Nathaniel A.

Rivers
Associate Professor of English
Saint Louis University
3800 Lindell Blvd
St Louis, MO 63108
nathaniel.rivers@slu.edu
www.nathanielrivers.org

Education
Ph.D. English
Purdue University (August 2009)
West Lafayette, IN
Primary Area: Rhetoric and Composition
Secondary Areas: Professional and Technical Writing and Public Rhetorics
Dissertation: Cultivating Rhetorics: Exploring and Exploiting the Emergent Boundaries of Human Nature and Culture
Committee: Thomas Rickert, chair; Samantha Blackmon, David Blakesley, and Patricia Sullivan
M.A. English
Purdue University (May 2005)
West Lafayette, IN
Emphasis in Rhetoric and Composition
B.A. English
B.A. Psychology
University of Southern Indiana (May 2003)
Evansville, IN

Academic Appointments
Saint Louis University
Associate Professor of English (2015–Present)
Assistant Professor of English (2011–2015)
Director of Computer Assisted Instruction Lab (2012–2019)
Director of Writing Program (2019–Present)
Georgetown University
Assistant Professor of English (2009–2011)
Purdue University
Graduate Instructor in English (2003–2009)

Areas of Interest
Rhetorical Theory, New Materialist Rhetorics, Technical Writing, New Media Writing, History of Rhetoric, Public
Rhetorics, Composition Theory, Neuroscience and Humanities

Awards & Honors

Donald G. Brennan Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentoring (Spring 2015)
Innovative Teaching Fellowship, Saint Louis University (Fall 2012)
Mellon Grant, Saint Louis University for $2,500 (Summer 2012 and Summer 2014)
Summer Academic Grant, Georgetown University for $9,500 (Summer 2010)
Nominated by students at Georgetown College for Excellence in Teaching (Fall 2009)
Named Emerging Burke Scholar by Kenneth Burke Society (2006)
Publications
Books
Kenneth Burke + The Posthuman
Co-Edited with Chris Mays and Kellie Sharp-Hoskins. Penn State UP (RSA Series in Transdisciplinary
Rhetoric), 2017.
Reviewed in Rhetoric Review 37.3 (2018)
Reviewed in KB Journal 13.1 (2017)
Reviewed in International Journal of Communication 12 (2018)
Thinking with Bruno Latour in Rhetoric and Composition.
Co-Edited with Paul Lynch. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2015.
Reviewed in Rhetoric Review 35.1 (2016): 65-67
Reviewed in Composition Studies 45.1 (2017): 221-224
Reviewed in International Journal of Communication 11 (2017)
Reviewed in Rhetoric and Public Affairs 21.3 (2018)
Literature as Equipment for Living: The Literary Reviews of Kenneth Burke
Co-edited with Ryan Weber. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press, 2010.
Peer-Reviewed Article and Media Projects
“Ambient Captioning.” Co-authored with Casey Boyle. amordern 9, 2020. Forthcoming Spring.
“Anchirhetoricis latouri.” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 47.5 (2017): 424-431. Forum: Bruno Latour on Rhetoric.
“Paying Attention with Cache” Enculturation 23 (2016).
“Geocomposition in Public Writing and Rhetoric Pedagogy” College Composition and Communication 67.4 (June 2016):
576-606.
“Ecologies of Race in the Public Rhetoric Classroom.” Present Tense 5.3 (2016).
“Ecologies of Deception: Psychology, Rhetoric, and Agency.” Co-authored with Maarten Derksen. Quarterly Journal of
Speech 101.4 (2016): 633-654.
“A Version of Access.” Co-authored with Casey Boyle. Technical Communication Quarterly 25.1 (2016): 29-47.
“Speculative Usability.” Co-authored with Lars Söderlund. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 46.1 (2016):
125-146.
“Deep Ambivalence and Wild Objects: Toward a Strange Environmentalism.” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 45.4 (2015):
420-440.
“The Place(s) of Mentorship and Collaboration.” Co-authored with Katie Zabrowski. The Journal of Interactive
Technology and Pedagogy 7 (2015).
“The Mechanics of New Media (Science) Writing: Articulation, Design, Hospitality and Electracy” Co-Authored with
Christopher Grabau, Katherine Kavanaugh, and Katie Zabrowski. In Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and
Pedagogy 19.2 (2015).
“All of the Things: Engaging Complex Assemblages in Communication Design.” Co-authored with Brian McNely. In
SIGDOC ‘14: Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Conference on Design of Communication. New York: ACM.
“Tracing the Missing Masses: Vibrancy, Symmetry, and Public Rhetoric Pedagogy.” Enculturation 17 (2014).
“Circumnavigation: An Interview with Thomas Rickert.” Kairos 18.2 (2014).
“Dappled Discipline at Thirty: An Interview with Janice M. Lauer.” Co-authored with Kyle Vealey. Rhetoric Review 33.2
(2014): 165-180.
“Composing the Carpenter’s Workshop.” Co-authored with Jim Brown. O-Zone: A Journal of Object Oriented Studies 1.1
(2013): 27-36.
“Ecological, Pedagogical Public Rhetoric.” Co-authored with Ryan Weber. College Composition and Communication 63.2
(2011): 187-218 [lead article].
“Future Convergences: Technical Communication as Cognitive Science.” Technical Communication Quarterly 20.4 (2011):
412-442. Special 20th Anniversary Issue.
“In Defense of Gut Feelings: Rhetorics of Decision-Making.” Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society 1.2 (2011).
“Productive Strife: Andy Clark’s Cognitive Science and Rhetorical Agonism.” Co-authored with Jeremy Tirrell. Janus
Head 12.1 (2011): 39-59.
“First-Year Composition Takes the University’s Agonism Online.” Kairos 13.2 (2009): Praxis Section. Co-authored
with Marc C. Santos, and Ryan P. Weber.
“Some Assembly Required: The Latourian Collective and the Banal Work of Technical and Professional
Communication.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 38.3 (2008): 189-206 [lead article]. Nominated for
a NCTE Scientific and Technical Communication Award.
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Book Chapters
“Brewing Influence: The Mixology of Morals.” Co-authored with Katie Dickman. In Cookery. Eds. Donovan Conley
and Justin Eckstein. In Press at University of Alabama University Press.
“New Materialisms, Networks, and Humanities Research.” Co-authored with Jenny Bay, Laurie Gries and Derek
Mueller. In Networked Humanities. Eds. Brian McNely and Jeff Rice. Parlor Press, 2018.
“Augmented Publics.” Co-authored with Casey Boyle. In Circulation, Rhetoric, and Writing. Eds. Laurie Gries and Collin
Brooke. Utah State University Press, 2018. 83-101.
“Better Footprints.” In Tracing Rhetoric and Material Life: Ecological Approaches. Eds. George F. McHendry, Jr., Justine
Wells, Bridie McGreavy, and Samantha Senda-Cook. Palgrave MacMillan, 2018. 169-196.
“A Predestination for Posthumanism.” Co-authored with Steve Katz. In Kenneth Burke + The Posthuman. Penn State
UP, 2017. 142-161.
“Encomium of QWERTY.” Co-authored with Jim Brown. In Rhetorical Ontologies: Rhetoric Through Everyday Things. Eds.
Scot Barnett and Casey Boyle. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2016. 212-225.
“Rhetorics of (Non)Symbolic Cultivation.” In Ecology, Writing Theory, and New Media: Writing Ecology. Ed. Sid Dobrin.
New York: Routledge, 2012. 34-50. Routledge Series in Rhetoric and Communication.
“We Are a Cyborg: Extensions of the Cybernetic into the Semiotic.” In Semiotics 2006. Ed. Benjamin Smith and Terry
J. Prewitt. New York: Legas, 2006: 245-255.
Media Projects
“We Have Never Been Critical” (Video Project). Itineration: Cross-Disciplinary Studies in Rhetoric, Media, and Culture.
October 2013.
Rhetorical Theory/Bruno Latour (Video Series). Enculturation: A Journal of Rhetoric, Writing, and Culture. July 16. 2012.
“Alien Relationship” (Video Project). OO Frequency: An Object-Oriented Media Channel. O-Zone: A Journal of Object
Oriented Studies. Spring 2012.
“Encyclopedias in Tweed?” (Podcast). The Notebook. Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning.
September 2012.
Conference Proceedings
“I Told U So! Classical and Contemporary Ethos and the Stabilization of Self.” The Responsibilities of Rhetoric: Proceedings
of the 2008 Rhetoric Society of America Conference. Eds. Michelle Smith and Barbara Warnick. Long Grove, IL:
Waveland Press, 2010. 281-288.
Responses, Review Essays, and Reviews
“Speculative Air Studies” Accepted at Criticism. Forthcoming 2015.
Response to “One Train Can Hide Another.” Co-authored with Paul Lynch. College English 77.6 (July 2015): 581-586.
Review of Beyond Reductionism: A Passion for Interdisciplinarity. Eds. Katharine Farrell, Tommaso Luzzati, and Sybille van
den Hove. Impact 4.2 (2015).
Review of Bodily Arts: Kenneth Burke at the Edges of Language, by Debra Hawhee. Rhetoric and Public Affairs 13.3 (2010):
519-522.
“The Muddled Emotions of Muggles.” Rev. of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling. Sycamore Review
18.1 (Fall and Winter 2005): 101-103. Anthologized in Political Issues in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series (Social
Issues in Literature). Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Chicago: Greenhaven, 2008.
Works in Progress
Book, Geocomposition (in progress, preface, introduction and two chapters drafted).
Book, The Strange Defense of Rhetoric. (in progress, three chapters and an introduction drafted).
Research Project, “Following Mechanical Turks: Articulating the Human in ‘Human Intelligence Tasks.’” Co-PI with
Jeremy Tirrell. Ongoing Research Project hosted through Intermezzo.
Article, “Consensual Attending.” (In progress, 9,000 words).
Book Chapter, “Apathy.” Contributed Chapter to Inverting Rhetoric: Theorizing with the Alpha Privative. Ed. Michele
Kennerly. Under review at Penn State UP.
Article, “Big Data, A Rhetorical Thing.” Co-authored with Lars Söderlund & Mark Hannah (Under review, 9,000
words).
Article, “In the Material: Towards Rhetorics of Cultivation” (under review, 9,500 words).

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Professional Memberships
Rhetoric Society of America
Association of Teachers of Technical Writing
National Council of Teachers of English
Jesuit Conference on Rhetoric and Composition

Conference Presentations
“Making Inquiry.” Roundtable. 18th Biennial Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America, Minneapolis, MN. 2018.
“Toward More Durable Rhetorics: Building Future Praxis through Reinventing Historic Epistemologies.” Roundtable
sponsored by Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology and Medicine), 18th Biennial Conference of
the Rhetoric Society of America, Minneapolis, MN. 2018.
“Sound Attention.” Symposium on Sound Rhetoric and Writing Nashville, TN. 2018.
“Shared Attention.” 32nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Toronto, CA. 2018.
“Serial Exposition.” Conference of College Communication and Composition, Portland, OR. 2017.
“Deep Think Tank: Rhetorical Circulation.” Conference on Community Writing, Workshop, Boulder, CO. 2017.
“Local Rhetorics.” Roundtable. National Association of Communication Conference. Philadelphia, PA. 2016
“Rhetoric Under the Influence.” National Association of Communication Conference. Philadelphia, PA. 2016.
“Telling Posthumanist Stories.” Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America. Atlanta, GA. 2016.
“Rhetoric Under the Influence.” Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America. Atlanta, GA. 2016.
“Rhetoric, Habitually.” Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America. Atlanta, GA. 2016.
“Speculative Deliberation.” Conference on College Communication and Composition. Tampa, FL. 2015.
“Speculative Usability II.” The Association of Teachers of Technical Writing Conference. Tampa, FL. 2015.
“Bruno Latour and Rhetorical Theory: A Roundtable.” Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America. San Antonio,
TX. 2014.
“Traffic Jams, Fog, and Road Kill: Recomposing Attention on the Interstate.” Western States Rhetoric and Literacy
Conference. University of Utah. 2013.
“Assessing Popular Science in the Classroom.” The Association of Teachers of Technical Writing Conference. Las
Vegas, NV. 2013.
“Rhetorical Carpentry: Making Objects that Attend to Objects.” Networked Humanities: From Within and Without
the University. University of Kentucky. 2013.
“Reframing Deception: Psychology, Rhetoric, and Agency.” Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America.
Philadelphia, PA. 2012.
“Restructuring Thought: Leveraging Ong for an Interdisciplinary Cognitive Science.” Conference on College
Communication and Composition. Saint Louis, MO. 2012.
“Action Constituting Motion: Revisiting Burke to Revive Ecology.” 8th Triennial Conference of the Kenneth Burke
Society. Clemson University. May 2011.
“‘The iPhone is Part of My Mind Already’: Rhetoric and the Cultivation of Body and Mind.” Conference on College
Communication and Composition. Atlanta, GA. 2011.
“The Distributed Wisdom of Students.” Computers and Writing Conference. Purdue University. 2010.
“Institutional Critique as Technical Writing Pedagogy.” The Association of Teachers of Technical Writing Conference.
Louisville, KY. 2010.
“Attitude, Anthropology, and Appetite: The Material Relevance of Rhetoric.” Triennial Kenneth Burke Society
Conference. Villanova University. 2008.
“I told U So! Classical and Contemporary Ethos and the Stabilization of Self.” Conference of the Rhetoric Society of
America. Seattle, WA. 2008.
“Writing Historical Reality: Jamestown and the Shaping of Environment through the Expectations of Culture.”
Conference on College Communication and Composition. New Orleans, LA. 2008.
“Technical Communication and the Articulation of Science and Politics.” Association of Teachers of Technical
Writing. New Orleans, LA. 2008.
“Productive Strife: Andy Clark’s Cognitive Science and Rhetorical Agonism.” Presented with Jeremy Tirrell. From
Brain to Human Culture: Intersections Between the Humanities and Neuroscience. Bucknell University. 2007.
“Virtual Space/Real People: Using Digital Environments to Connect First-Year Composition Classrooms and Foster
New Rhetorical Encounters.” Presented with Marc C. Santos and Ryan P. Weber. Computers and Writing
Conference. Wayne State University. 2007.

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“We Are a Cyborg: Extensions of the Cybernetic into the Semiotic.” American Semiotics Society. Purdue University.
2006.
“A Child’s Guide to Terrorism: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as Equipment for Living.” Popular Culture
Association. Atlanta, GA. 2006.
“Kenneth Burke’s Literary Reviews Rephrased: Examining the Influence of His Literary Reviews on His Larger
Works.” Triennial Kenneth Burke Society Conference. Penn State University. 2005.
“Just the Facts?: A Rhetorical Look at a Victorian Cautionary Tale.” Conference on College Communication and
Composition. San Francisco, CA. 2005.
“‘Rising or Falling:’ A Logological Look at the Theological Disputes in Milton’s Paradise Lost.” Michigan College
English Association. Michigan State University. 2005.
“Kenneth Burke and George Schuyler on Race: The Trained Incapacity of Scapegoating.” College English
Association. Indianapolis, IN. 2005.
“Fact as Fancy: A Cautionary Victorian Tale.” Michigan College English Association. Western Michigan University.
2004.

Invited Presentations & Workshops

“Serialized Storytelling.” Talk at Digital Writing and Rhetoric Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. March 2017.
“The ANT and the Frenchman: Tracing Rhetoric Through Bruno Latour.” Talk delivered to Department of English,
Pittsburgh University. December 2016.
“Hiding and Seeking Rhetoric’s Sensorium.” Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies Department Faculty Colloquium.
University of Kentucky. August 2016.
“Paying Attention with Cache.” Indiana Digital Rhetoric Symposium. Bloomington, IN. 2015
Invited guest appearance in Jenny Rice’s Graduate Seminar “Composition Theory Practicum.” University of
Kentucky. October 2015.
Invited guest appearance in David Rieder’s Graduate Seminar “Rhetoric and Digital Media.” North Carolina State
University. September 2015.
“Love Your Monsters: A Worser Apocalypse.” English in the World Speaker Series. Saint Louis University. April 2014.
“Instructional Designers: Collaboration, Invention, Reflection.” Learning Studio Spring Colloquium. Reinert Center
for Transformative Teaching and Learning. April 2013.
Invited Roundtable on Researching Teaching. Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning. March 2013.
“Teaching w/ New Media Technology.” 1818 Fall Colloquium. October 2012.
“Quick, Easy, and (Mostly) Free New Media Production.” Saint Louis University. Poetry Workshop. April 2012.
“Jesuit Pedagogy Brown Bag Workshop” (with Paul Lynch). Saint Louis University. Writing Program. April 2012.
“Crafting Experience: Digital Technology and Writing” Writing to Learn at a Jesuit Institution. January 2012
“Teaching with Technology.” Saint Louis University. 1818 Fall Colloquium. October 2011.
“Rhetoric and New Media.” Georgetown University. Approaches to the Teaching of Writing (graduate seminar).
November 2010.
“The Question Concerning Writing.” Georgetown University. Approaches to the Teaching of Writing (graduate
seminar). November 2009.
“Tutoring Technical Writing.” Purdue University Writing Lab. 2007.
Email Ethics Lecture and Workshop. Krannert School of Management Professional Development Workshop Series.
In conjunction with Purdue Writing Lab. Purdue University. 2006 and 2007.
Workshop on design notebooks, project charters, and travel writing for students in Purdue’s Engineering Projects in
Community Service (EPICS) program. In conjunction with Purdue Writing Lab. Purdue University. 2007.
Invited panel discussion with Pheng Cheah, author of Spectral Nationality. Globalization and Resistance Conference.
Purdue University. 2006.

Local Presentations
“New Media as Scholarship, or What I Did on My Summer Vacation.” Textual Revolution: The English Department
Faculty Colloquia. September 11, 2012.
“Life Story.” Saint Louis University. English Graduate Organization Coffee Hour. March 2012.
“Critical Thinking, Institutional Critique, and Rhetoric and Writing Pedagogy.” First Monday Faculty Presentation.
Georgetown University, Department of English. 2010.

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“Institutional Critique as Professional Writing Pedagogy.” Professional Writing Pedagogy and Technology Showcase.
Purdue University. 2007.
“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Pedagogical Implications of Content Management Systems
Across Four First-Year Writing Classrooms.” Presented with Paul Lynch, Marc C. Santos, and Ryan P. Weber.
Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference. Purdue University. 2007.
“Code in Context: An English 420 (Business Writing) HTML Calendar and Implementation Documentation.”
Presented with Marc C. Santos and Ryan P. Weber. Professional Writing Pedagogy and Technology Showcase.
Purdue University. 2005.

Teaching
Saint Louis University
Department of English (2011–Present)
English 4010: New Media Writing: Sensing the World
Spring 2020
ENGL 1900: Technology, Media and Rhetoric
Fall 2017 & 2019
ENGL 4000: Business and Professional Writing
Spring 2019
ENGL 4940: Senior Seminar: Paying Attention
Spring 2018
English 4010: New Media Writing: Composing with Sound
Fall 2016
English 3850: Foundations in Rhetoric and Writing
Spring 2013 & 2014 and Fall 2015 & 2016
English 5899: Professionalization Practicum
Fall 2016
English 4010: New Media Writing: Storytelling
Summer 2016
English 2650: Technology, Media and Literature
Fall 2015
English 4900/6190: Posthumanism
Summer 2015
English 4030/5030: History of Rhetoric II: 1701-Present
Summer 2013 and Spring 2015 & 2017 & 2019
English 3860: Public Rhetoric
Fall 2014 & Spring 2016
English 5010: Teaching Writing
Fall 2014
English 318: Film
Visions of the Future. Fall 2013
English 401: New Media Writing
New Media Advocacy. Fall 2013 | New Media Science Writing. Fall 2012
English 404: Problems in Rhetoric
Fall 2012
English 604: Alternative Rhetorics
Spring 2012, Graduate Seminar
English 604: Rhetoric, Technology, and Culture
Summer 2011, Graduate Seminar
English 302: Technical Writing and New Media
The Rhetoric of New Media. Fall 2011
English 400: Professional and Business Writing
Organizational Rhetoric and Writing. Fall 2011

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Service
College
Research Fellow, Walter J. Ong, SJ, Center for Language, Media, and Culture (Fall 2011–Present)
Teaching Fellow, Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (Fall 2012-Spring 2013)
Faculty Judge, 18th Annual Research Symposium (Graduate Student Association) (Spring 2012)
Represented English Department at the College of Arts and Sciences Scholarly Fair (Spring 2012)

Department
Director, Writing Program (Fall 2019—Present)
Director, Computer Assisted Instruction Lab (Fall 2012–2019)
Advisor, Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations (Spring 2010–Present)
Placement Director (Spring 2015–Present)
Member, Writing Committee (Fall 2011–Present)
Member, Research Committee (Fall 2013–Spring 2015)
Departmental Website Revision (Fall 2012– Spring 2013)
Member, Graduate Committee (Fall 2012–Spring 2013)

Professional
Co-Conference Organizer (with Paul Lynch), 2014 Triennial Kenneth Burke Society Conference (Summer 2014)
Co-Editor (with Paul Lynch), Kenneth Burke Journal (2011–2013)
Online Editor (with Ryan Weber), Kenneth Burke Journal (2008–2011)
Reviewer, Southern Illinois University Press (2016)
Reviewer, Pittsburgh University Press (2016)
Reviewer, Quarterly Journal of Speech
Reviewer, College English
Reviewer, Philosophy and Rhetoric
Reviewer, Social Epistemology
Reviewer, Rhetoric Review
Reviewer, College Composition and Communication
Reviewer, Enculturation
Reviewer, Composition Studies
Reviewer, Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society
Reviewer, Kenneth Burke Journal
Reviewer, Punctum Press
Reviewer, Parlor Press
Reviewer, The Space Between. Reviewed manuscripts submitted for inclusion in special issue on Kenneth Burke
Reviewer, 2016 Rhetoric Society of America Conference
Reviewer, Stage One 2016 Conference on College Composition and Communication
Reviewer, Stage One 2015 Conference on College Composition and Communication
Reviewer, 2014 Special Interest Group on Design of Communication (SIGDOC) Conference
Reviewer, International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) 12th
Annual Research Conference (Spring 2012)
Reader for Advance Placement Exam, Educational Testing Services (2006–2010)

Community
Guest Lecture for SLU Prison Program: “Kenneth Burke and the Parlor of History” (Fall 2012)
Document Design/Editorial Work for Saint Roch Parish, St. Louis, MO.

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