EDUCATION
Ph.D. English, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 2010
Field: Rhetoric and Composition Studies
Dissertation: Writing to (Re)New Orleans: The Post-Hurricane Katrina Blogosphere and Its Ability to Heal and Inspire Recovery
Committee: Joseph Moxley (chair), Joyce R. Walker, Trey Conner, Meredith Zoetewey
Abstract: Nearly every website or software application these days features a feed to subscribe to, a network to join, or a social timeline to track—all of which do their part to influence public opinion, promote products, and bring people closer together. Being a blogger exposed me to these user-generated trends, but never did I expect my blog space, or any others, to play such an important role in my emotional well-being; not until Hurricane Katrina hit.
Choosing to share my story as a transplanted New Orleanian watching the disaster unfold from afar in a public forum quickly linked me to other local voices, and soon I discovered a burgeoning “Big Easy” blogosphere. By profiling those who have been directly impacted by Hurricane Katrina and examining their perpetual posting of blog entries, photos, videos, and status updates, this dissertation illustrates how online communications have the ability to evolve into cathartic and socially responsible exchanges during and after traumatic times of disaster.
Relying on qualitative research methods and current scholarship on the blog genre, this dissertation exposes a range of opinions from a population that might otherwise go unnoticed. Much of the importance of these bloggers’ openly shared and permanently archived postings is that those who actively search the Internet in order to better understand the city’s rebuilding efforts can read them and gain a deeper, truer reading of what is going on in what is now a post-Katrina New Orleans.
M.A. English, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 1999
Field: Composition Studies and Linguistics
B.A. English, Loyola University, New Orleans, LA, 1996
Major: Writing
Minor: Ballet
AWARDS/HONORS/FELLOWSHIPS
Alice Hearne Scholarship for Outstanding Doctoral Candidate. University of South Florida. 2008.
Alma Bryant Award for Outstanding Graduate Student in Rhetoric and Composition. University of South Florida. 2008.
Oxford Internet Institute’s Summer Doctoral Programme. The Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School. 2007.
The Florida Center for Writers Award for Distinguished Scholarship. University of South Florida. 2006.
Scholar for the Dream. Conference on College Composition and Communication. 2005.
Fellowship, Martha’s Vineyard Summer Institute on Writing, Reading and Teaching. Northeastern University. Summer 1999.
Graduate Essay Writing Prize. Northeastern University. 1999.
Award of Excellence in English. Loyola University. 1996.
Outstanding English Writing Lab Tutor. Loyola University. 1996.
Outstanding College of Music student, Ballet Program. Loyola University. 1996.
RESEARCH INTERESTS & PUBLICATIONS
My research interests include new media literacy; technology, identity and community; rhetorical theory; trauma studies; research methodologies; distance education
The following bio is to be published with my blog chapter in the forthcoming book, Digital Tools in Composition Studies: Critical Dimensions and Implications:
As a New Orleans native, Daisy has become most interested in researching the use of the Internet as an alternative news outlet while also analyzing the extent to which blog spaces can connect friends and family and keep the spirit of a city alive during times of tangible and emotional recovery. Her research into the rebuilding of post-Katrina New Orleans through new media endeavors can be read in the Spring 2008 issue of Reflections as well as in the Fall 2007 special issue of Computers and Composition Online. In addition to presenting at the MLA and CCCC conferences, she has shared her work on the impact of the Internet upon everyday life at Harvard University as part of the Oxford Internet Institute’s 2007 Summer Doctoral Programme.
