Douglas Eyman

Associate Professor

Writing and Rhetoric: Classical and contemporary rhetorical theory, digital rhetoric, composing with AI, digital scholarship and electronic publication, web authoring and design, technical and scientific writing

Douglas Eyman is Director of Writing and Rhetoric Programs at GMU. He teaches courses in digital rhetoric, technical and scientific communication, web authoring, new media, and professional writing. His current research interests include the affordances and constraints of composing with AI/LLMs, new media scholarship, teaching in digital environments, and video games as sites of composition. With Dr. Nupoor Ranade, he is currently co-editing both a special issue of Computers and Composition on "Composing with AI" and an edited collection on AI in Writing Studies.

Prior publications include Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice (University of Michigan Press, 2015), Play/Write: Games, Writing, Digital Rhetoric (co-edited with Andrea Davis), and Games and Play in China and the Sinophone World (co-edited with Li Guo and Hongmei Sun, 2024). His scholarly work has been published in Enculturation, Pedagogy, Computers and Composition, and Technical Communication, as well as chapters in Digital Writing Research (2007), Rhetorically Rethinking Usability (2008), Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities (2015), Global Academic Publishing (2018), Playing with the Rules (2021), Editors in Writing (2022), and TextGenEd (2023), among others.

Eyman is the senior editor and publisher of Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, an online journal that has been publishing peer-reviewed scholarship on computers and writing since 1996.

Douglas earned his PhD in Rhetoric and Writing at Michigan State University (2007).

Selected Publications

Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice. (2015). University of Michigan Press, Digital Culture Books series, http://www.digitalculture.org/books/digital-rhetoric/

Play/Write: Digital Rhetoric, Writing, Games. (2016). co-edited with Andrea Davis. Anderson, SC: Parlor Press.

(2023 – In Press) Before Wireless Networks: Foundational Works in Computers and Writing. In Deborah Holdstein, (Ed.), Lost Texts in Rhetoric and Composition. MLA Press.

(2022) Everything is Rhetoric: Design, Editing, and Multimodal Scholarship, with Cheryl Ball. In Greg Giberson, Megan Schoen, & Christian Weisser, (Eds.), Editors in Writing: Behind the Curtain of Scholarly Publishing in Writing Studies (pp. 164-180). Utah State University Press.

(2021) Ethos and Interaction in Elder Scrolls Online, with Wendi Sierra. In Matthew S. S. Johnson, Richard Colby, & Rebekah Colby Playing with the Rules: The Ethics of Playing, Researching, and Teaching Games in the Writing Classroom (pp. 213-241). Palgrave Macmillan.

(2019) Text/Design/Code – Advice on developing and producing a scholarly webtext. In John Gallagher & Danielle DeVoss, (Eds.), Explanation Points: Publishing in Rhetoric and Composition (pp. 206-209). Fort Collins: University of Colorado Press.

(2018) Text, design, code: Digital rhetoric in academic and professional writing. In Shirley Logan and Wayne Slater, (Eds.), Perspectives on Academic and Professional Writing in an Age of Accountability (pp. 221-233). Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

(2018) The rise of multimodal languages in academic publishing. with Cheryl Ball and Andrew Morrison. In Mary Jane Curry and Theresa Lillis, (Eds.), Global Academic Publishing: Policies, Practices, and Pedagogies (pp. 117-136). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Publishing.

(2016) Digital rhetoric as evolving field: Traditional and contemporary practices. Enculturation: A Journal of Rhetoric, Writing, Culture, 23: http://enculturation.net/looking-back-and-looking-forward

(2016) From player to maker: The value of rhetoric in an age of ubiquitous gaming. (2016). PRE/TEXT: A Journal of Rhetorical Theory, 21: 45-57.

(2016) History of a Broken Thing: The Multi-Journal Special Issue on Electronic Publication. with Cheryl Ball. In Bruce McComiskey (Ed.), Microhistories of Composition (pp. 117-136). Utah State University Press.

(2016) Introduction: Networks of Gaming and Writing. In Douglas Eyman and Andrea Davis, (Eds.), Play/Write: Digital Rhetoric, Writing, Games, (pp. 1-22). Parlor Press.

(2015) Digital Humanities Scholarship and Electronic Publication. with Cheryl Ball. In Jim Ridolfo & Bill Hart-Davidson (Eds.), Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities (pp. 65-79). University of Chicago Press. Winner of the 2015 Computers and Composition Distinguished Book Award.

(2014) Composing for Digital Publication: Rhetoric, Design, Code. with Cheryl Ball. Composition Studies, 42.1: 114-117.

Expanded Publication List

Invited Contributions

(2022) By the Numbers: A Citation Analysis. Composition Studies, 50(1): 29-30. Infographic.

(2020) Keyword: Rhetoric. In Rebecca Frost Davis, Matthew Gold, Katherine D. Harris, & Jentery Sayers (Eds.), Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities: Concepts, Models, and Experiments, New York: Modern Language Association.

(2019) Multimodal and Multimedia Projects in the Writing Center. Writing Lab Newsletter Blog. http://www.wlnjournal.org/blog/2019/06/multimodal-and-multimedia-projects-in-the-writing-center-by-douglas-eyman/

(2016) Access/ibility: Access and Usability for Digital Publishing. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 20(2): http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/20.2/topoi/eyman-et-al/index.html

(2015) Editorial workflows for multimedia-rich scholarship. with Cheryl Ball Journal of Electronic Publishing 18(4): http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0018.406

(2011) Computers and composition 20/20: A conversation piece, or what some very smart people have to say about the future. with Janice Walker, Kristine Blair, Bill Hart-Davidson, Michael Mcleod, Jeff Grabill, Fred Kemp, Mike Palmquist, James Purdy, Madeleine Soraapure, Christine Tulley, and Victor Vitanza. Computers and Composition, 28(4): 327-346.

(2007) Digital+writing+research: An interview with Heidi McKee and Dànielle DeVoss. Computers and Composition Online Special issue: Online research, writing, and citation practices (Fall): http://www.bgsu.edu/cconline/interview/index.htm

(2006) The arrow and the loom: A decade of Kairos. Kairos: Rhetoric, Technology, Pedagogy, 11(1): http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/11.1/topoi/eyman/index.html

(2005) CCCC resolution on composing with nonprint media. with Cheryl Ball and John Walter. Resolution adopted at the CCCC annual business meeting, March 19, 2005.

(2004) Community voices: Douglas Eyman. In James Inman (Ed.), Computers and writing: The cyborg era (pp. 75-76). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

(2002) Introduction: Facing the future of electronic publishing. with David Blakesley, Byron Hawk, Mike Palmquist, and Todd Taylor. Enculturation, 4(1): http://enculturation.net/4_1/intro/

Additional Peer-reviewed Publications

(2013) “I Rolled the Dice with Trade Chat and This is What I Got”: Demonstrating Context-Dependent Credibility in Virtual Worlds, with Wendi Sierra. In Shawn Apostel & Moe Folk (Eds.), Online Credibility and Digital Ethos: Evaluating Computer-Mediated Communication (pp. 332-352). IGI Publishing.

(2010) Writing, Rhetoric, and Design: A Virtual Collaboration Case Study. In Beth Hewett and Charlotte Robideaux, (Eds.), Virtual Collaborative Writing in the Workplace: Computer-Mediated Communication Technologies and Processes (pp. 350-359). Hershey: IGI Press.

(2009) Usability: Methodology and Design Practice for Writing Processes and Pedagogies. Rhetorically Rethinking Usability: Theories, Practices, and Methodologies (pp. 213-228). Ed. Susan Miller-Cochran and Rochelle Rodrigo. Cresskill: Hampton Press.

(2009) Developing Sustainable Research Networks in Graduate Education. with Stephanie Sheffield and Dànielle DeVoss, Computers and Composition, 26(1): 49-57.

(2008) Computer Gaming and Technical Communication: An Ecological Framework. Technical Communication, 55(3): 242-50.

(2008) Learning from Kairos: Value, Visibility, and Virtual Teamwork. In Pavel Zemliansky & Kirk St. Amant (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Virtual Workplaces and the New Nature of Business Practices (pp. 590-598). Hershey, PA: IGI Publishing. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-893-2.ch043.

(2007) Multifaceted Methods for Multi-Modal Texts: Alternate Approaches to Citation Analysis for Electronic Sources, with Colleen Reilly. In Heidi McKee & Dànielle DeVoss (Eds.), Digital Writing Research: Technologies, Methodologies, and Ethical Issues (pp. 353-375). Hampton Press.

(2007) Digital Literac(ies), Digital Discourses, and Communities of Practice: Literacy Practices in Virtual Environments. Cultural Studies of Literacy Practices (pp. 181-95). Ed. Victoria Purcell-Gates. Mahwah: Erlbaum.

(2007) A Net-Working Community: WIDE and the Rhetoric and Writing Graduate Program at Michigan State University, with Angela Haas, Qwo-Li Driskill, and Bill Hart-Davidson, Currents in Electronic Literacy, 11: http://currents.cwrl.utexas.edu/2007/a-net-working-community.

(2006) Teaching Digital Rhetoric: Community, Critical Engagement, and Application, Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture, 6(2): 231-259.

(2006) Revising with Word Processing/Technology/Document Design, with Colleen Reilly. In Alice Horning & Anne Becker (Eds.), Revision: History, theory, and practice (pp. 102-116). Parlor Press.

(2005) Moving in from the Periphery: The Disciplinary Labyrinth. In James Inman & Beth Hewett (Eds.), Technology and English Studies: Innovative Professional Paths (pp. 75-89). Lawrence Erlbaum.

(2000) Students as Builders of Virtual Worlds. In Sibylle Gruber (Ed.), Weaving a Virtual web: Practical Approaches to New Information Technologies (pp. 207-218). Urbana: NCTE Press.

(1996) Hypertext and/as Collaboration in the Computer-Facilitated Writing Classroom, Kairos: A Journal for Teachers of Writing in Webbed Environments, 1(2): http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/1.2/binder.html?features/eyman/bridge.html.

Reviews

(2007) Review of Communication of complex information: User goals and information needs by Michael J. Albers. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 21(1): 232-235.

(2007) Review of Multiliteracies for a digital age by Stuart Selber. Technical Communication Quarterly, 16(1): 125-127.

(2007) Review of Writing for the Real World 2: An Introduction to Business Writing by Roger Barnard and Antoinette Meehan and In Business: Activities to Bring Business English to Life by Marjorie Rosenberg. TESL-EJ, 10(4):http://tesl-ej.org/ej40/r5.html

(2004) Review of Writing Inventions: Identities, Technologies, Pedagogies by Scott Lloyd DeWitt. Teaching English in the Two Year College, 32(2): 209-212.

(1996) Review of Writing at the Edge: Student Webs from Brown University, ed. George Landow. Kairos: A Journal for Teachers of Writing in Webbed Environments, 1(1): http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/1.1/binder.html?reviews/eyman/wate.html

Proceedings

(2008) An ecological view of professional writing programs. Proceedings of the 2007 Conference of the Council of Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication. CPTSC (Greenville, NC).

(2007) Teacher knowledge standards and digital affordances: The creation of an interactive literacy resource exchange for teacher education. with Kendall Leon, Jim Fredricksen, and Michael Mcleod. Proceedings of the 18th Annual Society for Information Technologies and Teacher Education. Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (San Antonio, Texas).

Published Teaching Resources

(2008) What every student should know about creating portfolios. 48 pp. New York: Longman.

Courses Taught

ENGH 301: The Fields of English

ENGH 302: Advanced Composition

ENGH 375/507: Web Authoring and Design

ENGH 380: Introduction to Writing and Rhetoric

ENGH 388: Professional and Technical Writing

ENGH 501: Introduction to Professional Writing and Rhetoric

ENGH 503: Theory and Practice of Editing

ENGH 505: Document Design

ENGH 508: Digital Rhetoric

ENGH 613: Technical and Scientific Writing

ENGH 724: Professional Writing Theory and Research

ENGH 797: Projects in Professional Writing

ENGH 824: Topics in Professional Writing

Education

PhD in Rhetoric and Writing, Michigan State University (2007)

MA in English, UNC-Wilmington (1995)

BA in English, Wittenberg University (1991)

Recent Presentations

(2022, June). Journals: Recognizing Peer Review, Association of University Presses, with Michael Cornett, Cheryl Ball, and Taylor Dietrich. Washington, DC.

(2022, May). DEI Efforts at Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy. With Cheryl Ball. Computers and Writing: Practicing Digital Activisms. Greenville, NC.

(2022, January). The Shape of the Profession Post-pandemic for Faculty Members in Writing Studies. Modern Language Association, Washington DC.

(2021, March). The Internet as Writing Platform: Tracing and Comparing Histories of Writing in China and the US from BBS to WeChat. Writing Research Across Borders. Online.

(2021, April). Circulation and Open Access. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Online.

(2020, January). “Lost” Scholarly Texts in Rhetoric and Composition-Computers and Writing 1988-1992. Modern Language Association, Seattle WA.

(2020, January). When Texts Move: Teaching Digital Writing Projects. Modern Language Association, Seattle WA.

(2019, June). Explanation Points: Writing and Publishing in Computers and Writing. 35^th Computers & Writing Conference. East Lansing, MI.

(2019, March). From Access to Accountability: Logics of Care in Technical Communication. Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, Pittsburgh, PA.

(2018, October). Holloway Lecture: Videogame Rhetorics Across Cultures:
Texts, Translations, and Multi-Player Games. McDaniel College, Westminster, MD.

(2018, March). Transforming Experience into Research: Empirical Methods for Game Studies in Writing and Rhetoric. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Kansas City, MO.

(2018, January). ‘All Your Base’: Linguistic and Cultural Challenges to Videogame Localization. 5^th Annual Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies. Columbia, SC.

(2018, January). Plenary: The Matter of Writing, with Jonathan Alexander, Kris Blair, Doug Hesse, Deborah Holdstein, Shirley Logan, Andrea Lunsford, John Schilb, and Kathleen Blake Yancey. Modern Language Association, New York, NY.

Dissertations Supervised

Caitlin Dungan, “There’s no Way She’s Straight”: Towards a Heuristic of Positive Queer Representation in Gaming (2023)

Kyle Trott, A Rhetorical Analysis of Teacher Instructional Speech (2022)

Ashley Yuckenberg, Ethical Implications of Communicating Risk in the Media: A Heuristic for Reporting on Crisis Events with a Focus on Mass School Shootings (2021)

Kellie Gray, ’It Wasn’t Supposed to be Hairy’: From Variant Glyphs to Rendered Ecologies of Code, Constraint, and Culture (2019)

Colleen Reynolds, 21st-century Rhetorical Practices for Business-to-Business Sales Professionals and Sales Educators that Synthesize Shakespeare and Improvisation with Theories of Kenneth Burke (2017)