LaToya Sawyer

Professional Affiliations: Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric Society of America, Modern Language Association, National Women’s Studies Association

LaToya Sawyer joined the English department in 2017 as an assistant professor. She specializes in rhetorical theory, digital rhetoric, feminist theory and rhetoric, and cultural rhetorics (African American and Caribbean rhetoric). Dr. Sawyer teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in African American women’s rhetoric, literature in the global context, African American literacies, and feminist theory.

Dr. Sawyer is currently working on her first monograph which explores the identity performances, rhetorical production, and agency of Black women on social media. Through case studies on Black women-dominant spaces online, this book shows how Black women’s use culturally-specific literacy and discourse practices online as a means of empowerment and offers a critical examination of the constraints, risks, material labor and possibilities associated with digital Black womanhood.

Awards and Distinctions:

National Women’s Studies Association Women of Color Leadership Program (2018)

National Council of Teachers of English Cultivating New Voices fellow (2014-2016) Conference of College Composition and Communication Scholar for the Dream (2012)

Dr. Sawyer’s publications: https://latoyasawyer.com/publications/