Rate My Professor Chris Weaver

Christopher Weaver, known professionally as Chris Weaver, is a Professor in the Department of Language, Literature, Culture, and Writing at William Paterson University, where he serves as Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric. He earned his Ph.D. in English from Stony Brook University in 1994, with concentrations in Composition and Rhetoric, Native American Narrative, and 20th Century American Literature. Weaver received his B.A. in English cum laude from the University of Rochester in 1985. He joined William Paterson University in August 1999 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of English, achieved tenure in 2004-2005, was promoted to Associate Professor, and advanced to full Professor in 2014. Throughout his tenure, he has directed the Program in Writing and Rhetoric during multiple periods, including Summer 2000, Spring 2001 to Spring 2007, Spring 2010 to present. His professional interests encompass writing pedagogy and writing in online environments, with a specialization in Composition and Rhetoric.

Weaver's research focuses on composition and rhetoric, peer review practices, online writing environments, grading writing, electronic writing and recorded speech, disciplinary discourse, plagiarism, and writing program administration. He has co-edited several key books in the field, including Rethinking Peer Review: Critical Reflections on a Pedagogical Practice with Phoebe Jackson (Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse/Colorado State University Open Press, 2023), Writing in Online Courses: How the Online Environment Shapes Writing Practices with Phoebe Jackson (Myers Education Press, 2018), and The Theory and Practice of Grading Writing: Problems and Possibilities with Frances Zak (State University of New York Press, 1998; second printing 1999), which received Choice's 35th Annual Outstanding Book Award for Best Book of the Year in the Field of Education. Notable publications also include “A Troubled Practice: Three Models of Peer Review and the Problems Underlying Them” (2023), “Shifting Again: Electronic Writing and Recorded Speech in Online Courses” (2018), “The Rhetoric of Recovery: Can Twelve Step Programs Inform the Teaching of Writing?” (Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning, 2002), and “Readings and Misreadings: Building Interpretive Communities in Different Disciplines” (Teaching in the 21st Century, 1999). Weaver has delivered presentations at conferences including the National Council of Teachers of English, Conference on College Composition and Communication, International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference, and Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association. He chairs the Program in Writing and Rhetoric Committee, Curriculum Scheduling Committee, and has served on search committees, assessment committees, and UFRAC.