As an educator and scholar of rhetoric and writing, I develop and curate dynamic, compassionate ways of teaching writing and critical thinking about current digital technologies.
I teach at Santa Clara University in California’s Silicon Valley, a geographical center for technological change. I incorporate digital rhetorical pedagogies into the many courses I teach, asking students to think critically and ethically about the future of digital disruptions like artificial intelligence, social video apps, virtual reality/the metaverse.
Engaging & Inspiring Students
I am a dynamic, engaging, and passionate college writing professor. Inspiring students is a key part of what I do. In recent formal teaching evaluations, students described my class in this way: “[Professor Coad] engages everyone, which is hard to do.” Reaching every student through compassionate and interactive classroom experiences is one of my core teaching goals, so seeing students affirm this is always rewarding.
Another core goal is to help students to reframe their (often very negative) ideas about themselves as writers and readers. Students come to my class thinking of themselves as “just a science person” but leave with a renewed sense of love for writing and reading, as well as a keen awareness of its necessity to live and work well.
Over my past 12 years of teaching college students, I’ve developed and curated many impactful approaches to teaching college English students. In that time, I have taught at community colleges, state universities, small liberal arts colleges, and research institutions. I have learned to value having compassion on students from a wide variety of backgrounds, while helping them grow and achieve tremendous things.
Find out more!
Find out more about our new book, full of 96 classroom activities for first-year composition!
Investigate the classes I’m teaching.
Read more about my dissertation on social media as a teaching tool in FYC, or about my published research on digital rhetoric.
Or, reach out to ask me a question, suggest a collaboration, or request a speaking engagement.
David Coad, PhD 