Ryan Leack

Dr. Ryan David Leack teaches writing and rhetoric in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at the University of Southern California, and received his Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Riverside, where he studied the productive intersections between rhetorical listening, quantum mechanics, philosophy, composition, and poetry. In particular, Ryan studies the coalescing historical and conceptual developments between rhetoric and physics, as well as the implications for the teaching of writing and rhetoric.

His academic work has appeared in the edited collection Romantic Ecocriticism: Origins and Legacies, and in the journal Composition Forum. His creative work has appeared in journals such as Chiron Review, Poetry Quarterly, Tipton Poetry Journal, Pif, Westwind, RipRap, Contemporary World Literature, Strong Verse, and Pomona Valley Review, for which he served as Editor-in-Chief for seven years.

Ryan’s instrumental music, which grounds his resonant approach to rhetoric through the ear (aurality) vs. the mouth (orality), is available on Apple Music, Spotify, and like services. His music, consisting of 55 solo instrumental tracks, has also been featured in films available at or on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Walmart, Target, and like services and retailers internationally, including Getty Music, in addition to films and TV shows on CBS, CNN, HBO, Showtime, and other channels, and has been played on radio stations in 50+ countries.

He also Co-Hosts the Dornsife Writing Program podcast Live Theory: Living Writing & Rhetoric, for which he designs and maintains the website and audio production. He leads a quiet life in Los Angeles seeking Thoreauvian tranquility and harmony with words and sound.

• Ph.D. English, University of California, Riverside, 2018
• MA English, Cal Poly Pomona, 2012
• BA English, Cal State Long Beach, 2008