Meet Hillary Weiss
Visiting Assistant Professor, English and Writing
Phone: (813) 257-3349
Email: hweiss@ut.edu
Address: 401 W. Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL 33606
Mailbox: R
Building:
PH
Room: 421
Education
2014 Siena Heights University, B.A.
2016 Bowling Green State University, M.A.
2020 Wayne State University, Ph.D.
Courses Taught
AWR 101
Career Specialties
Professor Weiss specializes in composition pedagogy, writing program administration and cultural rhetorics.
Professional and Community Activities
True to form, Weiss had a hard time narrowing down her research activity because she has so many interests.
Since 2016, Weiss has been involved in various research projects either independently or collaboratively presented on, published or implemented, usually centered around multimodal teaching, assessment and placement, and supporting historically marginalized populations. For instance, in 2018, she was a research assistant at Wayne State University, where she initiated and helped to implement directed self-placement, which they use to this day. During the pandemic, Weiss independently researched and engaged in online tutoring, teaching and editing to better assist students with disabilities and first-generation, multilingual and adult learners. Currently, she has special interests—meaning, she was able to read some books this summer!—in researching grading contracts, writing program placement, writing in the disciplines (especially science writing), Indigenous pedagogies and research methods, Universal Design, and writing and AI.
In Fall 2023, Professor Weiss will be presenting at a local conference about writing and AI tools. Since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, her goal has been for writing instructors to understand why students use AI tools, even if they are asked not to. Her presentation will focus on exploring the various reasons with instructors why students may use AI to help complete assignments, including physical and mental disabilities, low confidence (especially for students learning English as an additional language or who aren’t familiar with academic writing), and the fear of failure (Kohn, 2011), and will brainstorm as an audience how to support these students.
Finally, in addition to teaching, researching, and university service responsibilities, Weiss believes it is her responsibility to also serve the local community. As it is her first year at UT, Weiss is looking for more ways to get involved in local community initiatives to support Tampa residents, particularly people who are unhoused and the Seminole and Miccosukee Nations.