I’m Daniel Hocutt. I’m a part-time distance student in the English PhD program at Old Dominion University, where I’m entering my second year of study. My focus areas in the program are technology and media studies and writing, rhetoric, and discourse studies. My research interests broadly include professional and technical writing — the use of technology, and especially Google Drive, in transparent pedagogy and collaborative composing; the use of Google Drive in developing a community of inquiry; the use of collaborative composition to solve social problem — along with the relationship between game design and instructional design in composition pedagogy.

I work full time as the web manager on a four-person marketing and communications team for the School of Professional and Continuing Studies at the University of Richmond. My responsibilities include managing web content on the school’s website; managing social media strategy and posts on our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn platforms; writing, editing, and proofreading web and print copy; managing production schedules for several online course schedules and the school’s academic catalog; and sharing communications best practices with colleagues and staff of the school.

I am an adjunct professor of liberal arts for the School of Professional and Continuing Studies as well. I teach undergraduate English, generally composition or writing-intensive classes. Our student body is made up of working professionals, so I am keenly interested in the intersection of academic and professional composing. I was trained as a high school English teacher, and I have taught English in public high school in addition to my experience as an adjunct. I’ve also directed a summer residential governor’s school for gifted high school juniors and seniors focused on the humanities and visual & performing arts.

I grew up in Montana (10 years), Alabama (2 years), and Israel (5 years), and I’m now a Virginian. I earned my undergraduate and graduate degrees in English here at the University of Richmond. I’m married; my wife and I have two daughters, both adopted (at different times and from different provinces) from China. My favorite pastime, aside from academic study and scholarship, is international travel.

At this point, I have not decided for sure that I’m seeking a full-time professorship. I am content, but not always satisfied, in my current position. However, I remain open to the prospect of full-time scholarship, as long as there are clear and specific ways that my scholarship results in some kind of common good.