Rachael W. Shah, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
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Teaching

PictureStudents setting up for TEDxRillitoRiver
I've taught classes in community literacy, professional writing, public rhetoric, rhetorical analysis, and research, from first-year composition to graduate courses.  I see my teaching as symbiotically connected to my teaching and research, and many of my courses involve students in  engaging audiences beyond the classroom.



Teaching Links

Podcast about my 2021 pre-service teacher partnership with North Star High School, in which we invited students to create collaborative poems to present live to state senators.

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Courses Taught

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN COURSES
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GRADUATE

Public Rhetorics (English 973)

Engages the teaching and composing of public writing 

Elementary Argument Writing Pedagogy (English 857b)
Examines multi-vocal argument writing pedagogy, as part of the C3WP Program.   

Secondary Argument Writing Pedagogy (English 992)
Explores multi-vocal argument writing pedagogy, as part of the C3WP Program.    

Literacy and Community Issues (English 882/482)
Synthesizes weekly student work at a local community literacy site with theories of literacy and approaches to social change.     

Composition Theory and Practice (English 957)
Designed for new graduate teaching assistants. Blends theory and practice to support the teaching of first-year composition.

Advanced Institute on Service-Learning (English 857b)
Explores community-engaged teaching theories and approaches. Students design their own community-based curricula.

Job Placement (English 993)
Direction in composing materials for the academic and non-academic job market.


UNDERGRADUATE

Rhetoric, Argument, and Society (English 376)
Examines how political theories impact rhetorical choices. Assignments include memes, live civic dialogues, “listening” letters, and deliberative democracy projects.

Reading Theory and Practice (English 377)
Designed for middle and high school pre-service teachers. Involves face-to-face writing partnership with local high school, in which students meet at the school for 6 sessions.  

Composition Theory and Practice (English 357)
Designed for middle and high school pre-service teachers. Involves face-to-face writing partnership with local high school, in which students meet at the school for 6 sessions, and digital partnership with rural middle school.  

Writing for Change: Crafting and Drafting State Legislative Policy (Honors 298h)
Challenged students to design, research, and propose state policy ideas, and then frame and pitch the idea live to a state senator at the capitol. Course created in collaboration with the non-partisan civic literacy organization Civic Nebraska.
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Writing and Communities (English 254)
Writing course with a focus on writing across difference.  Involves ethnographic research, local arguments, and a community partnership.  

Writing and Argument (English 151)
First-year writing course with an emphasis on public rhetoric.  




SELECT COURSES FROM OTHER INSTITUTIONS

Community Action and Public Rhetoric: Educational Inequality in Tucson
University of Arizona

Upper-division writing course that linked public sphere theory, rhetorical theory, and community partnerships.  Course included a participatory action research project planned in collaboration with local youth.

Honors Composition 
University of Arizona

Students served as curators of the official TEDxUniversityofArizona and TEDxRillitoRiver conference.  

Business Writing 
University of Arizona

Collaborated with nonprofits who served as clients for student deliverables.  

Civic Leadership and Contemporary Social Issues 
Center for Talent Development, Northwestern University
Rigorous community-engaged course on civic engagement for gifted and talented high school students, with field experiences. 

ESL Upper-Intermediate Writing 
Summer Language Institute, LCC International University (Lithuania)
ESL writing course for students from a variety of Eastern European countries.

Contact
Mural photography by Miah Oren
TEDx photography by Alex Frank