Melissa Carrion (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetoric, Department of English

University of Nevada–Las Vegas

Description of Work:

My research interests lie at the intersection of rhetoric, health communication, and technical/science writing. My previous research has explored how individuals come to make sense of and decisions about controversial health-related issues (e.g., sex education, vaccination) with a special focus on the role that expert, technical communication plays in that process. This research has been published in journals including Public Understanding of Science, Health Communication, Qualitative Health Research, and Rhetoric of Health and Medicine.

My current research project is focused on the role formation of what Pietrucci and Ceccarelli (2019) called scientist-citizens—those who “take up a rhetorical ethos that not only displays technical expertise but also demonstrates virtue, goodwill, and good judgment to communicate their specialized knowledge with people who do not already share it” (p. 102). In particular, this project examines how and why experts choose to engage in informal ways with public audiences, the factors that shape their persona as communicators, and how this persona shapes (and is shaped by) the rhetorical strategies they employ.

Contact: Melissa.carrion@unlv.edu