Heather Suzanne Woods is a scholar and teacher of digital rhetoric.
She has been researching the relationship between technology and culture for nearly a decade. Heather’s research projects focus on rhetorics of futurity and innovation. Her most recent project analyzes the ways memes circulate to create public culture. Heather’s research has been featured in Wired, The Atlantic, CBC’s Spark, The Washington Post, The LA Times, and more.
Recent publications
on rhetoric + technology
ASKING MORE OF SIRI AND ALEXA
Siri and Alexa perform a gendered persona which may ease consumer’s concerns about surveillance.
read moreTHE QUIVER IS FULL
Pregnancy and pregnancy loss are mediated, including by television programming.
read moreANTI-RACIST ACTIVISM AND THE TRANSFORMATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF HASHAG PUBLICS
Hashtag publics are flexible and durable, but so are those formed against activists.
read moreANONYMOUS STEUBENVILLE AND THE POLITICS OF VISIBILITY
Visibility is a double-edged sword for activists and the aggreived.
read moreCASE STUDY
Siri, Alexa, Surveillance
Smart device users must weigh the significant conveniences of a device with an always-on microphone against the substantial concerns. Some of these concerns – security and surveillance – are pragmatic. Others – about whether devices should have a gender – are decidedly more philosophical. The bottom line is this: When people ask devices to act for them, they must be willing to live with what – or who – is on the other side.
Consulting and Commentary
Heather is available for consulting, trainings, and media commentary
Consulting
Heather is available to consult individuals and organizations on digital media strategy, online content creation, and political communication campaigns.
Trainings
Heather engages audiences with content-based and pedagogy-focused trainings for organizations of all size, in person and at-a-distance.
Media Commentary
Heather is available for media commentary and interviews on issues related to communication and technology.
MEDIA FEATURE
“We trust our
digital assistants more than we should”
“Many people have come to trust the artificially intelligent virtual assistants (AIVAs), like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa, that allow us to talk to our devices. Many of us have these devices, always on, always listening, with us or around us, all day. But new research puts that trust into question.”
Dr. Woods’ research featured on CBC Spark!
Memes are Political
Woods and Hahner’s latest book: Make America Meme Again, is now available in paperback, ebook, and hardback from Peter Lang.
As demonstrated by the 2016 Presidential Election, memes have become the suasory tactic par excellence for the promotional and recruitment efforts of the Alt-right. Using the tools of rhetorical criticism, Woods and Hahner detail how memetic persuasion operates, with a particular focus on the 2016 election.
Praise for Make America Meme Again
Make America Meme Again serves as a necessary investigation of memetic discourse and the rhetorics of the Alt-right….Heather Suzanne Woods and Leslie A. Hahner offer a foundational introduction that will remain indispensable for years to come.”
Kelly Williams Nagel
Quarterly Journal of Speech
[T]he brilliance of this book also offers a reckoning with the impressive rhetorical power and viral nature of memes, the continuously shifting format of argumentative appeals, the notable community-building elements of online digital platforms, less traditional yet rapidly emerging forms of rhetorical address, and the ever-evolving nature of persuasive tactics and their role in shaping democracy as we know it.
Mallory L. Marsh
Argumentation & Advocacy
Woods and Hahner are not simply trying to add their savvy contribution to media studies, political science, and political communication; they are challenging these fields to rethink many of the very premises that currently undergird them.
Michael Mario Albrecht
Lateral: Journal of the Cultural Studies Association
CASE STUDY
Weaponizing Memes
“Memes need not be humorous or factual to be functional. All they need to do is attract attention online, which often translates into mainstream media coverage. That makes memes potent tools for distributing disinformation.” -Woods & Hahner
Contact Heather
Media Kit
Heather Suzanne Woods is a scholar and researcher of digital rhetoric.
Her areas of expertise include memes, virtual assistants Siri and Alexa, online activism and social media, and smart homes.
She is Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies of Communication Studies at Kansas State University.
She is author of Make America Meme Again: The Rhetoric of the Alt-Right with Leslie Hahner.
