Jake Cowan, PhD

— PhD, English (Concentration: Rhetoric & Writing), The University of Texas at Austin, 2020

— MA, Philosophy of Religion and Literature, The University of Chicago, 2011

— BA, Religious Studies, St. Edward’s University, 2009

— Assistant Professor of Communication, School of Economics and Business Administration, Saint Mary's College of California, 2020–Present

— Visiting Lecturer, College of Arts, Media and Design, Mills College at Northeastern University, 2022–23

— Assistant Instructor, Department of Rhetoric and Writing, The University of Texas at Austin, 2013–20

— Assistant Director, Digital Writing and Research Lab, The University of Texas at Austin, 2016–18

— Research Assistant, Divinity School, The University of Chicago, 2010–11

— Teaching Assistant, Department of Religious and Theological Studies, St. Edward’s University, 2008–09

— “The Constitutive Rhetoric of Late Nationalism: Imagined Communities after the Digital Revolution.” Rhetoric Review 40.2 (2021)

— “Freudian Typos, Rhetorical Parapraxis, and the Psychopathology of Digital Life.” enculturation (2019)

— “Autobituary: The Life and/as Death of David Bowie & the Specters from Mourning.” Miranda 17 (2018)

— Rev. of Dark Ecology: For a Logic of Future Coexistence, by Timothy Morton. E3W Review of Books 18 (2018)

— “Typographic Nationalism and the Banal Uniformity of Imagined Communities.” In Type Matters: The Rhetoricity of Letterforms, edited by Danielle Nicole DeVoss and C.S. Wyatt. Parlor Press, 2018.

— “Topology and Psychoanalysis: Rhe-torically Restructuring the Subject.” In Topologies as Techniques for a Post-Critical Rhetoric, edited by Lynda Walsh and Casey Boyle. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.

— Rev. of The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media, by José van Dijck. E3W Review of Books 15 (2015)

— “‘And Another Thing: I’m Not Mad’—Cyberspace & the Sinthome.” Paper presented at LACKiv: Lack by the Lake at the University of Vermont in Burlington. April 20–23, 2023.

— “Beating Around the Bushisms: Parapraxes, Politics, and Perversion.” Paper presented at the Lacan: Clinic & Culture conference at Duquesne University. October 14–16, 2022.

— “All Watched Over by Machines of Rhetorical Opportunity.” Paper presented at the 20th Biennial Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America in Baltimore, Maryland. May 26–29, 2022.

— “Irresponsible Identities: Changing Who’s in Charge.” Paper presented at the 20th Biennial Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America in Baltimore, Maryland. May 26–29, 2022.

— “Believing is Easy with Eyes Wide Shut: Kubrick and Conspiratorial Rhetoric.” Paper presented at Behind Eyes Wide Shut: A Symposium at the University of Arts London in conjunction with the Kubrick Archives. December 16–17, 2019.

— “Towards a Pedagogy of Separation: Fake News and True Rhetoric.” Paper presented at LACKiii: Psychoanalysis and Separation at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. May 9–11, 2019.

— “Dark Media Ecology.” Paper presented at the 2019 Margins Conference, sponsored by the English Department at Clemson University. March 8, 2019.

— “Ambient Time and the Anachronism of Anticipation.” Paper presented at the 18th Biennial Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota. May 30–June 3, 2018.

— “I, Phone: Subjects on the Line.” Paper presented at the Extra-Human conference, hosted by the Comparative Literature department at the University of Texas at Austin. September 24, 2016.

— "The Medium Always Arrives: Unconscious Extensions of Digital Technology." Paper presented at the 131st MLA Annual Convention in Austin, Texas. January 7–10, 2016.

— "The Rhetorical Enigma: Turing, Tropes, and Technê.” Paper presented at the (dis)junctions: Strange Bedfellows conference, hosted by the English department at the University of California, Riverside. November 2–3, 2015.

— “Getting Down to This Sick Tweet: Race, Pop Music, and Social Media.” Paper presented at the 14th Annual Sequels Symposium, sponsored by E3W at the University of Texas at Austin. April 9–10, 2015.

— “Home Screens: Database, Nostalgia, and Metaphor in Digital Subjectivity.” Paper presented at the Home/Sickness conference, held by the American Studies department at the University of Texas at Austin. April 2–3, 2015.

— “Jakobson’s Latter @phasia: Language Disturbances in the Digital Age.” Paper presented at the Concussions, Commotions, and Other Aesthetic Disorders conference, hosted by the English department at the University of Chicago. November 20–21, 2014.

— “The Dialectic of the Director and the Automaton of the Auteur in Kubrick's AI.” Paper presented at the Reconceptualizing Narrative: Structures, Systems, Boundaries conference, held by the English department at Rice University, Houston, Texas. September 5–6, 2014.

— “Text as Texts: Translating and Trimming Ulysses into Twitterature.” Paper presented at the What We Read: Materiality, Narrative, Text conference, hosted by the Comparative Literature department at the University of Texas at Austin. October 11, 2013.

— Saint Mary’s College of California Common Good Research Award. For the article, “The Constitutive Rhetoric of Late Nationalism: Imagined Communities after the Digital Revolution.” 2022.

— James L. Kinneavy Prize for Scholarship in Rhetoric and Composition. For the article, “The Constitutive Rhetoric of Digital Nationalism: Imagined Communities After the Internet.” 2018.

— Flash Fellowship. Digital Writing and Research Lab, the University of Texas at Austin. 2017–2018.

— Graduate Student Professional Development Award. Digital Writing and Research Lab, the University of Texas at Austin. 2014–18.

— Research Grant. The University of Chicago. 2011.

— Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship. The University of Chicago. 2010.

— Goethe-Zertifikat B2. Goethe-Institute. 2008.

— Faculty Representative. Academic Senate, Saint Mary’s College of California. 2021–23.

— Jan Term Committee Member. Saint Mary’s College of California. 2022–23.

— Advisory Board. Center for Writing Across the Curriculum, Saint Mary’s College of California. 2021–22.

— Core Curriculum Working Group Member. Saint Mary’s College of California. 2021–22.

— Faculty Advisor. American Marketing Association Club, Saint Mary’s College of California. 2021–22.

— Assistant Director. Digital Writing and Research Lab, the University of Texas at Austin. 2016–18.

— Co-President. Rhetoric Society of America, University of Texas at Austin Chapter. 2015–17.

— Co-President. Eunoia Society, Department of Rhetoric and Writing with the Department of Communication Studies, the University of Texas at Austin. 2015–17.

— Project Member. Multimodal Writing: Typography, Digital Writing and Research Lab, the University of Texas at Austin. 2015.

— Project Leader. Excitable Media, Digital Writing and Research Lab, the University of Texas at Austin. 2014–15.

— First-Year Forum Committee. The Department of Rhetoric and Writing, the University of Texas at Austin. 2013–14.