Rate My Professor Dominic Ashby

Dominic J. Ashby is an Associate Professor of English at Eastern Kentucky University, where he also serves as the program coordinator for Co-requisite Reading and Writing. He earned a Ph.D. in English, specializing in Composition and Rhetoric, from Miami University in August 2013, with a dissertation titled 'Enacting a Rhetoric of Inside–Outside Positionalities: From the Indexing Practice of Uchi/Soto to a Reiterative Process of Meaning-Making.' Ashby holds an M.A. in English from West Virginia University (2003) and a B.A. in English and History from West Virginia Wesleyan College (2001, summa cum laude). His academic career includes positions as Visiting Assistant Professor at Miami University (2013–2014), Teaching Associate at Miami University (2008–2013), and various adjunct instructor and graduate teaching assistant roles at West Virginia University, California University of Pennsylvania, and Eastern Kentucky University since 2014. At EKU, he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in rhetoric and composition, technical and professional writing, cultural studies, English teaching, the rhetoric of popular culture, composition theory, and film theory focused on anime.

Ashby's research specializations encompass comparative rhetoric, the rhetoric of nostalgia, identity and place, transnational popular culture (particularly Japanese anime and manga), new media in composition pedagogy, fan studies, and innovative teaching practices such as grade contracts and blogging. Key publications include the peer-reviewed article 'Uchi/Soto in Japan: A Global Turn' in Rhetoric Society Quarterly (2013); 'Evaluating Fandom: Using Blogging and a Grade Contract to Reward Fan Labor in the Classroom' in Transformative Works and Cultures (2021); 'Corequisite Success: Integrating Reading, Writing, and English 101' in Journal of College Literacy and Learning (2021); and book chapters such as 'But It’s (Not) the Same: A Data-Driven Look at Equivalency Bias in Dual-Enrollment Composition' in The Dual Enrollment Kaleidoscope (2022) and 'Both Insiders and Outsiders: Re/Framing Identification via Japanese Rhetoric' in Re/Framing Identifications (2014). He has authored conference proceedings like 'A Contract for Success: Increasing Student Engagement and Confidence through Grade Contracts' (2020) and numerous book reviews in journals including Rhetoric Review and JAC. Ashby received the 2023 Course Innovation and Transformation Award and EKU Libraries Faculty Partnership Award, the 2017 Critical Thinking Teacher of the Year Award from EKU, and earlier fellowships such as the Academic Challenge Dissertation Fellowship from Miami University (2011–2012). He delivered the President’s Address at the Kentucky Philological Association Conference (2021), presented at conferences including CCCC, RSA, and Pedagogicon, and oversaw the transition of EKU's Co-requisite Reading and Writing program to a credit-bearing model with embedded writing consultants.