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Duke Professor & Ph.D./Academic Writing and Editing
Jessica C.

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About Jessica

Bio

I'm Jess. I hold a Ph.D. in English with a specialization in Rhetoric and Composition from Kent State University, along with an M.A. in English from John Carroll University, and a B.S. in English and Psychology from Baldwin Wallace University. Currently, I'm a professor of Writing and Rhetoric at Duke University, where I teach academic/research writing, persuasive writing, and oral and digital communication, and also serve as Assistant Director of the First-Year Writing program.
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I'm Jess. I hold a Ph.D. in English with a specialization in Rhetoric and Composition from Kent State University, along with an M.A. in English from John Carroll University, and a B.S. in English and Psychology from Baldwin Wallace University. Currently, I'm a professor of Writing and Rhetoric at Duke University, where I teach academic/research writing, persuasive writing, and oral and digital communication, and also serve as Assistant Director of the First-Year Writing program.
Over the past fifteen years, I have taught and tutored writing in a wide range of settings, from large research universities to community-based programs, and I have published a book and multiple peer-reviewed articles in my field, which keeps me current on how written argument and revision actually work at an advanced level.
My teaching and tutoring approach is built around one-on-one, individualized feedback rather than a one-size-fits-all method. Earlier in my career, I completed nearly 500 individual writing consultations at the Syracuse University Writing Center, working with undergraduate and graduate students across every discipline, and I helped train new consultants there. I have also taught writing to a broad range of ages and populations, including high school students through the Upward Bound program and community-based college-prep workshops, K-12 and adult learners through Sylvan Learning Center, and dual-enrollment high school students through a university partnership focused on college readiness. In each of these contexts, I adjusted my approach to the individual student rather than applying a single template, whether that meant building foundational skills, refining an already strong draft, or coaching a student through the specific demands of a personal statement, college application essay, or dissertation. This one-on-one work, combined with my classroom experience and my background training other writing instructors, is the foundation I would bring to tutoring on this platform.

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Education

Baldwin Wallace University
English and Psychology
Kent State University
PhD
John Carroll University
Masters

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Approved Subjects

Essay Writing

Essay Writing

I bring fifteen years of experience teaching college writing across a range of institutional contexts, along with a Ph.D. in English/Rhetoric and Composition. At Duke University, where I currently serve as Associate Professor of the Practice and Assistant Director of First-Year Writing, I teach academic writing, persuasive writing, and courses in oral and digital communication, and I design curricula that scaffold students from foundational writing skills toward more sophisticated rhetorical and argumentative work. Finally, my scholarly work in rhetoric and composition, including a published book and multiple peer-reviewed articles, keeps my own understanding of argument, audience, and revision current and evidence-based rather than reliant on outdated rules about "correct" writing.
Proofreading

Proofreading

As an Associate Editor for The Best of Independent Rhetoric and Composition Journals 2018, I managed a team of four editors reviewing and ranking submissions for publication quality, giving me direct experience applying rigorous editorial standards at scale. I have copyedited and recommended revisions for medical school application essays for individual clients since 2020, catching errors in grammar, clarity, and consistency under real deadline pressure. My published scholarship, including a book, two chapters in edited collections, and seven journal articles, has required precise application of APA, MLA, and Chicago formatting styles across varied publication contexts. I also completed nearly 500 individual writing consultations at the Syracuse University Writing Center, work that sharpened my ability to catch both surface-level errors and larger structural inconsistencies in student writing.
Reading

Reading

At Sylvan Learning Center, I taught academic reading alongside writing to students spanning K-16, recognizing that the two skills develop together rather than in isolation. As a scholar with a Ph.D. in English, my training centers on close reading, analyzing texts for argument, structure, and rhetorical strategy, skills that transfer directly to helping a student comprehend and engage critically with what they read. Strong writing depends on strong analytical reading: a writer has to first read a prompt, a source, or a model text closely enough to understand its logic before they can respond to it effectively, which is exactly the skill I reinforce in every writing consultation I conduct. My nearly 500 one-on-one consultations at the Syracuse University Writing Center also required me to read student drafts with the same critical eye I'd bring to any text, identifying not just surface errors but gaps in comprehension or logic that a stronger reading practice would resolve.
Thesis Writing

Thesis Writing

At the Syracuse University Writing Center, I worked directly with graduate students on dissertations and M.A. theses, helping them navigate the sustained argument, structure, and revision demands of long-form academic writing. In recent years, I have continued that work extensively, coaching students through dissertation writing at various stages of the process. As a writing professor with a Ph.D. in English/Rhetoric and Composition, I bring both the lived experience of having written and defended my own dissertation and a scholar's understanding of how academic arguments are built, sustained, and revised across a document of that scale. That combination lets me help a student see both the forest and the trees: the larger arc of their argument alongside the paragraph- and sentence-level revisions needed to support it.
Writing

Writing

I hold a Ph.D. in English/Rhetoric and Composition from Kent State University and currently serve as Associate Professor of the Practice in Writing and Rhetoric at Duke University, where I teach academic and persuasive writing, and oral and digital communication, across a range of course levels. My teaching, tutoring and consultation experience spans nearly fifteen years and a wide range of writers, from nearly 500 one-on-one consultations at the Syracuse University Writing Center to private coaching on graduate and professional school application essays and dissertation writing today. As a published author myself, having written a book, two chapters in edited collections, and several peer-reviewed journal articles, I bring firsthand experience with the writing and revision process at every stage, from early drafts through peer review and publication. That combination of active scholarship and extensive one-on-one coaching means I can meet a writer wherever they are, whether they're building foundational skills or refining an already sophisticated argument.

Examples of Expertise

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Hourly Rate: $65
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