Professor Sutton has been a reader as far back as he can remember.  As an avid reader, he enjoys entering the worlds that writers create with their words, and relishes in the opportunities he has to create them himself (whether those worlds are fictional or new ways of looking at reality through his own academic work).  He has wanted to be a teacher most of his life and has been lucky to follow his interests in his professional life.

Department/Division: School of English Studies

Degree information: M.S. in English and PhD in English (Composition and Rhetoric) from the University of South Carolina; B.A. in English from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Courses Taught: College Composition, Writing, Introduction to Writing Studies, History and Theory of Rhetoric in Writing, and Writing—Theory and Practice.

Primary Area of Expertise: Composition and Rhetoric, with a focus on how people learn to write.  He also has a strong interest in popular culture.

Advice for Students Preparing for Your Class:  “Be ready to work: These classes require a lot of reading and a lot of writing. That said, Professor Sutton is available to support his students and to develop strategies to avoid missteps. Take what you do seriously, even if the topic doesn’t seem serious. Students have completed wonderful projects that look at elements of popular culture (everything from popular music to comic books), things that many people don’t consider academic. Don’t be surprised if you hit roadblocks. There’s a lot of research that shows learning how to write is not a linear process. “