The English Department Welcomes Sara Wilder

Sara Wilder, who is currently completing her Ph.D. at Ohio State University, will be joining us this fall.

Sara's degree is in rhetoric, composition and literacy studies.  She has served as the Assistant Coordinator of the Writing Center at Ohio State and worked as a graduate assistant to OSU’s First-Year Writing program. In her dissertation project, “Looking Beyond One-to-One Tutoring: Investigating Collaboration and Authority in Multidisciplinary Writing Center-Sponsored Writing Groups,” Sara examines the efficacy of writing groups as sites beyond the one-on-one tutoring session in which writers can work together to improve their writing. In particular, she employs mixed-method qualitative research to explore how students at the undergraduate and graduate level negotiate authority in writing groups. Her dissertation considers specific concerns that are relevant to us here at UMD: the writing practices of and support for international students, the retention of all undergraduate students, and undergraduate research opportunities. Sara has a review essay forthcoming in Journal of Teaching Writing.  She has received the Genevieve M. Critel Dissertation Fellowship in Digital Media, the Kitty O. Locker Research Grant, and the International Writing Centers Association Ben Rafoth Graduate Research Grant.