The Department of English is delighted to congratulate undergraduate student Brittany Halley, a junior English major in the Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy concentration, for the publication of "Materiality Matters: How Human Bodies and Writing Technologies Impact the Composing Process" in the Young Scholars in Writing journal.

According to the abstract of the article, the study “explores the materiality and embodied effects of writing by asking the research question: how are writers’ composing processes affected by the writing technologies they employ? ... Drawing together select studies on embodied composition with [Halley’s] own autobiographical study [she investigates] the interrelationship between a writer’s body, writing technologies, and the text produced.”

Halley conducted the study on her own without using external participants. In the article, she writes, “… I felt an intimate awareness of my own writing process would provide a different and potentially deeper understanding of the research question posed. Essentially, familiarity with my own habits, I felt, would make it easier to discern what was truly a result of the technology and what was not.” 

When asked what inspired her to conduct research and write the article, she states, “I've always been interested in the writing process and learning as much as I can about it. My newly-found interest in embodiment actually emerged from observing the data in this study.” Halley goes on to say that this article was originally an assignment for one of Dr. Christa Teston’s classes. She would like to credit Dr. Teston for her positive feedback and advice throughout this piece. 

In the future, Halley hopes to publish more articles, not just as an undergraduate but throughout her career.  

Congratulations to Brittany Halley on this exciting achievement!