Dr. Lauren Rosenberg
I am a Professor of Rhetoric and Writing Studies. My training is in Composition and Rhetoric with specializations in community literacy, feminist rhetorics, longitudinal methodologies, and writing program administration. I teach courses in composition theory and pedagogy, critical and community literacy studies, feminist theories and methodologies, qualitative research methods, and lifespan longitudinal studies. I also mentor new and seasoned teachers of writing.
Stories, and the ways that people represent their experiences, in their own words, have always mattered to me. In my first book, The Desire for Literacy, I concentrated on adult learners who restoried their lived experiences when they became writers, and how they turned their writing toward making social changes in their communities. A second book, Community Listening co-edited with Jenn Fishman and Romeo García, invites readers to learn about listening that is deeply enmeshed in specific community sites, stories, and relations. Currently, in my longitudinal research with populations of adult learners, I am taking a lifespan development of writing approach as I look at how ordinary people relate to writing. My new research is situated in the western highlands of Guatemala where I am exploring the educational experiences of a group of rural Mayan women. Threaded through all my scholarship is a commitment to examining and advocating for equity through community writing partnerships. From my experiences as a researcher and teacher, I have learned to encourage students to always look beyond the confines of the university so that they might understand how their writing can serve multiple purposes, such as problem solving, reflection, and interrogation of power relations. The same feminist imperative that informs my research—of listening intensively for more honest critical “action in cross-boundary exchange” (Jacqueline Jones Royster)—also shapes my teaching and administrative practices.
I serve on the editorial boards of the CCCC Studies in Writing and Rhetoric (SWR) book series and numerous journals, and the Writing Through the Lifespan Collaboration. From 2019-2026, I was Director of First-Year Composition at UTEP.
Education
PhD Rhetoric & Composition, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (2006)
MFA Creative Writing (fiction), New York University, New York, NY (1997)
BA cum laude Amherst College, Amherst, MA (1986)
Selected Publications
Book
The Desire for Literacy: Writing in The Lives of Adult Learners. Urbana: CCCC/NCTE Studies in Writing and Rhetoric (SWR) series, 2015.
Community Listening: Stories, Hauntings, and Possibilities. Ed. Jenn Fishman, Romeo García, and Lauren Rosenberg, WAC Clearinghouse: Perspectives on Writing series, 2025.
Recipient of the Coalition for Community Writing 2025 Outstanding Edited Collection in Community Writing award.
Rosenberg, Lauren, et al. UTEP First-Year Composition Handbook: University of Texas at El Paso, Rhetoric and Writing Studies. Hayden-McNeil/Macmillan Learning, 2025.
Articles and Book Chapters
"Co-Authoring Across Communities: Why WE Write Together.” Lauren Rosenberg and Gwen McGowan. Writers: Craft & Context. 5.1, 2025, pp. 19-30.
“Writing with Victor.” Memoria: Essays in Honor of Victor Villanueva. Ed. Asao Inoue, Siskanna Naynaha, and Wendy Olson. Urbana: CCCC/NCTE Studies in Writing and Rhetoric (SWR) series, 2024, pp. 287-305.
“Interpreting Research with Participants: A Lifespan Methodology.” Collie Fulford and Lauren Rosenberg. Improvisations: Methods and Methodologies for Lifespan Writing Research. Ed. Talinn Phillips and Ryan Dippre, WAC Clearinghouse / Colorado State UP, 2024, pp. 87-101. https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/improvisations/
“Co-interpretation in Action.” Lauren Rosenberg with Gwen McGowan and Collie Fulford with Adrienne Long. Improvisations: Methods and Methodologies for Lifespan Writing Research. Ed. Talinn Phillips and Ryan Dippre, WAC Clearinghouse / Colorado State UP, 2024, pp. 103-119. https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/improvisations/
“Following Participants as Leaders in Long Research.” Telling Stories: Perspectives on Longitudinal Writing Research. Ed. Amy Kimme Hea and Jenn Fishman, Utah State UP, 2023, pp. 45-62.
“Centering Students’ Language and Literacy Practices: How We Counter a Dominant English Paradigm in a Writing Program on the Mexico-US Border.” Lauren Rosenberg and Kate Mangelsdorf. Plurilingual Pedagogies for Multilingual Writing Classrooms: Engaging the Rich Communicative Repertoires of U.S. Students. Ed. Kay Losey and Gail Shuck, Routledge, 2022, pp. 174-189.
“Entanglements of Literacy Studies and Disability Studies.” Lauren Rosenberg and Stephanie L. Kerschbaum. College English. 83. 4, Mar. 2021, pp. 267-288.
Recipient of the 2021 NCTE Richard C. Ohmann Outstanding Article in College English Award
“Telling to Heal: Mending Our Fractured Mindbodyspirit.” Judith Flores Carmona and Lauren Rosenberg. Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education. Ed. Michelle M. Espino. 14.1, 2021, DOI: 10.1080/26379112.2021.1891419.
“Revisiting Participants After Publication: Continuing Writing Partnerships.” Approaches to Lifespan Writing Research: Generating Murmurations Towards an Actionable Coherence. Ed. Talinn Phillips and Ryan Dippre. WAC Clearinghouse / Colorado State UP, 2020, pp. 97-110. DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2020.1053.2.06.
“Community Listening: A Community Writing Praxis.” Jenn Fishman and Lauren Rosenberg. Introduction to “Community Writing as Community Listening: A Special Issue to Celebrate the Second Biennial Conference on Community Writing.” Community Literacy Journal. Ed. Jenn Fishman and Lauren Rosenberg. 13.1 Fall 2018.
“’Still Learning’: One Couple’s Literacy Development in Older Adulthood.” Literacy in Composition Studies. Special Issue on “Composing a Further Life,” Ed. Lauren Bowen and Susanne Rumsey. 6.2 Nov. 2018, pp. 18-35.
