Dear Colleagues,
The WAC Clearinghouse is pleased to announce the year-long appointment of three fellows.
Charles Bazerman, New Scholar Fellow, 2026-27
Corie Mesa, Northeastern University
Corie Mesa (she/her) will serve as an Associate Editor for The Journal of Writing Analytics. Corie is a digital humanist and current PhD student at Northeastern University, where she serves as the Assistant Director of the Writing Center. Using textual analysis methods, her research explores the intersections of language, cultural identity, and legislation, with a focus on how policy and political influence shape Latine communities over time. A native Angeleno, Corie earned both her BA and MA from California State University, Northridge. Outside of academia, she enjoys reading mystery novels and spending time with her three pets: General Meow, a tuxedo cat; Juno, a German Shepherd; and Odin, a Flat-Coated Retriever.
Will Hochman New Scholar Fellow, 2026-27
Felix T. Nyikwagh, Clemson University, South Carolina
Felix T. Nyikwagh will serve as a Social Media Coordinator and Communication Specialist with the Communication Team, working with the current Associate Publisher for Communication. Felix is a PhD student in the Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design (RCID) program at Clemson University. His research interests span digital rhetoric, technical communication, crisis communication, and cultural rhetoric. Felix has industry experience in development communication, broadcast media, and print journalism.
Susan H. McLeod New Scholar Fellow, 2026-27
Jessa Wood, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Jessa Wood will serve as a fellow for the Reference Guides to Rhetoric and Composition. Jessa is an Assistant Director of Writing Across the Curriculum at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her research explores praxis for activist, equity-oriented writing program administration, often through program assessment research. In 2024, she received her PhD in Rhetoric and Scientific & Technical Communication from UMN with the dissertation, At the Event Horizon: Possibilities and Precarities in WAC/WID’s Reckoning with Antiracism.
Please join me in giving a warm welcome to this year’s fellows.
On behalf of the WAC Clearinghouse team,
Michele Zugnoni
Associate Publisher for Communication
Michele N. Zugnoni, PhD, JD, CPC (she, her, hers)
Associate Professor of Instruction
Northwestern University Writing Program
Searle Fellow 2023-2024
Associate Publisher for Communication, WAC Clearinghouse
Coordinator, AWAC Summer Professional and Faculty Mentoring Program