Contact: georgann@hawaii.edu
Georganne Nordstrom is a Professor of Composition and Rhetoric. Her research and teaching in composition focuses on writing center studies, critical and Indigenous/place-based pedagogies, and empirical research. Her teaching and research focused on rhetoric is grounded in Hawaiʻi and examines Indigenous and minority rhetoric, with a specific focus on Hawaiʻi's Creole, Pidgin. Her work has been published in College English, College Composition and Communication, The Writing Lab Newsletter, The Writing Center Journal, and the anthology A Brief History of Rhetoric in the Americas. With Jeff Carroll and Brandy Nālani McDougall, she co-edited Huihui: Navigating art and literature in the Pacific (UH Press, 2015), a multi-genre anthology whose authors represent different nations of the Pacific. Her second book, A writing center practitioner’s inquiry into collaboration: Pedagogy, practice, and research (Routledge, 2021), presents a model of Practitioner Inquiry for conducting empirical research in writing centers along with studies employing the model. Georganne is currently co-editing an anthology (tentatively titled) Pedagogies of the Pacific: Writing and Teaching in Oceania, which will feature authors representing nine Pacific Island nations discussing how they incorporate Indigenous practices into their teaching.
Including serving as Director of the UHM Writing Center for 9 years from 2012-2024, Georganne has been active in all aspects of Writing Program Administration in the department, having also served as the Director of Composition and Rhetoric, the Director of the Mentoring Program & First-year Writing. Georganne is currently co-editor of writing center studies flagship journal, the Writing Center Journal.
Publications
Books
- Anthology in progress in collaboration with Norman Thompson and Isaac Wang: Writing and Teaching in Oceania.
- Nordstrom, G. (2021). A writing center’s practitioner’s inquiry into collaboration: A model for pedagogy, practice, and research. New York, NY: Routledge.
- Carroll, J., McDougall, B. N., Nordstrom, G. (Eds.). (2015). Huihui: Navigating art and literature in the Pacific. Honolulu, HI: UH Press.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Nordstrom, G. (2019). A practitioner’s inquiry into professionalization: When we does not equal collaboration. Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, 17(1), 87-117.
- Nordstrom, G., Furtado, N., Gushiken, G., Ito-Fujita, A., Iwashita, K., Kurashige, N., Togafau, K., and Wang, I. (Fall 2019). Affirming our liminality & writing on the walls: How we welcome in our writing center. The Peer Review Journal, 3(1). http://thepeerreview-iwca.org/issues/redefining-welcome/affirming-our-liminality-writing-on -the-walls-how-we-welcome-in-our-writing-center/
- Nordstrom, G. (2015). Practitioner inquiry: Articulating a model for RAD research in the writing center. The Writing Center Journal, 35(1), 87-116.
- Nordstrom, G. (2015). Pidgin as rhetorical sovereignty: Articulating Indigenous and minority rhetorical practices with the language politics of place. College English, 77(4), 317-337.
- Nordstrom, G. & McDougall, B. N. (2011). Ma ka hana ka ‘ike (In the work is the knowledge): Kaona as rhetorical action. College Composition and Communication, 63(1), 98-121.
- Nordstrom, G. (2003). Finding their way to the writing center: Language perceptions of Pidgin speakers and non-native speakers from Asian countries. The Writing Lab Newsletter, 28(3), 8-11.
Book Chapters
- Nordstrom, G. (Accepted). Research as a Tool for Access: Insights into Multilingual Students’ Critical Literacy Practices. In C. Saidy, B. Jacobson, and J. Rivera-Mueller (Eds.), Conversations and Collaborations. Under review with NCTE.
- Nordstrom, G. (Accepted). Grappling with Linguistic Justice in the Writing Center. In R. Babcock and M. Vis (Eds.), LatinX Linguistic Justice. Under Review with Routledge.
- Nordstrom, G. & kuʻualoha hoʻomanawanui. (Invited, 2022). (Non-European) Post-colonial Hawaiian, 20th-21st centuries CE, Hawaiʻi prefatory introduction. In H. Wu and T. S. Graban (Eds.), Global rhetorical traditions. Parlor Press.
- Nordstrom, G. & kuʻualoha hoʻomanawanui. (2022). He inoa no ke kanaka (In the name of the person): Mele inoa as rhetorical continuity. In H. Wu and T. S. Graban (Eds.), Global rhetorical traditions. Parlor Press.
- Carroll, J. & McDougall, B. N., Nordstrom, G. (2015). Hoʻohuihui: Navigating the Pacific through words. In J. Carroll, B. N. McDougall, & G Nordstrom (Eds.) Huihui: Navigating art and literature in the Pacific (pp. 1-13). Honolulu, HI: UH Press.
- Nordstrom, G. & McDougall, B. N. (2015). Stealing the piko: (Re)placing Kānaka Maoli at Disney’s Aulani resort. In J. Carrol, B. N. McDougall & G. Nordstrom (Eds.) Huihui: Navigating art and literature in the Pacific (pp. 160-177). Honolulu, HI: UH Press.
- Nordstrom, G. (2010). Rhetoric and resistance in Hawai‘i: How silenced voices speak out in a colonized context. In D. Baca & V. Villanueva (Eds). Rhetorics of the Americas: 3114 BCE to 2012 CE (pp. 117-141). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan
Reviews
- Nordstrom, G. (2019). Review of the book Writing centers and disability, by R. D. Babcock & S. Daniels. Writing Center Journal, 37(2).
- Nordstrom, G. (2014). Mauna Kea: Temple under siege [Rev. of the film Mauna Kea: Temple under siege. Dir. Puhipau, Joan Landers and Nā Maka o ka ‘Āina.]. Alexander Street Press. 2014. Web. (Reprinted from V. Hereniko (Ed) (2006), The Contemporary Pacific, 18(1), 207-210.
- Nordstrom, G. (2006). Mauna Kea: Temple under siege. [Rev. of the film Mauna Kea: Temple under siege. Dir. Puhipau, Joan Landers and Nā Maka o ka ‘Āina.] In V. Hereniko (Ed), The Contemporary Pacific, 18(1), 207-210.
Areas of Interest
Indigenous pedagogy & rhetorical practices, Literacy/Linguistic Social Justice, Writing Center Studies, & Research Methodologies,
Awards
- 2018-19 Fulbright Award to the National University of Ireland, Galway.
- UHM 2016 Chancellor’s Citation for Meritorious Teaching.
- The 2012 Richard Braddock Award for the article “Ma ka Hana ka ‘Ike (In the Work is the Knowledge): Kaona as Rhetorical Action,” a collaboration with Brandy Nālani McDougall.
Education
- BA, English, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
- MA, English/concentration: Composition and Rhetoric, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
- PhD, English/concentration: Composition and Rhetoric, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Courses
Spring Semester 2026
- ENG-300C: Introduction to Rhetoric: Contemp
- ENG-306: Rhetoric and Writing
Fall Semester 2026
- ENG-306: Rhetoric and Writing
- ENG-406: Rhetoric and Writing Workshop
Spring Semester 2025
- ENG-306: Argumentative Writing
Fall Semester 2024
- ENG-306: Argumentative Writing