Violet Livingston

Biography

Violet is a queer femme storyteller, circus performer, and teacher. She works as an Assistant Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures and has also taught for the Residential College in Arts and Humanities (RCAH), Integrative Studies in Arts and Humanities (IAH), and the Citizen Scholars Program. Her creative-critical dissertation on The Queer Art and Rhetoric of Consent won the 2016 Conference on College Composition & Communication’s Lavender Rhetorics Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship. Her newest interdisciplinary project explores making contemporary circus that matters, blending creative nonfiction, theatrical circus performance, community-based writing and humanities pedagogies.

Research Areas

Circus Culture, Queer Rhetorics, Consent Education, Creative Nonfiction Writing, Community-based Pedagogies and Methodologies

Education

PhD in Writing and Rhetoric, Michigan State University, 2015

MA in Critical Studies in Literacy and Pedagogy, Michigan State University, 2011

BA in Women and Gender Studies, Oakland University, 2005

Research or Academic Affiliations 

Queer Theory Playground (QTP), founding member

Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCC)

Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP)