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Seminar in Composition Faculty Fellows

The Seminar in Composition Faculty Fellows Program is a Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences initiative that expands who teaches Pitt's required first-year writing course. The program draws on writing and disciplinary expertise from beyond the English Department by bringing in faculty from fields such as religious studies, biological sciences, history, chemistry, neuroscience, and linguistics, who bring their disciplinary perspectives to bear on the teaching of college writing. The program is led by Jennifer Keating.

All Faculty Fellows sections explore a theme drawn from the fellow's area of expertise while they are anchored by SC's four learning goals: engage in composing as a creative, disciplined form of critical inquiry; compose thoughtfully crafted essays that position your ideas among other views; compose with precision, nuance, and awareness of formal conventions; and revise your writing by rethinking the assumptions, aims, and effects of prior drafts. SCFF course themes have ranged from neuroscience in the media to narratives of World War II.

For faculty, the fellowship offers a collaborative teaching community and the opportunity to work with a class of just 22 undergraduates — a welcome contrast to large lecture formats common in many fields. For students, these sections provide a thematically engaging introduction to college writing alongside an early encounter with the intellectual habits and conventions of a discipline they may wish to pursue.

The first eight fellows started teaching SC in fall 2025. A second cohort of four is preparing to begin teaching in fall 2026, growing the total to 12 active fellows. Faculty Fellows classes are offered under a new course number, ENGCMP 0299: Seminar in Composition: Exploring the Disciplines.

Each fall, the DSAS Dean's office invites nominations for fellows who will start teaching the following academic year; finalists are selected by the SCFF Steering Committee.

Seminar in Composition Faculty Fellows

Brock Bahler

Brock Bahler

Dr. Brock Bahler is a teaching professor in Religious Studies who specializes in philosophy of religion, philosophy of race, and Jewish philosophy. He is the author of three books, including the edited collection *The Logic of Racial Practice: Explorations in the Habituation of Racism.* He is currently working on a digital humanities project that will result in a comprehensive database of slavery in the Southwestern PA region that considers how enslavers continue to be memorialized within the built environment even as the history of slavery in the region and the lives of those who were enslaved are under erasure. 

Why SCFF? "The SCFF program provided a space to more clearly articulate my own goals for the writing process, explore new course design within a new context, and enhance teaching skills in student writing that will benefit how I teach all of my courses." 

Gretchen Bender

Gretchen Bender

Gretchen Bender, History of Art and Architecture, has revised and taught Intro to World Art, aiming to dismantle common assumptions about "Art" – who gets to make it and how it’s valued – from a global perspective. She is currently authoring an “anti-textbook” which challenges the traditional survey for the field of art history.  She has designed and taught foundation courses for the art history, architectural studies, and museum studies programs, advanced writing seminars, and most recently, a course on art and environmental crisis. She has published on “ungrading” practices and seeks to offer courses that foster individual creativity, generative collaboration, and a nurturing learning community. 

Why SCFF? "I am eager to work with students who share my interest in art and architecture (very broadly defined), the so-called 'natural world,' history, and writing as a form of creative expression that extends one’s voice into the world alongside and in conversation with others." 

Josh Ellenbogen

Joshua Ellenbogen

Josh Ellenbogen is Associate Professor in the History of Art and Architecture Department. He specializes in the history of photography, scientific imaging, and the study of art and community in the 20th century. He is also an associated faculty member in Film and Media Studies.

Ellen Kelsey

Ellen Kelsey

With over a decade of experience teaching senior-level writing in Biological Sciences, Ellen Kelsey is excited to pivot her focus to the first-years in Seminar in Composition. As a Faculty Fellow, Ellen bridges the gap between the sciences and the liberal arts. She is particularly passionate about science communication, guiding students to find the human narratives within scientific breakthroughs. She looks forward to helping first-year writers discover their own voices through the lens of scientific inquiry and discovery. 

Bridget Keown

Bridget Keown

Bridget Keown leads the Gender and Science Initiative in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program. She received her PhD in History from Northeastern University, where her work focuses on the experiences of British and Irish women who suffered trauma as a result of the First World War. In her teaching, Bridget focuses on how people use narratives to make sense of their world, and how those narratives turn into knowledge.

Why SCFF? "We get told all the time that 'we can do hard things,' but no one tells us how. Teaching is one of those hard things--composition, especially! But the SCFF program does more than acknowledge the difficulties--it's provided me with insight, support, and confidence that I take on this challenge, and that I can keep coming back to try again." 

Vipin Anantha Krishna

Vipin Krishna

Vipin is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the History Department. He focuses on the politics of language and region in South Asia.

Why SCFF? "Watching colleagues from completely different disciplines wrestle with the same composition challenges — and come up with wildly different solutions — changed how I think about teaching writing. And there's nothing better than seeing students catch that experimental spirit and run with it."

Michelle Morgan

Michelle Morgan

Dr. Morgan is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and frequently teaches General Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry lectures and is the Honors General Chemistry Laboratory Director.  She earned a B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh before completing her M.S. in Chemistry at Colorado State University, then a Ph.D. from Queen's University Belfast in the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.  She worked as an Analytical chemist in the pharmaceutical industry for a few years before teaching.  Her chemical education research is focused on helping students develop scientific writing skills.

Why SCFF? "If you are passionate about writing in your discipline and desire the opportunity to be more creative and have more discussions with students about writing practices, then the SCFF program is for you!" 
 

Stephanie Nygard

Stephanie Nygard

Stephanie Nygard is a Teaching Associate Professor in the Neuroscience Department, where she teaches writing with a focus on critical analysis and the communication of neuroscience in the media. Her teaching emphasizes revision, rhetorical awareness, and helping students engage thoughtfully with complex scientific ideas. She is excited to be part of the SCFF program and to continue developing innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

Why SCFF? "The SCFF program has given me the opportunity to rethink my teaching alongside a community of thoughtful, innovative colleagues, that I would have not had the chance to engage with if it were not for this program. It has pushed me to design more intentional, student-centered learning experiences and look at my classroom as a place to experiment, reflect, and grow, for both my students and myself."

Bill Price

Bill Price

Bill Price is a linguist and cognitive scientist who explores the ways that our tools can help us learn, think, communicate, and collaborate more effectively. In addition to teaching support courses in English and writing, he is a founding member of both the Technology in Language Teaching committee and the Generative AI Working Group of the Robert Henderson Language Media Center. Explore along with Bill at his website, where he shares his latest ideas, experiments, and resources.

Lucas Riddle

Lucas Riddle

Lucas Riddle joined Pitt’s German Department as an assistant professor in 2024. His teaching and research focus on issues in contemporary Germany, particularly postmigrant literature, film, humor, and pop culture. His current book project, tentatively titled Laughing Back: Minoritarian Humor and Empowerment in Contemporary German Literature, examines how humor is used in encounters with exclusionary notions of belonging and Germanness in works by minoritized authors.

Why SCFF? "The Seminar in Composition Faculty Fellows program is a fantastic way to teach students to grapple with large questions through the written word, while joining a community of teachers and scholars committed to evolving how composition is taught through workshops and peer exchange." 

 

Ana Sekulić

Ana Sekulic

Dr. Ana Sekulić is a historian of the early modern Ottoman world and Southeastern Europe interested in intersections of religion, culture, and environment. 

Eugene Wagner

Eugene Wagner

Dr. Eugene Wagner is a Teaching Professor in Chemistry and serves as Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs. Since joining the University of Pittsburgh faculty in 2000, he has played a central leadership role in the general and physical chemistry programs. His work in chemical education focuses on student-centered, evidence-based teaching and curriculum development that promotes active learning and critical thinking. His current scholarly activities focus on improving students' scientific writing skills through video-led collaborative learning workshops.