Beth Towle

Education

Ph.D. in English Exp. May 2019

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Primary Area: Rhetoric + Composition
Secondary Areas: Writing Program Administration, Writing Center Theory & Practice
Dissertation: ‘It Depends on Who You Talk To’: Mapping Writing Center-Writing Program
Relationships at Small Liberal Arts Colleges
Committee: Harry Denny (chair), Bradley Dilger, Irwin Weiser

M.F.A. in Creative Writing May 2013

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
Thesis: Huckleberry Queen: Poems
Committee: Johannes Goransson (advisor), Joyelle McSweeney, William O’Rourke

B.A. in English Writing May 2009

DePauw University, Greencastle, IN
Graduated cum laude, English Department Honors

Publications
Towle, Beth A. “Other People’s Houses: Identity and Service in Writing Center Work.” Out in the Center: Public
Controversies and Private Struggles. Edited by Harry Denny, et al. Forthcoming 2018.

Denny, Harry and Beth A. Towle. “Braving the Waters of Class in Writing Centers: The Performance and Policing of
Socioeconomic Class in Everyday Tutoring.” The Peer Review, 1.2, November 2017. http://thepeerreview-
iwca.org/issues/braver-spaces/braving-the-waters-of-class-performance-intersectionality-and-the-policing-of-
working-class-identity-in-everyday-writing-centers/

Towle, Beth A. and Vicki R. Kennell. “Review: Tutoring Second Language Writers.” The Writing Center Journal, 35.3,
Winter 2016.

Conference Presentations
“Space and Access for LGBTQ+ and Non-binary Students and Tutors in Writing Centers.” Presented with Jacob English
and Ruben Ramanathan. East Central Writing Center Association. Columbus, IL. March 2018.

“Institutional(ized) Identities: Graduate Students, Writing Centers, and Advocacy.” International Writing Centers
Association Conference. Chicago, IL. November 2017.

“Restoring and Engaging Metis: Feminist Frameworks for Graduate Students.” Presented with Erin Brock Carlson.
Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference. Dayton, OH. October 2017

“Boiler Up!/Drilling Down: Replicating the Peer Writing Tutor Alumni Project. International Writing Centers
Association Conference. Denver, CO. October 2016.

“Tutoring as (Hard) Labor: How Assessment Makes Writing Center Work Visible to Institutions.” Conference on College
Composition and Communication. Houston, TX. April 2016.
“Making Possible Bean-Counting: Coding ‘Other’ Responses from the WCRP Survey.” International Writing Centers
Association Collaborative. Houston, TX. April 2016

“Using Policty Statements in Writing Tutor Training.” International Writing Centers Association Conference. Pittsburgh,
PA. October 2015.

“Farming Out: Writing Centers and the Adjunct-ification of Writing Instruction.” East Central Writing Center Association
Conference. Notre Dame, IN. March 2015.

“Writing Centers, Collaborative Learning, and First-Generation College Students.” Conference on College Composition
and Communication. Indianapolis, IN. March 2014.

Writing Centers
Administration
Business Writing Coordinator
Purdue University Writing Lab, 2016-2018
Taught ENGL 390B tutor education class for incoming undergraduate business writing consultants. Supervised and
provided ongoing education to current business writing consultants. Facilitated workshops related to professional
writing, STEM writing, and writing in the disciplines. Regularly attended and participated in monthly Writing Lab
coordinator meetings. Recruited undergraduate students to be future consultants. Assisted the director and associate
director with various projects as needed.

Summer Assistant Director

Purdue University Writing Lab, 2016
Co-authored the 2015-16 Writing Lab annual report. Created meta-document for future report authors. Tutored in the
Writing Lab.

Tutoring
Graduate Writing Tutor
Purdue University Writing Lab, 2015-2018
Tutored undergraduate and graduate students and staff/faculty in the Purdue Writing Lab. Led weekly conversation
groups for international students. Facilitated workshops on a variety of writing topics for both undergraduate and
graduate students. Served on the spring hiring committee for graduate tutors. Assisted the director and associate
director with special projects as needed.

Graduate Writing Tutor

University of Notre Dame Writing Center, 2012-2013
Tutored undergraduate and graduate students and staff/faculty in the University Writing Center. Facilitated workshops
on creative writing and research writing topics. Served on the Writing Center executive committee and community
writing committee. Assisted the director with special projects as needed.

Writing Consultant
DePauw University Writing Center, 2007-2009
Tutored peer undergraduate students in the university writing center. Helped with hiring decisions and interviews in
Spring 2009.
 Writing Program Administration
Assistant Mentor
Introductory Composition at Purdue (ICaP), 2016-2017
Worked with a faculty member in the year-long mentorship course for new graduate teaching assistants. Helped new
TAs develop syllabi and teaching materials, observed teaching and wrote observation reports each semester. Assisted
ICaP administration with new TA orientation in August and the TA convocation and workshop events at the beginning
of fall and spring semesters.

Teaching
Writing Center Tutor Education
Tutoring Business and Professional Writing
English 390B - Purdue University, Fall 2016 and Fall 2017
This tutor education course specifically prepared undergraduate students to be business writing consultants in the
Purdue Writing Lab. The course focused on teaching tutoring and collaborative learning pedagogy, inquiry-based
writing center research design, diversity and language rights, and specific information on tutoring job search materials.

Tutoring in the Writing Lab

English 390 – Purdue University, Spring 2017
This tutor education course prepared undergraduate students for working as tutors in the Purdue Writing Lab. The
course focused on teaching tutoring and collaborative learning pedagogy, writing center research methods, and issues
of diversity and identity in writing centers. Co-taught with Tammy Conard-Salvo.

Composition
Online First-Year Composition (Academic Writing & Research)
English 106 - Purdue University, Fall 2018
This 16-week, online introductory composition course focused on academic writing and research, utilizing students’
own academic and professional interests as a way to talk about genre expectations, rhetorical situation, and media.
Students engaged in primary research methods and scholarly analysis in order to be better communicators within their
own disciplinary communities.

First-Year Composition (Documenting Realities)

English 106 - Purdue University, 2017-2018
This first-year composition course used a documentary and place-based approach to writing instruction in order to
teach multiple genres, including narratives, reports, podcasts, and research writing. Students engage with primary
research methods, issues of access, and disciplinary identities in order to understand how to ethically and rhetorically
communicate for various audiences.

First-Year Composition (Digital Rhetorics)

English 106 - Purdue University, 2015-2016
This first-year composition course used a digital rhetorics syllabus approach in order to focus on rhetorical, accessible
writing and design for a connected, mediated world, while also preparing students for the writing they will encounter in
their majors and future disciplines.

First-Year Composition (Writing about Writing)

English 106 - Purdue University, 2014-2015
This first-year composition course used a writing about writing approach that asked students to consider how their
writing fits into larger social, community, and disciplinary discourse communities. It prepared students for future
writing tasks by introducing rhetorical concepts, research skills, and discourse analysis.
Basic Writing
Integrated Reading and Writing
Academic Skills 095 – Ivy Tech Community College, Spring 2014
This skills-building integrated course taught students basic reading and writing skills to prepare them for the standard
introductory composition course they would take the following semester.

Introduction to College Writing

Academic Skills 093 – Ivy Tech Community College, Fall 2013
This course prepared students for the standard 100-level introductory composition course by focusing on basic
rhetorical concepts, writing skills, and research and information literacy.

Grants
Dissertation Research
The Professor Patricia Sullivan Dissertation Scholarship, Spring 2018 ($2,500)

International Writing Centers Association Ben Rafoth Graduate Research Grant, Spring 2018 ($1,000)

Purdue Research Foundation Fellowship, Summer 2018 ($3,500)

Purdue College of Liberal Arts Promise Research Grant, Fall 2017 ($450)

Scott Drotar Memorial Scholarship Fund, Fall 2017 ($1,000)

Purdue Research Foundation Fellowship, Summer 2017 ($3,500)

Conference Travel
Purdue Writing Lab Travel Scholarship, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Spring 2018 ($400-500)

Purdue College of Liberal Arts Promise Travel Grant, Fall 2016 ($700)

Purdue College of Liberal Arts Promise Travel Grant, Spring 2016 ($700)

International Writing Centers Association Collaborative Travel Scholarship, Spring 2016 ($150)

Awards
ICaP Quintilian Teaching Award, Fall 2017

Purdue Writing Lab Graduate Tutor of the Year, Spring 2016

Service
International Writing Center Association Outstanding Article Award Committee, 2018
Graduate Representative

Introductory Writing Committee, 2016-2017

Purdue Graduate Student English Association (GradSEA) Representative
Writing Lab Hiring Committee, Spring 2016 and Spring 2017
Purdue University Writing Lab

Excellence in Teaching Award Committee, 2015-2016

Purdue Graduate Student English Association (GradSEA) Representative

Rhetoric & Composition Program Representative, 2014-2015

Purdue Graduate Student English Association (GradSEA)

Executive Committee, 2012-2013

University of Notre Dame Writing Center

Community Writing Committee, 2012-2013

University of Notre Dame Writing Center

Invited Speaking and Workshops

Purdue Writing Lab Graduate Staff Meeting, Fall 2016 & Fall 2017
“Graduate STEM Writing”

Writing Lab-ICaP Brown Bag Series, Spring 2016

“Peer Review and Workshopping Strategies”

Relevant Experiences
Research Assistant, Summer 2015
Purdue University
Assisted Dr. Bradley Dilger with interview transcription and coding on a large-scale, multiple-year project at his
previous institution.

Grants and Fellowship Consultant, 2013-2014

University of Notre Dame Graduate School
Worked with graduate students at every level of the process of applying to nationally-competitive grants and
fellowships. Coordinated and facilitated application workshops for the National Science Foundation’s Graduate
Research Fellowship Program, the Fulbright Program, and other nationally-competitive fellowship and grant
programs.

Interim Fulbright Program Advisor, Fall 2013

University of Notre Dame Graduate School
Worked with graduate students as they applied for fellowships in the Fulbright program. Served as the liaison
between the Fulbright program and the Notre Dame Graduate School. Organized all interviews and coordinated
document collection.

Creative Writing Publications

Rhabdomantics
Poetry chapbook published by Adjunct Press, July 2016

“The Woodlawn Narrative”

Poem published by So It Goes, December 2016

“small openings” and “original story”

Poems published by Similar:Peaks::, 2015
“The River Woodlawn”
Poem published by Storm Cellar Quarterly, 2014

“Mind the Prediction” and “An Advertisement”

Poems published by Deluge, 2014

“rhabdomancy” and “we are in the business of undoing”

Poems published by Spork, 2013

Creative Writing Editorial Work

Nonfiction Reader, Sycamore Review, Purdue University, 2016-2018

Poetry Reader, Sycamore Review, Purdue University, 2015-2018

Contributing Editor and Co-Creator, Actuary Lit, actuarylit.com, 2013-2015

Poetry Reader, Notre Dame Review, University of Notre Dame, 2011-2013

Professional Affiliations
International Writing Center Association

East Central Writing Center Association

Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition