Rachel Dean-Ruzicka
Senior Lecturer
- School of Literature, Media, and Communication
Overview
Rachel Dean-Ruzicka is a Senior Lecturer of Writing and Communication specializing in co-requisite course design and instruction. She has been in this role at Georgia Tech since 2016, after serving as a Marion L. Brittain Fellow from 2011-2014. Her research focuses broadly on popular culture, but the bulk of her publications cover young adult literature and comics. Her book, Tolerance Discourse and Young Adult Holocaust Literature: Engaging Difference and Identity, was published by Routledge in 2017, and released in paperback in 2019. Her work on this project was also published in Children’s Literature and Education and The Journal of Hate Studies. She has an article forthcoming in Oxford Handbook of Young Adult Literature on YA Holocaust lit. She has given invited talks on this research at Avila University and American University. More recently, she has published on paranormal teenagers and serial killers in Beyond the Blockbusters: Themes and Trends in Young Adult Literature and is currently completing an essay on the podcast My Favorite Murder for a collection on feminist detectives. Her teaching focuses on using popular culture artifacts to teach multimodal communication, with a heavy emphasis on the process through analysis and scaffolding. She has presented her work on this pedagogy at the National Organization for Student Success and the USG Teaching and Learning Conference. A longtime member of the Children’s Literature Association, she serves as Chaif of the Astrid Lindgren Award Committee and organized the 2021 virtual conference.
- PhD, American Culture Studies, Bowling Green State University
- MA, Literature, Colorado State University
- BA, English, Colorado State University
Distinctions:
- Provost
- Jack and Anita Hess Seminar for Faculty, US Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Writing and Communication Program Pedagogy Award
- Bowling Green State University Graduate Teaching Award
- Midwest PCA Travel Grant
Interests
- Communication
- Literary and Cultural Studies
- Media Studies
- Science and Technology Studies
- Inequality and Social Justice
- Development of Literacies
- Digital Communication
- Education
- Feminism
- Higher Education: Teaching and Learning
- History and Memory
- Interdisciplinary Learning and Partnering
- Literary Theory
- Literature
- Media
Courses
- ENGL-0199: Support for ENGL 1101
- ENGL-1101: English Composition I
- ENGL-1102: English Composition II
- LCC-2200: Intro to Gender Studies
- LMC-6749: Feminist Theory and STS
- PUBP-6749: Feminist Theory STS
Publications
Selected Publications
Books
- Tolerance Discourse and Young Adult Holocaust Literature: Engaging Difference and Identity
Date: November 2016
All Publications
Books
- Tolerance Discourse and Young Adult Holocaust Literature: Engaging Difference and Identity
Date: November 2016
Journal Articles
- “Representing ‘The Great Devouring:’ Romani Characters in Young Adult Holocaust Literature.”
In: Children’s Literature in Education. 45.3 [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2014
- “Mourning and Melancholia in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic.”
In: ImageText [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2013
- “Themes of Privilege and Whiteness in the Films of Wes Anderson.”
In: Quarterly Review of Film and Video [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2013
- “Combating Hate through Young Adult Literature.”
In: The Journal of Hate Studies [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2012
- “Vengeance, Healing, and Justice: Post 9/11 Culture Through the Lens of CSI.”
In: Quarterly Review of Film and Video [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2009
Chapters
- Paranormal Maturation: Uncanny Teens and Canny Killers
In: Beyond the Blockbusters: Themes and Trends in Young Adult Literature [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 2020
- “What the Junk? Defeating the Velociraptor in the Lighthouse with the Lumberjanes.”
In: Graphic Novels for Children and Young Adults: A Collection of Critical Essays. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: June 2017
- “Of Scrivens and Sparks: Girl Geniuses in Young Adult Dystopian Fiction.”
In: Female Rebellion in Young Adult Dystopian Fiction. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2014