Biography

 

I was born in Augsburg, Germany, and lived in Bavaria for the first 18 years of my life before moving to the US (Iowa) for college.

During these college years, I also lived in Maastricht, the Netherlands, where I studied WW2 poetry, children's literature, and intercultural communication. Upon my return to the US, I moved to Monterey, Calif., to study TESOL for a year. When I returned in Iowa, I gained my MA in Communication, and eventually my PhD in English - Composition and TESOL from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I have been teaching at the undergraduate and graduate college level since August 2011, and have also gathered intercultural and international teaching experience through the University of Bayreuth (Germany), the University of Regensburg (Germany), and the University of Maryland Global Campus Europe (Germany). I now live in Dubuque with wonderful family! We enjoy paddle boarding on the Mississippi, running, playing tennis, hiking, traveling, and exploring the natural surroundings that comprise the local areas and various other regions.

Education

B.A. – University of Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa  (English; Communication)
M.A. – University of Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa (Organizational Communication & Leadership)
Ph.D. – Indiana University of Pennsylvania (English Composition & TESOL)

Additional Graduate Work

M.A. - Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
M.A. - Southern New Hampshire University (English and Creative Writing)

Classes Taught at DWC:

Advanced Writing and Research
Expository Writing
Basic Writing
Academic Writing
Environmental Writing
Public Speaking
Interpersonal Communication
Intercultural Communication

Publications

 

 

Rioux, Y. (2023). Dear Student Writer. Writing on the Edge, (Forthcoming).  

Rioux, Y. (2023). New Encounters with an Old Course: Rethinking my Composition Course Approaches for a Highly Diverse Class. College English Association Forum, 49 (2). 

Rioux, Y. (2023). Expanding our audience: Examining multilingual and diverse students’ responses to place-based ecocomposition to address a global threat with a global audience. Journal of Sustainability Education, 28.  

Rioux, Y. (2021). Composing Compassion. College English Association Forum, 49 (1).

Rioux, Y. (2019). “Writing makes it easier to relate to the environment” – The Valuable Role of the Composition Classroom in our Threatened Environment. Journal of Sustainability Education, 20.

Rioux, Y. (2019). Write on, Mama! The unique position of undergraduate mothers in the composition classroom. Working Papers in Composition & TESOL, Spring.

Rioux, Y. (2017). Native American Rhetoric and Ecocomposition: Exploring Sustainable Ideologies. Working Papers in Composition & TESOL, Spring.

Rioux, Y. (2016). Zweisprachig. Zweiköpfig. Writing on the Edge, 27 (1), 55-67.

Rioux, Y. (2016). Multigenre Writing in the Place-Based Ecocomposition Classroom. Writing on the Edge, 26 (2), 34-51. 

Rioux, Y. (2016) Combining Places – Teaching Ecocomposition in the Multilingual Classroom. Wisconsin Journal of English, 58 (1), 12-19.

Rioux, Y. (2016). What’s All the Yakkin’ About? Using Critical Discourse Analysis to understand the implications of Yik Yak. Working Papers in Composition & TESOL, Spring.

Conferences

 

 

September 2023 - Drexel University Annual Assessment Conference [online] 

Individual Virtual Presentation and Discussion: “From Zero to Ninety-Nine: Reflections on Restructuring an Existing Assessment Program for Improved Student Learning, Data Collection, and Accreditation at a Small Midwestern College” 

April 2023 - Marquette University Social-Justice Conference “Struggle and Transformation” Milwaukee, WI/Virtual 

Panel: “Examining Multilingual/International Students’ Assumptions about Writing in order to Improve Writing Pedagogy in the College Writing Classroom” 

 February 2023 -  Conference on College Composition and Communication Chicago, IL 

Poster Presentation: “Hoping and Laboring Towards Equitable Writing Pedagogies by Examining International Students' Assumptions About Writing"

September 2022 - Drexel University Assessment Conference [online]

 “Starting from the Very Beginning: Reflections on the Experiences of Revamping an Assessment Program in the Setting of a Small Midwestern College”

July 2022 - European Writing Centers Association, Universität Graz/Virtual, Austria (online)

Co-authored Virtual Presentation: “Empowering multilingual peer tutors in a multi-geographic environment – Considering labels, linguistic realities, and establishing inclusion in multilingual Writing Centers”

July 2022- Association for the Study of Literature and Environment ASLE – Non-Western  Approaches in Environmental Humanities University of Warsaw/Virtual, Poland (online)

 ACCEPTED “Native American Rhetoric as Counter-Text: exploring non-Western, Sustainable Ideologies in the College Writing Class”

April 2022- Building Bridges – An Interdisciplinary Conference at Nottingham Trent University Nottingham/Virtual, United Kingdom (online)

 “Building bridges through interdisciplinary practice: Creating inclusive and shared places through narrative writing in a distinctively diverse Intercultural Communication class”

March to April 2022- College English Association, Birmingham, AL

ACCEPTED “Equality and Empowerment throughout the Disciplines: Creating inclusion and shared dialogic places through narrative writing in a distinctly diverse Intercultural Communication class”

March 2022 - Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, IL/Virtual (COVID-19)

 “Increasing Inclusion, Belonging, and Eco-Awareness through Shared Places”

February 2022 - Writing Innovation Symposium at Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI

“Breaking through Learning Barriers: Using Narrative Writing to Help International Students Connect Prior Knowledge to Current Theory in a Diverse Intercultural Communication Class”

February 2022 - Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy; Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA

 ACCEPTED  “Narratives for International Students to Connect Prior Knowledge to Theory”

June 2021 - Building Bridges/Dismantling Racism for the Common Good, International Conference and Workshop (Online), University of Oklahoma; Technische Universität Dortmund

 “Building Bridges through Interdisciplinary Practice”

April 2021 - Conference on College Composition and Communication, Spokane, WA (Virtual due to COVID-19)

 “Expanding Our Audience: Examining Mulitilingual and Diverse Students’ Responses to Place-Based Ecocomposition to Address a Global Threat with a Global Audience”

March, 2020 - Conference on College Composition and Communication, Milwaukee, WI

 “Building commonplaces through interdisciplinary practice: Creating an inclusive and shared place through narrative writing in a distinctively diverse Intercultural Communication class”

March, 2019 - Conference on College Composition and Communication, Pittsburgh, PA

 “Performing self across countries and disciplines: Using performance-composition as voice-giving act to enable international students to combine identities and concepts of belonging in a uniquely diverse Intercultural Communication class”

July 2018 - New Directions in the Humanities, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

 “Building Bridges between the Humanities and Sciences: Assessing Students Writing and Understanding the Placement and Reevaluation of Students Self-ascribed Roles”                                        

March 2018 - College English Association, St. Petersburg, FL

ACCEPTED: “Building bridges between selves and disciplines: Using narrative writing as a way to help students connect their various roles and concepts of belonging in a uniquely diverse Intercultural Communication class 

March 2018 - Conference on College Composition and Communication, Kansas City, MO

“Laboring towards an accessible language and holistic experience: breaking down generic boundaries and exploring multigenre writing in a place-based Ecocomposition classroom”

March 2018 - Midwest Writing Center Association, Omaha, NE

ACCEPTED  “Using Needs Assessments to Examine Realistic Multimodal Literacy Demands Beyond the Classroom – A Critical Examination of Multimodal and Multigenre Writing in an International Context”

March 2017 - College English Association Conference, Hilton Head, SC

ACCEPTED “Insular Occurrences of Hope: Exploring local, non-canonical environmental texts to explore cultural and environmental diversity and expose writing students to alternative ways of viewing the human role in nature while reevaluating sustainability measures in rural Wisconsin”

March 2017 - Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Portland, OR

 “Cultivating Change: Assessing students’ writing and understanding the placement and reevaluation of students’ self-ascribed roles within existing natural environments following and Environmental Literature and Writing class”

April 2016 - Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Houston, TX

 “Corpus in Action: Creating Student-Centered and Context-Specific Corpora to Increase Awareness of Students’ Literacy Practices for Course Design and Classroom Mutuality”

October 2015 - Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English (WCTE), Milwaukee, WI

 “Multigenre Writing in the Place-Based Ecocomposition Classroom”

March 2015 - Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Tampa, FL

Presentation of research results: “Primarily Curious: Using Archival and Primary Sources to Stimulate Intellectual Curiosity among First-Year Composition Students"

Professional Affiliations

NCTE, CCCC, CEA, EATAW, IWCA

Intercultural Experience

Moving to the US was an intercultural experience for me, as I had lived in Germany for the first eighteen years of my life. Living in the Netherlands as an exchange student gave me an additional insight into life in a diverse setting and encouraged me to study Dutch. I have also traveled extensively. Some of my favorite spots have been Italy, France Ireland, England, France, Turkey, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic. I'm also fond of various places here in the US. The Southwest, West Coast, and New England are some of my favorite regions. I am very blessed to be surrounded by individuals from all over the world here at DWC. Teaching in such a diverse setting and interacting with faculty and students has been one of the most enriching, exciting, and fulfilling intercultural experiences yet!

In addition to being at DWC, I was able to gather international teaching experience while teaching in Germany at the Universität Regensburg, the Universität Bayreuth, and on a military base in Germany through the University of Maryland Global Campus Europe.