Contact Information
608 S. Wright St.
608 S Wright
M/C 718
Urbana, IL 61801
Research Areas
Biography
Kristi McDuffie is the Director of Rhetoric at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Undergraduate Rhetoric Program serves around 4,000 students per year in earning the Composition I graduation requirement. In this role as writing program administrator, she leads a team of Rhetoric program staff and around seventy writing teachers a semester. She directs curriculum, oversees mentoring and professional development, leads staffing and scheduling, heads programmatic hiring, and liaises with campus partners and student support services. She is also the Editor and one of the lead authors for the programmatic textbook, I Write: A Writing Guide for the Undergraduate Rhetoric Program at the University of Illinois.
She also maintains an active research agenda that investigates the intersections of digital writing, rhetorical theory, student learning, and social justice. Her recent publications examine hashtag activism, teacher training, and activism within the university. She is an active member of the writing studies community and serves as a section editor of Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy and regularly serves on Council of Writing Program Administrator committees.
Education
Ph.D. in English Studies, concentration in Rhetoric and Composition, 2015, Illinois State University
M.A. in English, concentration in Rhetoric and Composition, 2010, Eastern Illinois University
B.S. in Finance, 2003, University of Illinois
Awards and Honors
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Academic Professional Excellence Award, University of Illinois, 2026
Student Success Champion Team Award (Rhetoric Program), University of Illinois, 2024
Chancellor's Academic Professional Excellence Award, University of Illinois, 2021
Online Course Development Grant, LAS Online, University of Illinois, 2021
Outstanding Alumni Graduate Award, Eastern Illinois University, 2020
Provost’s Faculty Retreat Grant, University of Illinois, 2019
Courses Taught
Rhetoric 105: Writing and Research
Rhetoric 233: Advanced Composition (Genre Studies Topic)
English 380: Topics in Writing Studies (Hashtag Activism, Digital Rhetoric)
English 481: Composition Theory and Practice
English 593: Professional Seminar in the Teaching of Rhetoric
Recent Publications
“Bad Idea: ChatGPT Provides Great Revision Feedback.” (2026). Co-written with Dani Nyikos, in Bad Ideas about AI and Writing: Toward Generative Practices for Teaching, Learning, and Communication, ed. Christopher Basgier, Anna Mills, Mandy Olejnik, Miranda Rodak, and Shyam Sharma. The WAC Clearinghouse, UP of Colorado. https://wacclearinghouse.org/books/perspectives/bad/
Hashtag Activism: Case Studies of Digital Protests & Online Social Movements. Co-edited collection with Melissa Ames. Utah State University Press, 2023. Contributions include collaborations on “Introduction: The Vibrancy and Urgency of Hashtag Activism: Making Connections and Contributions”; “Affecting Digital Activism: A Comparative Study of #MarchForOurLives and #WomensMarch,” and “Capturing a Moving Target: Talking about Ethical Research Practices for Hashtag Activism.”
“Feminist Internet Research” Co-editor (with Melissa Ames) of the Cluster Conversation in Peitho: The Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition. (2023). Contribution includes “Cluster Editors’ Introduction: Defining a Feminist Approach to Internet Research Ethics (Again).” https://cfshrc.org/article/defining-a-feminist-approach-to-internet-research-ethics-again/
“Archiving Affect & Activism: Hashtag Feminism and Structures of Feeling in Women’s March Tweets.” (2021). Co-authored with Melissa Ames. First Monday, (26)2. https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/10317