USC.edu

Rory Lukins

Associate Professor (Teaching) of Writing
Email rlukins@email.usc.edu Office JEF 150 Office Phone (213) 740-1980

Education

  • Ph.D. Literature, University of Southern California, 8/2011
  • M.A. English, Georgetown Univ, 5/2003
  • B.A. , UC – Davis , 6/2000

  • Conference Presentations

    • “Questioning the Contract: Faculty Responses to Institutional Grading Contracts” , Council of Writing Program Administrators Summer ConferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, 2022-2023
    • “Rethinking Antonio Gramsci’s Place in Theories of Rhetoric and Composition” , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Spring 2023
    • “Maturity Effects on Writing Assessment: When & When Not to Grade Student Writing” , The Pacific Ancient & Modern Language Association (PAMLA) Annual ConferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, Fall 2022
    • “Rethinking Grading: Exploring Alternatives to Conventional Assessment” , The Pacific Ancient & Modern Language Association (PAMLA) Annual ConferenceRoundtable/Panel, Fall 2022
    • “Avoiding Anxiety: Grading Contracts & the Empathetic Classroom” , Council of Writing Program Administrators Annual ConferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, 2021-2022
    • “Grading contracts, Instructional Labor, and Institutional Change: Considering Instructor Experience of Grading Contracts in a Programmatic Setting” , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Spring 2022
    • “The Rubric & the Contract: Final Results from USC’s Contract-Grading Pilot Program” , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Fall 2021
    • “The Contract & the Empathetic Classroom” , Regional Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Fall 2020
    • “The Rubric & the Contract: Initial Results from USC’s Contract-Grading Pilot Program” , Conference on College Composition and CommunicationTalk/Oral Presentation, Spring 2020

    Other Presentations

    • “Pedagogical Approaches to Contract Grading” , Faculty Showcase, Los Angeles, 2022-2023
    • “Labor & Grading Contracts: Innovations for Assessment in Rhetoric & Composition”, Joint Provost/Academic Senate Retreat, Los Angeles, 2021-2022
    • “The Efficacy of Grading-Contract Assessment Protocols in Upper Division Composition Courses,” Primary Investigator, with Tamara Black, Leah Pate & David Thompkins. A study on the effects of grading contracts on multiple elements of student experiences and learning outcomes, including grade anxiety and perceived learning. We also aim to better understand the effects of grading contracts on instructor’s experience teaching upper-division composition courses.
    • “Efficacy of Contract-Based Grading Approaches in First-Year Writing Courses,” Co-Investigator, with Jeffrey Chisum. A two-year pilot of grading contracts and different response styles meant to engage with recent developments in the field concerning grading of student work in FY writing courses. The study aims to track whether differences in grading approaches have an impact on student satisfaction, instructor satisfaction, and—most importantly—student learning outcomes.

  • Encyclopedia Article

    • Lukins, R. G. (2012). “Sir John Taylor” & “Sir John Suckling” in Blackwell Encyclopedia of English Renaissance Literature. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Journal Article

    • Lukins, R. G. (2010). “Manifesting Symbolic Necessity: Sound and the Signification Chain in Othello.”. The Shakespeare Yearbook. Vol. 19, pp. 211-234.