Campus News

Rockford, Ill., – Assistant Professor of English Tara Wood, Ph.D. will present the ‘Last Lecture’ on April 17, 4 p.m. in Fisher Memorial Chapel, 5050 E. State St., Rockford. The lecture is part of the spring Forum series at the University and provides an opportunity students to nominate a member of the faculty  to deliver his or her ‘last lecture’ as the University nears the end of its academic year. 

The Last Lecture series at Rockford University was inspired by Randy Pausch. Dr. Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University from 1997 to his death in 2008. Before his death he was asked to give the students his Last Lecture. Dr. Pausch delivered a laugh-filled session of teaching stories, about going after your childhood dreams, and helping others achieve theirs. The Last Lecture Series has been made possible through the generosity of the Father Robert J. Verstynen Trust; honoring Rockford University faculty members
for their years of teaching and example of lifelong learning.

Professor Wood was chosen based on nominations from students. Professor Wood joined the English Department in Fall 2014 as an Assistant Professor. She earned her BA and MA from Colorado State University and her doctorate from the University of Oklahoma. She teaches classes in the English department, in the rhetoric sequence, and in the Gender Studies program. Her scholarly interests are in writing pedagogy, disability, and gender/feminist theory, and her work has appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, in College Composition and Communication, and in Composition Studies. 

The Last Lecture is free and open to the public, however, tickets are required. Please contact the Rockford University Box Office at 815-226-4100 or boxoffice@rockford.edu to reserve your tickets or for more information. Fisher Chapel is accessible.

Rockford University Assistant Professor of English Tara Wood, Ph.D., recently had pieces published related to her ongoing research on the nexus of disability and writing studies, specific to higher education students with disabilities. Her article “Cripping Time in the College Composition Classroom” published in the journal College Composition and Communication. The article shares findings from a qualitative study on the experiences of students with disabilities in college-level writing and writing-intensive classrooms. Dr. Wood argues that normative conceptions of time and production can negatively constrain student performance, and offers the concept of ‘crip time’ (borrowed from disability theorists and disability activists) as an alternative pedagogical framework.

“Rhetorical Disclosures: The Stake of Disability Identity in Higher Education” published in the edited collection Negotiating Disability: Disclosure and Higher Education. Here, Dr. Wood examines the rhetorical strategies that students with disabilities often use when making decisions regarding disclosure on college campuses.

Wood was also published in the May 25, 2017 edition of the Chronical of Higher Education, where she was the lead author on the article “Why we dread the disability myths” – a critical response to an article published in April by Gail Hornstein titled “Why I Dread the Accommodation Talk.” Dr. Wood critiques Hornstein for perpetuating dangerous and ableism myths about disability and disabled students. Dr. Wood donated the publication payment to the Society for Disability Studies.

Dr. Wood earned her B.A. and M.A. from Colorado State University and her doctorate from the University of Oklahoma. She has been a member of Rockford University’s English faculty since 2014. Dr. Wood is currently working on a piece that analyzes the rhetoric and politics of Title IX, as well as a collaborative piece on writing an accommodation letter addendum that is specific to writing classrooms.