John Gallagher

Assistant Professor

Biography

I research the ways that writers contend with interactive and participatory audiences on the Internet, including via user design. I teach technical writing, including search engine optimization, data visualization, visual rhetoric, interviewing techniques, document design, and digital rhetoric. I value students as holistic people and not a set of skills.

Research Interests

I study the way writers contend with participatory audiences in the context of Web 2.0. I specialize in qualitative research methods; in particular, case study methodologies. I also draw on quantitative methods, such as web-scraping and computational analysis, to study online comments and participatory audiences.

Writing Studies
Audience Theory
Web 2.0
New Media
Online Participatory Cultures
User design
Online ethics
Search Engine Optimization

Courses Taught

BTW 250
BTW 490
ENGL 582
ENGL 380
ENGL 482

External Links

Personal

Recent Publications

Gallagher, J. (2019). A Framework for Internet Case Study Methodology in Writing Studies. Computers and Composition, 54, [102509]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2019.102509

Gallagher, J., & Holmes, S. (2019). Empty Templates: The Ethical Habits of Empty State Pages. Technical Communication Quarterly, 28(3), 271-283. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2018.1564367

Gallagher, J., Chen, Y., Wagner, K., Wang, X., Zeng, J., & Kong, A. L. (2019). Peering into the Internet Abyss: Using Big Data Audience Analysis to Understand Online Comments. Technical Communication Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2019.1634766

Gallagher, J. (2018). Considering the Comments: Theorizing Online Audiences as Emergent Processes. Computers and Composition, 48, 34-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2018.03.002

Gallagher, J. (2018). Monitoring and Managing Online Comments in Science Journalism. In G. Y. Agboka, & N. Matveeva (Eds.), Citizenship and Advocacy in Technical Communication: Scholarly and Pedagogical Perspectives (ATTW Series in Technical and Professional Communication). New York: Routledge.