Christina Santana is an Associate Professor English at Worcester State University. She earned her doctorate at Arizona State University in 2016, specializing “Writing, Rhetorics, and Literacies.” Uniquely committed to community-engaged (CE) teaching, learning and scholarship, her professional life has included time spent in several different roles:

• Writing Center Director at WSU (sp18–sp22)
• Associate Director of Community Learning at Amherst College (sum22–sum23)
• Visiting Lecturer at UMass Amherst, teaching “Learning through CE” (f23, s25)
• Visiting Lecturer at UMass Amherst, teaching “Writing Rhetorics and Literacies” (f24)
• Visiting Lecturer at the Commonwealth Honors College, teaching “CE & the Public” (s25)

Teaching! It has largely focused on capacity-building for professional writing and included courses on community writing, writing consultancy, persuasive writing about public issues, professional writing, grant writing, and business communication. She won the Alden Excellence in Teaching Award (2020).

• Creative Writing: Nonfiction syllabus (working draft) (f25)

Scholarship! It has explored innovative, collaborative structures and frameworks in several contexts, including connecting composition mega courses, facilitating the work of writing groups/teams across difference, networking writing centers and organizations within a city, and advancing anti-racist community engagement in and around higher education.

• Writing about Writing
  • Innovative Developments in Writing Studio Practice,
  • Currents in Teaching and Learning,
  • The Community Literacy Journal, and
  • WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship.

• Writing about Racial Equity and Antiracism 
  • The Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice,
  • Anti-Racist Community Engagement: Principles and Practices (lead editor and project manager),
  • The Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning and
  • “Perspectives of Educational Developers of Color,” an edited collection (chapter 19)
  • “Community Literacy Journal: Special Issue: Work Across Boundaries

She was on the team that won the 2023 IARSLCE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award, takes pride in the work she did when New England Equity Engagement Consortium was active, and is also a graduate of the Leadership Worcester program (2018).

Overall, the key thing to know about Christina is that she enjoys working collaboratively—especially across different experiences and areas of expertise—and on projects that empower others to grow their capacities to lead with authenticity and contribute to the common good. This work sits at the intersection of her expertise in “Writing, Rhetorics, and Literacies,” so supporting students to thrive in these spaces is both a deep joy and a true challenge for her.