Rate My Professor Donna LeCourt

Donna LeCourt is Professor Emerita in the English Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, contributing to the Literature faculty through her expertise in rhetoric and composition. She holds a B.A. from Fitchburg State College (1985), an M.A. in rhetoric and composition from Washington State University, and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. LeCourt joined the UMass Amherst English Department in 2002 and held key administrative positions, including Chair of the Department, Director of the Writing Program (2003-2007), Director of the Writing Center (2010-2012), co-director of the Digital Humanities Initiative (2009-2014), and Director of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project. She played a significant role in the growth and development of the Composition and Rhetoric program at the university.

LeCourt's research focuses on critical and cultural approaches to rhetoric and composition, encompassing critical pedagogy, feminism, working-class studies, academic writing, public discourse, and digital public spheres amid infocapital. Her scholarly areas include Composition and Rhetoric, Critical Race and Ethnicity, Digital Humanities and Media, Gender and Sexuality, Marxist Literary Studies, and Theory and Culture. She has taught a range of undergraduate writing courses, from first-year writing to advanced topics like Gender and Writing and Writing for Digital Publics, as well as graduate seminars such as Writing and Difference, Gender and Writing, Composition Theory, Writing and Emerging Technologies, and Critical/Cultural Composition Pedagogies. Among her publications are the books Identity Matters: Schooling the Student Body in Academic Discourse (SUNY Press, 2004) and Social Mediations: Writing for Digital Public Spheres (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2024). She co-edited Rewriting Success in Rhetoric and Composition Careers (Parlor Press, 2012) with Amy Goodburn and Carrie Leverenz. Her essays appear in College English, Pedagogy, JAC, Computers and Composition, and Language and Learning in the Disciplines, with chapters in edited collections. The essay Critical Pedagogy in the Computer Classroom: Politicizing the Writing Space (1998) was runner-up for the 1999 Ellen Nold Award for best article on computers and composition. LeCourt received the Distinguished Mentor Award from the UMass Amherst Graduate School.