessment as a vehicle to explore whether...
Teaching the Conflicts: (Re)Engaging Students with Feminism in a Postfeminist World (with Meredith A. Love), Feminist Teacher (2007)
A Mediatic Pedagogy: Rhetoricizing Images Within Composition Curriculum, Dissertation (2004)
My dissertation explores how students’ interactions with visual media inform their subject positions as students,...