Denise K. Comer | Scholars@Duke

Denise K. Comer
Professor of the Practice of Thompson Writing Program

Denise Comer's research interests include composition, nineteenth-century British literature, travel writing, and women's studies. Her current scholarship focuses on issues of the profession in composition and rhetoric, as well as Romantic and Victorian British women's travel writing in India.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Professor of the Practice of Thompson Writing Program, Thompson Writing Program, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2019
Director of Thompson Writing Program, Thompson Writing Program, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2021
Director of the Language, Arts, and Media Program, Thompson Writing Program, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2022

Contact Information

1 Brodie Gym Drive, Durham, NC 27708
Box 90025, Duke University Uwp, Durham, NC 27708-0025
denise.comer@duke.edu (919) 660-4357
Denise Comer's Website
http://twp.duke.edu/

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., University of South Carolina, Columbia 1999
- M.A., University of Maryland, College Park 1995
- B.A., Virginia Polytech Institute and State University 1993
Previous Appointments & Affiliations
- Co-Director of Language, Arts and Media Program, Thompson Writing Program, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2021 - 2022
- Director of First-Year Writing of Thompson Writing Program, Thompson Writing Program, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2019 - 2021
- Associate Professor of the Practice of Thompson Writing Program, Thompson Writing Program, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2015 - 2019
- Director of First-Year Writing of Thompson Writing Program, Thompson Writing Program, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2012 - 2017
- Assistant Professor of the Practice of Rhetoric in the University Writing Program, Thompson Writing Program, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2008 - 2015
- Interim Director of the Thompson Writing Program, Thompson Writing Program, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2012
Recognition
In the News
- JAN 22, 2021
  
  In Pandemic, Advanced Placement Turns to Duke Faculty for Help in High School Lecture Series
- SEP 2, 2014 Duke Today
  
  Denise Comer on Teaching The Fine Art of the Tweet
- MAY 2, 2014 Duke Today
  
  Trinity College Awards: Teaching Excellence Built Upon Risk-Taking
- NOV 15, 2013 Durham Herald-Sun
  
  Duke council talks Kunshan course approval, online education
- NOV 5, 2013 Duke Today
  
  Coursera in the Classroom
- OCT 4, 2013 Duke Today
  
  Gates Grants to Fund Two MOOC Studies
Awards & Honors
- Duke University Teaching with Technology Award. Duke University. 2014
Expertise
Subject Headings
Research
Selected Grants
- Ronald McDonald House/Duke University Family Story Project awarded by Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation 2011 - 2013
External Relationships
- College Board
- Coursera
- George Washington University
- Top Hat
- fountainhead press
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Books
  - Comer, D. K. Writing in Transit. A WID Reader. Fountainhead Press, 2015.
  - Comer, D. K., and B. G. Garrett. It’s Just a Dissertation. Transforming Your Dissertation From Daunting to Doable to Done. Fountainhead Press, 2014.
  - Comer, D. K. Writing for Success in College and Beyond: A Webtext. Dallas, TX: Fountainhead Press, n.d.
  - Comer, D. K., ed. Writing in Transit with Readings (In preparation). Dallas, TX: Fountainhead Press, n.d.
- Academic Articles
  - Comer, D., C. R. Clark, and D. Canelas. “Writing to learn and learning to write across the disciplines: Peer-to-peer writing in introductory-level MOOCs.” International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 15, no. 5 (October 2014).
    Open Access Copy
  - Ahern-Dodson, J., and D. K. Comer. “The iPad and Writing in the Disciplines.” Writing Across the Curriculum, January 2014.
  - Comer, D. K. ““This Erstwhile Unreadable Text”: Multidisciplinarity and First-Year Writing Faculty Teaching Mentoring and Support.” Teaching/Writing, January 2014.
  - Ahern-Dodson, J., and D. K. Comer. “Multidisciplinarity and the Tablet: A Study of Writing Practices.” Writing Across the Curriculum 24 (2013): 63–82.
  - Comer, D. K. “Translation and Transfer: Interdisciplinary Writing and Communication.” Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics 11 (2013): 106–12.
  - Benz, B., D. K. Comer, M. Lowry, and E. Juergensmeyer. “WPAs, Writing Programs and the Common Reading Experience.” Writing Program Administrators 37 (2011): 11–32.
  - Comer, D. K. “Bending the Gaze: Transparency, Reciprocity and Supervisory Classroom Visits.” Pedagogy 11 (2011).
  - Comer, D. K. “Changing Tables and Changing Culture: Pregnancy, Parenting, and First-Year Writing.” Composition Studies 37, no. 2 (October 2009): 91–113.
  - Comer, D. K. “'White child is good, black child his [or her] slave': Children, Women, and Empire in Early Ninteenth-Century India.” European Romantic Review 16, no. 1 (January 2005): 39–58.
  - Comer, D. K., and E. M. White. “Adventuring into MOOC Writing Assessment: Challenges, results, and Possibilities (In preparation),” n.d.
  - Comer, D. K., and E. Wang. “Negativity in MOOCs: Impacts on Learning and Teaching and How Instructional Teams May Be Able to Address It (In preparation).” Insight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, n.d.
- Book Sections
  - “Educational Data Mining,” 2019.
  - Comer, D. K. “Learning How to Teach … Differently: Extracts from a MOOC Instructor’s Journal.” In The MOOC Invasion, edited by Steven Krause and Charlie Lowe. Parlor Press, 2014.
  - Comer, D. K. “MOOCs Offer Students Opportunity to Grow as Writers.” In Proceedings of the 7th International Mult-Conference on Society, Cybernetics and Informatics: IMSCI 2013. July 9-12, 2013. Orlando, Florida., 2013.
  - Comer, D. K., and Bradley Hammer. ““Surveying the Efficacy of Digital Response: Pedagogical Imperatives, Faculty Approaches, and Student Feedback.” In Teaching Writing with Technology. Fountainhead Press, 2008.
  - Comer, D. K. “"Negotiating Privilege in the Teaching of Travel Literature".” In Methods for Teaching Travel Literature and Writing. Exploring the World and Self, edited by Eileen Groom. Peter Lang, 2005.
  - Comer, D. K. “Helen Lady Dufferin, Countess of Gifford.” In Dictionary of Literary Biography, edited by W. B. Thesing, 199:127–35. Detroit: Gale Research, 1999.
  - Comer, D. K. “The Impact of E-Reading on Writing Programs.” In Writing Program Administrators Conference Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 15-18 July 2010, n.d.
  - Comer, D. K. “Fostering Multidisciplinary Pedagogies.” In International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Madrid, Spain, 15-17 November 2010, n.d.
- Other Articles
  - Comer, D. K. “Review of "First Books and Second Books: SWR Authors Talk about Developing Book-Length Projects".” Kairos, 2012.
  - Comer, D. K. “Review of "Patient Genres as Rhetorical Sites of Agency, Resistance, and Expertise",” 2012.
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
Presentations & Appearances
Service to the Profession

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Previous Appointments & Affiliations

In the News

Awards & Honors

Subject Headings

Selected Grants

External Relationships

Selected Publications

Books

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Other Articles

Recent Courses

Presentations & Appearances

Service to the Profession