Education
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I earned my Ph.D. in Communication and Rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in May 2021 following my dissertation work on tourism to Sleepy Hollow, NY. This project was supported through an institutional Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Fellowship. During my coursework, I served as a teaching assistant for undergraduate courses in Advertising and Culture as well as Social Psychology and as a writing tutor for the Center for Global Communication + Design.
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I graduated from Penn State University's Harrisburg campus with my M.A. in Interdisciplinary Humanities in May 2016. My coursework was focused in phenomenology and rhetoric, and my thesis developed process-oriented writing workshops around narrativizing life story for well being. While I was a student, I worked in the Russell E. Horn Sr. Learning Center as a professional writing tutor.
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I attended Elizabethtown College as a full-time undergraduate student from 2012 until 2015, when I graduated with a B.A. in English with a concentration in professional writing. I also completed minors in psychology and film studies. As a student, I worked for the College's Learning Services office as a writing and academic tutor; the on-campus presentation and performance venue Bowers Writers House as the production assistant; the student newspaper, the Etownian, in several capacities, including as editor-in-chief for my senior year; and as a research assistant for a joint faculty member of the Departments of English and Modern Languages. My honors project (undergraduate thesis) was a creative nonfiction account of my experiences as a standardized patient working in a medical simulation center.
Courses Taught
Hudson Valley Community College
ENGL 101 English Composition I
ENGL 102 English Composition II
FORM 102 College Forum
INDS 101 Career Development: Self-Assessment
INDS 105 Introduction to Academic and Personal Effectiveness
Other Courses, Workshops, Guest Lectures
Other Courses
GBST 1012 Global Learning Experience, one-credit course for first-year students studying abroad (London section). Northeastern University College of Professional Studies. Fall 2022.
“Animal Rights Rhetorics.” Summer ARCH Program Pop-Up Course. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. July 2018.
Workshops
“Providing Meaningful Written Feedback.” Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for Global Communication and Design. February 2019.
“Emotional Intelligence.” Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for Global Communication and Design. November 2018.
“Tips for Technical Writing: Clarity and Conciseness.” Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for Global Communication and Design. October 2018.
“Healthy Writing Habits.” Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for Global Communication and Design. September 2018.
“Graduate School Application Essays.” Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for Global Communication and Design. Offered monthly, May– Dec. 2018.
Guest Lectures
“Photography and Tourism.” Ellen Esrock’s undergraduate Perspectives on Photography course. Presented virtually via Zoom. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. November 2020, November 2021.
“Visual Culture and Tourism.” Ellen Esrock’s undergraduate Visual Culture course. Presented virtually via Zoom. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. April 2020.
“Photography and Tourism.” Ellen Esrock’s undergraduate Perspectives on Photography course. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. April 2019, November 2019.
Publications
Academic Reviews
Kennedy, Sarah. “Creative Tourism: Cases of Co-creation in Context: A Review of Kathleen Scherf’s Creative Tourism.” Communication Booknotes Quarterly (9 May 2022).
Kennedy, Sarah. “Review of How Your Story Sets You Free by Heather Box and Julian Mocine-McQueen.” Communication Center Journal 6:1 (2020), pp. 133-134.
Kennedy, Sarah. “Traveling and Reporting in the Digital World: Approaches and Practices: A Review of Bryan Pirolli’s Travel Writing.” Communication Booknotes Quarterly 51:1-2 (10 September 2020), pp. 31–34.
Kennedy, Sarah. “Graphic Design and Visual Rhetoric on the Surface: A Review of Brett Ommen’s The Politics of the Superficial.” Communication Booknotes Quarterly 50:4 (20 December 2019), pp. 181–183.
Creative Work
Kennedy, Sarah. “Mask on, Mascot.” Litro Magazine, July 2017.
Kennedy, Sarah. “Joys and Ticks: A Thank You to Joyce Carol Oates.” Empty Mirror, September 2016.
Kennedy, Sarah. “What I’ve Learned as a Fake Patient in a Simulated Hospital.” The Billfold, July 2015.
Conference Presentations
Kennedy, Sarah. “Uncanny Tourism in Sleepy Hollow.” New York State Communication Association. Virtual conference. October 2020.
Kennedy, Sarah. “Rhetorics of Home at Farmed Animal Sanctuaries.” New York State Communication Association. Virtual conference. October 2020.
Kennedy, Sarah. “Uncanny Tourism in Sleepy Hollow, NY.” International Tourism & Leisure Studies. Virtual conference. June 2020.
Kennedy, Sarah. “Uncanny Tourism in Sleepy Hollow.” Rhetoric Society of America. Portland, OR. May 2020. [Conference cancelled due to COVID-19.]
Kennedy, Sarah. “Rhetorics of Home at Farmed Animal Sanctuaries.” Rhetoric Society of America. Portland, OR. May 2020. [Conference cancelled due to COVID-19.]
Kennedy, Sarah. “Plato on YouTube: Dialectic in Animal Rights Activism.” New York State Communication Association. Callicoon, NY. October 2019.
Kennedy, Sarah. “Hershey’s Chocolate World: An Uncanny Retail-Tourist Site.” Pennsylvania Communication Association. Reading, PA. September 2019.
Kennedy, Sarah. “Uncanny Tourism in Sleepy Hollow.” Society for the Study of Affect Summer School. Lancaster, PA. July 2019.
Kennedy, Sarah. “Outgrowing Slim Shady: Responsibilities and Difficulties of Aging in Rap.” International Association for the Study of Popular Music - Canada. Montréal, Québec. May 2019.