Sarah L. Skripsky

Having joined Westmont’s English department in 2008, Sarah (Yoder) Skripsky is grateful to be among such good company.  As an undergraduate, she studied at Northwestern College, a Christian liberal arts college much like Westmont, and had such wonderful faculty mentors that she decided to pursue a teaching career.  She studied abroad for a summer in Mexico City and then a semester in Wales:  these off-campus program experiences fueled interests in literature and/as cultural history, (post)colonial studies, nationalism, and the politics of creative writing.  She went on to earn her Ph.D. in English at Texas Christian University, specializing in Rhetoric and Composition, and there developed additional interests in theories of the writing process, the rhetorical practices of women and minorities, and the intersections of faith and argument.  At Westmont, Prof. Skripsky teaches writing and literature courses and runs the campus writing center, Writers' Corner, with the help of a fabulous staff of peer tutors.  She recently co-taught with Prof. Deborah Dunn during Westmont’s 2010 Ireland Mayterm, which focused on Narratives of Conflict and Reconciliation relating to the complex “Troubles” of Northern Ireland.  In addition to her scholarly pursuits, Prof. Skripsky plays horn in the Westmont Chamber Orchestra and enjoys jogging in such a beautiful part of the country (even though she never can quite keep pace with her husband, Scott).

Vita

Education

• Ph.D., Texas Christian University, 2008
• B.A., Northwestern College, 2002
• Central College Study Abroad; Trinity College (Carmarthen, Wales), 2001
• Summer Study Abroad; Mexico City, 1999

Courses Taught at Westmont

• ENG 002: Composition
• ENG 104: Modern Grammar and Advanced Composition
• ENG 160: Women Writers
• ENG 165: Topics in World Literature (Postcolonial Literature)
• ENG 167: Writers’ Corner Practicum
• ENG 193: Narrating Ireland (Mayterm 2010)
• IS 185: Constructing Sacred Pilgrimage (Mayterm 2012)

Recent Publications and Presentations

• "NSSE Results as Mapping for Mission." [Panel: The Consortium for the Study of Writing Survey as a Gateway to Writing Assessment, Faculty Development, and Program Building: A Comparative Perspective.] Conference on College Composition and Communication. St. Louis, March 2012. *Proposal accepted
• Review of James K. Smith's Desiring the Kingdom [with Jesse Covington, Maurice Lee, and Lesa Stern]. Books and Culture __ (2012):___. *Forthcoming
• "Christian Formation and the Liberal Arts." [Colloquium Presentation with Jesse Covington, Maurice Lee, and Lesa Stern.]  Educating for Wisdom Conference.  Institute for Faith and Learning, Baylor University.  Waco, Oct. 2011.
• "WACky Cartography: Coding the Contours." Research Presentation. Dartmouth Summer Seminar for Composition Research.  Hanover, Aug. 2011.
• "Sounds of Music and Pictures of Style in Advanced Composition." Conference on College Composition and Communication. Atlanta, March 2011.
• Research presentations at the International Seminar on Epideictic Rhetoric and the RSA Research Network Forum.  Rhetoric Society of America Conference. Minneapolis, May 2010.
• Co-editor [with Richard Leo Enos et al.]. The Rhetoric of St. Augustine of Hippo: De Doctrina Christiana and the Search for a Distinctly Christian Rhetoric. Rhetoric and Religion Series. Waco: Baylor UP, 2008.
• “The Red Dragon: The National Magazine of Wales (1882-1887)”; “Wales: A National Magazine for the English-Speaking Parts of Wales (1894-1897)”; and “Young Wales (1895-1904).” Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Journalism. Ed. Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor. London: The British Library and Ghent: Academia Press [hard copy]; ProQuest [online], 2008.
• Associate Editor. Advances in the History of Rhetoric: The First Six Years [1997-2002]. Ed. Richard Leo Enos, David E. Beard, Sarah L. Yoder, and Amy K. Hermanson. West Lafayette: Parlor Press, 2007.
• “Postcolonial Nation-Building and the Fin de Siècle Literary Press: The Case of Wales and the Red Dragon” [presentation]. Research Society for Victorian Periodicals. New York, Sept. 2006.
• “Confounding Logic, Remaking Rhetoric: New Rhetoricians’ Response to the Confines of Modern Reason” [presentation]. Rhetoric Society of America Conference. Memphis, May 2006.
• “Narrations of Literacy: Reassessing Literacy through Welsh Bilingual Policy Debates” [presentation]. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Chicago, March 2006.
• “In Search of Textual Gardens: Mary Daggett Lake’s Garden Rhetoric—Writing Conviction Through Place” [presentation]. Feminism(s) and Rhetoric(s) Conference. Houghton, MI; Oct. 2005.

Additional Writing and Publishing

• Skripting: freelance writing and editing.  2009-present. 
• Editorial Assistant.  Composition Studies 35.2 (2007).
• Editorial Assistant.  “Symposium: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Rhetorical Criticism” [Ed. Richard Leo Enos]. Rhetoric Review 25.4 (2006): 357-87.
• Editor, Staff Writer, and Photographer. Sioux County Capital-Democrat. Orange City, IA: Pluim Publishing, 2001-2006 [seasonal/contract work].
• The Right Thing: The Ken and Elaine Jacobs Story [video script]. Orange City, IA: Festive Media, 2003.
• Publicity writer for David Auburn’s Proof. Sarasota, FL: Florida Studio Theatre, 2002.
• “farmhouse poems—beginnings, again” [First Place Poetry Award]. Spectrum. Orange City, IA: Pluim Publishing, 2002.
• “haiku, hatched in Wales” [poetry series]. Spectrum. Orange City, IA: Pluim Publishing, 2002.

Professional Service and Development

• Director, Westmont College Writers' Corner [writing center], 2008-present.
• Co-Leader [with Deborah Dunn and Caryn Reeder], "Constructing Sacred Pilgrimage" Mayterm Program (Middle East and Europe), Westmont College, 2012.
• Lead Assessment Specialist for General Education (Writing/Speech-Intensive); Westmont College, 2011-2012.
• Research Participant; Dartmouth Summer Seminar for Composition Research, July-Aug. 2011.
• Co-Leader [with Deborah Dunn], “Narratives of Conflict and Reconciliation” Mayterm Program (Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland); Westmont College, 2010.
• “Wales Writes Back: National Periodicals as a Response to Empire” [presentation]; British Studies Research Colloquia; TCU, 2007.
• “Teaching Students How to Conduct Research and Evaluate Sources” [presentation]; TCU Composition Program, 2007.
• Faculty Search Committee [Graduate Student Representative]; TCU English Department, 2006-2007.
• Selection Committee, TCU Creative Writing Awards, 2005-2007.
• Graduate Consultant [Tutor]; TCU Center for Writing, 2005-2007.
• Graduate Instructor [Teacher of Record]; TCU English Department, 2004-2007.
• Research Assistant to the Radford Chair of Rhetoric [Richard Leo Enos]; TCU, 2005-2006.
• “Approaches to Teaching Public Discourse Analysis” [presentation]; TCU Composition Program, 2005.
• Instructor in Spoken English; TCU Intensive English Program, Summer 2005.
• Volunteer, Write to Succeed program [writing workshops for victims of domestic violence]; Women’s Haven of Tarrant County, Fort Worth, TX, 2004.
• Assistant to the Director, El Centro Luterano [The Lutheran Center]; Mexico City, Summer 2000.

Awards

• Interdisciplinary Study Grant ("Christian Formation and the Liberal Arts: Critical Engagement and Application"), Westmont College, 2011.
• Professional Development Grant, Westmont College, 2009.
• American Society for the History of Rhetoric (ASHR) Dissertation Award [runner-up], 2008.
• Pass with distinction, Ph.D. dissertation, 2008.
• Pass with distinction, Ph.D. qualifying exams, 2006.
• Dissertation Fellowship; TCU English Department, 2007-2008.
• Nokia Research Award [supporting dissertation research at the National Library of Wales], 2006.
• VanArsdel Prize [runner-up]; Research Society for Victorian Periodicals, 2006.
• Graduate Teacher of the Year [finalist]; TCU Composition Program, 2006.
• Graduate Student of the Year; TCU Department of English, 2005-2006.
• Australia Tarver Award [Best Critical Essay on Race, Postcolonialism, or Multi-Ethnic Studies]: “Reassessing Celticism: James Bryce as Celtic Iconoclast”; TCU Creative Writing Awards, 2005.
• William L. Adams Writing Center Prize [Best Essay on Rhetoric and Composition]: “The Problematics and Possibilities of Border-Crossing Pedagogy”; TCU Creative Writing Awards, 2005.
• Lillian and Rupert Radford Fellowship in Rhetoric and Composition; TCU, 2003-2004.
• Co-Winner, Faculty Honors Award; NWC, Class of 2002.
• Jackson Hospers Memorial Prize for Poetry; NWC, 2002.
• Beacon Award for Campus Journalism; NWC, 2002.