Dr. Jessica Ketcham is an educator and researcher whose work explores language, representation, and technology. Early experiences questioning inequities in school curricula, resource allocation, and institutional practices sparked her lifelong interest (and cultural critiques) of the ways in which institutions, texts, and technologies shape identity, opportunity, and social participation. Her primary goal for her writing students is to help them build confidence in their voices across a variety of discursive contexts.
Her scholarly work has drawn on methods of critical discourse analysis and participatory qualitative research to examine health rhetorics, technology use, inclusive design practices, and activist narratives. She’s taught English, Cultural Studies, and Human Centered Design in higher education since 2003, and has regularly volunteer taught in K-12 and community center settings as well. In 2024, she led a study abroad program in Lyon, France focusing on foodways as cultural rhetorics, and place-based creative nonfiction. She currently serves as the Chair for the Arts and Humanities Division.
Devoted to helping more people to see themselves as writers and get their voices and stories into the public sphere, she also serves as an Ambassador for the Op-Ed Project. Jessica is currently working on a book-length project and co-writes a Substack newsletter, The Kerning Lab.
Education
- PhD in Rhetoric, Writing, and Cultural Studies, Department of English, LSU
- Doctoral Certificate in Women's and Gender Studies, LSU
- Doctoral Minors in Communication Studies, and Curriculum & Assessment, LSU
- Graduate Certificate in User Centered Design, Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering, UW
Awards
- 2026 Best of the Net Nominee for “Dependent” (nonfiction essay)
- “Eviction Notice” (nonfiction essay), Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction Finalist, The Bellingham Review, 2025
- Cascadia College Excellence in Teaching, Award Recipient
- Women in Leadership, Cascadia’s Faculty/Staff Award Recipient
Selected Publications
- “Dependent” (nonfiction essay), The Lincoln Review, Spring 2025 Issue
- “The Chaos of Kairos: Discourses of Timing and Choice” in Staging Women's Lives in Academia: Performing Life Stages in Language and Literature Workplaces. Michelle Masse and Nan Bauer-Maglin, Eds. SUNY Press. 2017.
- “Techno-Mob Movements: Public Performances and the Collective Voices of Outsiders” in Agency in the Margins: Stories of Outsider Rhetoric. Anne Stockdell-Giesler, Ed. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. January 2010.
- “Subvert this Image. Negotiating Multiple Literacies & Deconstructing Consumerism through Photoshop” in Teaching in the Pop Culture Zone: Using Popular Culture in the Writing Classroom. Allison Smith, Ed. Thompson Wadsworth Press, 2008, 109-119.
Community & Professional Engagement
- Ambassador, The Op-Ed Project, Present
- CROW Faculty Fellow (University of Arizona grant-sponsored study) pilot project with Writing Center Tutors at Cascadia College, 2025-2026
- Seattle Children’s Hospital Celiac Program Community Advisory Board Member, 2020-2024
- Co-Lead (UX) for Cascadia’s Guided Pathways, 2020-2021
- WA State Board CTC Bridge to College English Course Trainer, 2016-2018
Presentations
Jessica regularly hosts faculty workshops across the state on human-centered design in the classroom; humane education and public pedagogy; executive function skills and student overwhelm; inclusive design, equity, and designing for belonging; and interaction design & online learning.
Recent presentations include:
- “Crafting Countercurrents: Handmade Pedagogies to Resist Optimization Culture.” TYCA Pacific Northwest Conference, Portland, OR, October 2026.
- “Understanding Community College Instructors’ Perceptions of Corpus-Informed Writing Instruction” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Cleveland, OH, March 2026
- “Cryfest/Joyfest: Inviting Full Spectrum Emotions in the Classroom as Democracy Crumbles,” Teaching & Learning Academy Annual Institute, Cascadia College, January 2026
Hobbies
Outside of work I have an arts-rich life, writing and revising essays and poems alongside my writing group which was birthed from Orcas Island’s biannual Write Doe Bay retreat, making block prints or mixed media art (clay & textiles & encaustic painting), going to concerts with my daughter, and songwriting with my husband.
I regularly volunteer for two incredible cultural organizations: Urban Craft Uprising and KEXP radio. I also volunteer as a mentor for families newly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac disease, and am an outspoken advocate on many intersecting health inequities in the US system.
Talk to me about: bullwhip kelp, tap dancing, and anti-capitalist initiatives.