Biography
Paul Prior is a Professor in English and the Center for Writing Studies. Working with cultural-historical activity theory, actor-network theory, and dialogic semiotics, he has explored connections among writing, talk, embodied action, learning, and disciplinarity.
Research Interests
Writing Studies, Literate Activity, Dialogic Theory, Semiotic Practice, Applied Linguistics, Genre, CHAT and ANT.
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor Emeritus, English
External Links
Highlighted Publications
Prior, P. A., Hengst, J. A., & Olinger, A. (2026). Situated, Historical, Embodied Semiosis: A Unified Framework for Semiotic Activity. (Semiotics, Communication and Cognition; Vol. 26). De Gruyter.
Prior, P. A., & Hengst, J. A. (Eds.) (2010). Exploring Semiotic Remediation as Discourse Practice. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230250628
Bazerman, C., & Prior, P. (Eds.) (2003). What writing does and how it does it: An introduction to analyzing texts and textual practices. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410609526
Prior, P. A. (1998). Writing/Disciplinarity: A Sociohistoric Account of Literate Activity in the Academy. (Rhetoric, Knowledge, and Society). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203810651
Recent Publications
Prior, P. A. (2026). Considering multimodal conversation analysis from a flat, intra-active perspective on situated, historical, embodied semiosis. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 58, Article 101013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2026.101013
Prior, P. A., Hengst, J. A., & Olinger, A. (2026). Situated, Historical, Embodied Semiosis: A Unified Framework for Semiotic Activity. (Semiotics, Communication and Cognition; Vol. 26). De Gruyter.
Kovanen, B., Prior, P., Gallagher, J. R., Elliott, C. M., Popovics, J. S., Lance Cooper, S., & Zilles, J. L. (2024). Board 395: Supporting STEM Faculty in Adopting and Adapting Writing Pedagogies. ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--46981
Prior, P. A. (2024). Semiotics, Semiosis, and Becoming. In C. Leung, & J. Lewkowitz (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to English Studies (2 ed., pp. 119-129). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003221265-11
Prior, P. A., Hengst, J. A., Kovanen, B., Mazuchelli, L., Turnipseed, N., & Ware, R. (2023). Rearticulating theory and methodology for perezhivanie and becoming: Tracing flat CHAT assemblages and embodied intensities. Outlines. Critical Practice Studies, 24, 4-44. https://doi.org/10.7146/ocps.v24i1.135502