Charlotte F Asmuth

I am an Assistant Professor of the Practice of Writing Studies in the Thompson Writing Program. During the 2024-2025 academic year, I am serving as Interim Assistant Director of the TWP Writing Studio. As a recipient of a 2024-2025 Intellectual Community Planning Grant ("Critical Information Literacy in the Age of Misinformation"), with colleagues in TWP and in Duke Libraries, I am exploring students’ information-seeking and reading habits in light of new technology such as ChatGPT. In fall 2024, I'm teaching an upper-level course on research writing that I developed, Writing 315S: Argument across the Disciplines. My Writing 101 courses at Duke are focused on "Language Difference & Writing."

Broadly, my research focuses on how people use writing to accomplish work in institutional settings with particular attention to the kinds of texts that rarely receive close readings (e.g., policies, assignment prompts, rubrics, and other informal inscriptions). Current projects include studying: (1) first-year writing students' revision and reflection practices, (2) representations of diversity, equity, and inclusion in writing studies' job ads, and (3) how gestures and embodied movements play a role in how faculty appraise writing and rubric criteria. 

Before arriving at Duke in fall 2022, I taught at the University of Louisville (where I earned my PhD in Rhetoric and Composition) and the University of Maine (where I earned my MA in Composition and Pedagogy). Over the past 10 years, I have taught a variety of college courses, including first-year writing (face-to-face and online), writing in the disciplines, and business communication.

In addition to research and teaching, I enjoy curriculum-building, teacher training, serving as TWP's 2024-2026 Arts & Sciences Council rep, and serving on the board of the Carolinas Writing Program Administrators. I have mentored new graduate teaching assistants at two institutions. I welcome inquiries from faculty who are engaged in (or considering) revisions to programmatic assessment and from faculty who want to connect around writing pedagogy. I also welcome inquiries from students who are interested in learning more about writing studies as a discipline and in doing undergraduate research. Duke students can find my past syllabi in the Duke Syllabus Bank.