Allegra Smith
Assistant Professor
- School of Literature, Media, and Communication
Overview
Allegra Smith’s research in technical and professional communication explores how users’ multifaceted identities shape their experiences with digital tools, with a focus on access and equity. Her dissertation, Digital Age: A Study of Older Adults’ User Experiences with Technology, received the 2021-22 Hugh Burns Best Dissertation Award from Computers & Composition. Her scholarship has appeared in Technical Communication; Communication Design Quarterly, the Journal of Global Literacies, Technologies, and Emerging Pedagogies, the Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice; and edited collections from Routledge and the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Clearinghouse. Before joining Georgia Tech, Smith was an assistant professor of English at Jacksonville State University, where she taught courses in technical writing, public speaking, and social media. She received the university’s Campus Technology Award and multiple grants from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education for her innovative teaching — including a digital studio course that assembled teams of students to produce social media content for a statewide workforce engagement campaign.
- PhD, Rhetoric and Composition, Purdue University
- MA, Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing, Michigan State University
- BA, Professional Writing, Women's and Gender Studies, Michigan State University
Interests
- Communication
- Digital Humanities
- Digital Media
- Literacy Studies
- Pedagogy and Curriculum Development
- Wicked Problems
- Gender
- Accessibility
- Aging
- Communication
- Community engagement
- Digital Communication
- Digital Humanities
- Disability
- Human/Machine Interaction
- Inequality, Inequity, and Social Justice
- Intergenerational Issues
- Internet Studies
- Problem-Based Learning
- Queer Studies
- Technology
- Usability
Courses
- LMC-3206: Communication and Culture
- LMC-3403: Tech Communication
- LMC-3404: Social Media
- LMC-3813: Content Strategy: Social Media
Publications
Recent Publications
Journal Articles
- Designing Feminist Methodologies: Foregrounding Gender, Positionality, and Justice in Communication Design Research
In: SIGDOC '23: Proceedings of the 41st ACM International Conference on Design of Communication [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2023
- Building and sustaining undergraduate English internship programs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
In: Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice [Peer Reviewed]
Date: February 2023
- Everyone Is Always Aging: Glocalizing Digital Experiences by Considering the Oldest Cohort of Users
In: Technical Communication [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2022
Conferences
- Bridging the Classroom and Workplace: the High-Impact Practices of a Technical and Professional Communication Studio Course
In: 2024 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (ProComm) [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 2024
- Local users, global takeaways: Methodological considerations for audience advocacy in communication design research
In: SIGDOC '21: Proceedings of the 39th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2021
All Publications
Journal Articles
- Designing Feminist Methodologies: Foregrounding Gender, Positionality, and Justice in Communication Design Research
In: SIGDOC '23: Proceedings of the 41st ACM International Conference on Design of Communication [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2023
- Building and sustaining undergraduate English internship programs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
In: Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice [Peer Reviewed]
Date: February 2023
- Everyone Is Always Aging: Glocalizing Digital Experiences by Considering the Oldest Cohort of Users
In: Technical Communication [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2022
Conferences
- Bridging the Classroom and Workplace: the High-Impact Practices of a Technical and Professional Communication Studio Course
In: 2024 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (ProComm) [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 2024
- Local users, global takeaways: Methodological considerations for audience advocacy in communication design research
In: SIGDOC '21: Proceedings of the 39th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2021
- User experience design for older adults: experience architecture and methodology for users aged 60+
In: SIGDOC '19: Proceedings of the 37th ACM International Conference on the Design of Communication [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2019