Michelle Cowan Assistant Professor of Business Administration

Huntley 110
540-458-8254
mcowan@wlu.edu
Website - Curriculum Vitae

A specialist in business and health communication, Michelle Cowan comes to W&L from Texas Tech University, where she earned a Ph.D. in Technical Communication and Rhetoric in 2023. Drawing on 17 years working as a professional writer in aerospace, energy, and professional services, she has taught a variety of communication courses, including professional report writing, technical communication, information design, web publishing, and rhetoric. Michelle’s instructional approach centers around usability, audience and market analysis, project management, and digital content creation. She is committed to student mentorship and innovative assessment practices that help her connect with each unique cohort of students.

Michelle’s research interests include rhetorics of health and medicine, corporate discourse, and assessment practices in the workplace and the classroom. She has published and presented extensively on grading contracts and is currently conducting a study of non-traditional assessment approaches as implemented at the program level. She recently published work on organizational discourse in 12-step recovery groups as well as a dissertation on eating disorder recovery rhetoric. She continues to publish on rhetorics of recovery and is moving forward with projects examining mental health discourse in the workplace as well as classroom assessment and student anxiety.

When she is not working, Michelle enjoys writing songs, playing music, and hiking mountain trails.

Education

• Ph.D. in Technical Communication and Rhetoric, Texas Tech University (2023)
• M.A. in Technical Communication, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX (2019)
• B.A. in English and Spanish, Texas Tech University (2005)

Research

• Workplace discourse
• Rhetoric of health and medicine
• Assessment and grading contracts
• Content management

Selected Publications

• “Qualitative Research with Undergraduate Research Assistants: Tips from First-Timers” (with Victoria Bliley and Zachary Puckett). spectra: the online magazine of the National Communication Association, August 5, 2024.

• “Examining Externalization as an Approach for Eating Disorder Recovery: A Qualitative Study of Self-Reported Experiences with Intrapersonal Dialogue.” Talking with Myself: Intrapersonal Communication, Mind-Body Dialogue and Personal Transformation, special issue of Electronic Journal of Communication, vol. 30, no. 1 and 2, 2024.

• “Subverting from the Inside: Inclusive Assessment Practices in First-Year Writing” (with Callie Kostelich). Addressing The Barriers Between Us and that Future, special issue of Peitho, vol. 26.1, fall 2023.

• “’One Among Many’: Piety Reconstruction in 12-Step Recovery Groups.” Rhetoric Review, vol. 42, no. 2, 2023.

• “A Legacy of Grading Contracts for Composition.” Grading Contracts, special issue of Journal of Writing Assessment, vol. 13, no. 2, 2020.

• “Extended Abstract: Tactical Translation Solutions for Component-based Content Management.” IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (ProComm), IEEE, 2020, p. 188.