The Department of Writing and Rhetoric is pleased to welcome six new colleagues: John T. Edge, Lauren Fortenberry, Alam Khorshed, Amy Schumacher-Rutherford, Daryleshia Ward, and Susan Wood.  The Department is also pleased to announce the appointment of Ellen Shelton as the Interim Writing Center Director at the Oxford campus.  

John T. Edge is the founding director of the Southern Foodways Alliance. He began hosting the television show TrueSouth in 2018 on the SEC Network and ESPN. In 2012 and 2020, he won Beard’s M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. Edge is a contributing editor to Garden & Gun, the author/editor of more than a dozen books, and a former food columnist for The New York Times. Edge received a master’s degree in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College. He joins us as Writer-In-Residence and will be teaching a special seminar on “Writing and Reading Place.” 

Lauren Fortenberry comes to us from the Luckyday Scholars Program where she was the Leadership Programming and Communication Coordinator. In her 12 years of teaching, she has taught writing and English language arts at the elementary school, middle school, high school, and college levels. She is also an active freelance writer. Fortenberry received her bachelor’s degree in English, a master’s degree in Secondary English Education, and a master’s degree in Infectious Diseases, all from Virginia Tech University. She joins us as Instructor of Writing. 

Khorshed Alam has been teaching communications courses since 2009. He was an Assistant Professor at The University of Dhaka in Bangladesh as well as a Visiting Research Scholar at the University of Richmond. Alam received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University of Dhaka and a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of South Florida. He joins us as Instructor of Speech. 

Ellen Shelton has been a lecturer with the Department of Writing and Rhetoric since 2019, teaching Contemporary Writing Studies. Shelton also serves as the director for the University of Mississippi Writing Project and Pre-College Programs for Outreach & Continuing Education. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from Hendrix College, a master’s degree in English from the University of Mississippi, and an Ed.D. in Elementary Education from the University of Mississippi. Shelton will serve as the Interim Writing Center Director for the Oxford campus. 

Amy Schumacher-Rutherford comes to us with over 10 years of experience in teaching oral communication, most recently at Arkansas State University. Schumacher-Rutherford received a bachelor’s degree in Strategic Communication from Miami University, a master’s degree in Communication Studies from Marshall University, and a Ph.D. in Communication Studies and a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Kansas. She joins us as Instructor of Speech.

Daryleshia Ward has been the Instructor of Information Technology for North Panola School District since 2017, as well as a summer camp coordinator and women’s track and field coach. Ward received her bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Mississippi.  She joins us as Coordinator of Community Literacy, which includes developing programming and literacy projects for North Panola students.

Susan Wood has been an adjunct instructor with the Department of Writing and Rhetoric for the last four years, where she has taught first-year writing. Wood received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Mississippi. She joins us as Instructor of Writing.

We are thrilled to welcome these talented colleagues. Their work will enhance our service to the University of Mississippi community.