Laura Gonzales
I study composing as a mobile, dynamic process that is constantly adapted by users in local contexts (Fraiberg, 2010; Sun, 2012). More specifically, I’m interested in the ways people, and in particular people who speak English as a second (or third, fourth, etc.) language, move or shuttle between languages, platforms, tools, and communities simultaneously to accomplish tasks. My goal through this work is not to “assist” individuals as they make linguistic transitions, but rather to help researchers pay attention to the writing practices of multilinguals in order to learn from them.
My professional trajectory has been shaped by experiences learning English as a second language, and, perhaps even more emphatically, by teaching students who navigate linguistic transitions in their daily communication. Most recently, I had the honor of working as the translations coordinator for the Department of Language Services at the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, where I learned how communities can be sustained through language justice and inclusion.
My work has been published in Technical Communication, Composition Forum,College Composition and Communication, and Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy. I was also recently awarded the 2016 Sweetland/UM Press Book Prize for my forthcoming book, Sites of Translation:What Multilinguals can Teach us about Digital Writing and Rhetoric.
I’m a proud member of the CPTSC Diversity Committee, NCTE’sLatin@ Caucus, the Computers andWriting Race Caucus, ACM’s SpecialInterest Group on Design of Communication, and the American Translators Association. For more information, please visit my website at www.gonzlaur.com.
UTEP Faculty Profile: http://academics.utep.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=70104&ID=ljgonzales3
Contact Information
Email: ljgonzales3@utep.edu
Phone: 915-747-
Hudspeth Hall 115
Personal Information
Ph.D., Michigan State University
Assistant Professor