In this interview, Kerry Smith, a fourth-year Writing and Rhetoric PhD student, discusses her dissertation, The Effect of Affect: Hostile Rhetoric in Abortion Discourses, which she will be defending in spring 2026.
We explore how she came to her area of study, how the dissertation is going, and the funding opportunities she successfully has applied for along the way. Additionally, we discuss how she’s developed opportunities for collaboration outside of the classroom and the (fun!) ways she has found to motivate herself throughout the PhD.
Congratulations on your upcoming defense! Can you talk a little bit about your dissertation?
My dissertation is looking at the effects [of] hostility with a rhetorical lens. I focus on legal and legislative documents about abortion, mostly, and outlining some of the different types of hostility, because it's not going to be the same in every context and in every usage. Rather than having emotion be the rhetorical appeal, or something that makes discourse or rhetoric irrational, [I argue that] hostility is the main vehicle for meaning-making. So, how are those emotions shaping how people respond, particularly to abortion discourses?
And...how it’s going for you?
It's going really well right now. I just turned in my full draft last week, so I'm sitting here doing the rote work of just citations where you're like, “Okay, does this exist? Is this a reference?”
It's been a really great process. I am very fortunate to have a committee and a chair that are incredibly supportive. My project definitely started out as something very different and ended up as something very different, but that's the process. It's been a really cool experience.
That actually leads really well into my next question, which is, what classes or research experiences led you to that topic and/or approach?
My first course was a rhetoric of health and medicine course with Dr. McKinley Green, who's my chair. We got to choose our own project as it related to rhetoric of health and medicine, and I chose a project about modern eugenics--how it was talked about in the past, how it comes up now, and exploring the eugenic logic, particularly in relation to the Dobbs majority decision. That paper, which I wrote in Summer 2022, has taken me all the way through [to now]. I have so many different iterations of it through different classes just because I would apply different lenses... If it was a historical rhetorics class, I would rework it with permission from the professor. Now, one of [those papers] is now a chapter in my dissertation. It’s cool to see that go all the way through.
I was also able to take a class outside of our program on social justice and access in higher education, and it was one of the most fascinating, transformative classes. It really pushed you out of your comfort zone and to have conversations I normally wouldn't have initiated. I did a final project in that class on the history of abortion, and, in English 689: Advanced Proposal Writing, I was able to work on projects to get funding for this project.
I would say, in some way, shape, or form, every class has kind of tapped into either some of the readings I've done for this dissertation, a chapter of the dissertation or a research method in some way, shape, or form, which is a cool feature of our program.
Can you talk a little bit about the funding that you got, what that process was like, and how that's been for you?
The Dissertation Completion Grant and the Doctoral Research Scholarship are both yearly or bi-yearly opportunities from the Graduate Division. Those opportunities are great. I initially used the Doctoral Research Scholarship as a project in English 689: Advanced Proposal Writing and then ended up submitting it and lucked out [and won].
The biggest impact the grant has made is on my research capacity. I love teaching, and I loved doing other jobs, whether it was in the writing center or doing small research things. Those are great working up to the dissertation, but, when it comes time for the dissertation, it's such a time-consuming process that being in a lot of different buckets can sometimes extend the dissertation by a few years or a semester. Because of the extra time from both of those grants, I've been able to have a lot more attention and capacity for the dissertation work. For me, in the biggest way, it made sure that I didn't add an extra year or two onto my PhD.
For example, usually December and January is a bit of mad rush for course prepping, right? I was able to use all of winter break just on dissertation [work] and then was able to go into the school year with a lot more time and energy. For me, I think that was the most beneficial part. I like doing different things, and I love teaching, but in that final stretch, it's nice to just be able to focus on the dissertation.
Outside of your dissertation, but potentially alongside it, what are some of your proudest or coolest accomplishments while here at Mason?
Last semester, a few of my undergraduate students said that they might like something like a walk/run club. I was teaching English 486, which is a senior apex course, and then English 380, which is Introduction to Writing and Rhetoric. I had some first-year students, and I had seniors about to graduate. Every Monday, a group of students and I would meet at 7:30 a.m. to go on a walk. We didn't just talk about class on the walks; it was a place a where a first-year student could ask, “Oh, what concentration do I pick?” or “Who did you talk to?” and a senior student could answer in real time. It created a cool in-class environment, too, which turned around really nicely. I really loved that. It was one of the more transformative experiences inside and outside the classroom.
Then, there's a number of conferences I've been able to go to and collaborate with other people, even outside of Mason. I really appreciate that. I'm meeting with someone that I met through a Mason event later today. I also found the MLA Institute that George Mason hosted in 2023 on open access and transparency in teaching and learning really useful over time. I applied for that because it was local, but some of the folks I've met at that institute were from other institutions, and I've kept up with them and worked on two or three publications with or presented at conferences with them. I really love getting to interact with other people outside of our institution and collaborate.
Kind of a big question, but what is next for you after graduation?
I'm at a very interesting point right now, because I'm on the market, and so everything is a little bit in flux. In the next few months, I'll have a better idea of where or what is next.
Finally, what's just something fun that you've done during your PhD program?
During my exams where you're reading just hundreds, hundreds of things, and you need a lot of time and a lot of energy, our local shelter was asking if anyone wanted to adopt this dog. I said yes, and it ruined my life for about two months. I was like, “Oh, I have so much time for my exams, this is great!” and then I was up every two hours at night for a few weeks potty training and all that fun stuff.
In the long term, it's been the best, and he sleeps and sits on my lap mostly when I'm writing and working, or if I'm on serious calls, he still tends to be there. Having a little thing that forces you to go outside and not be at your computer has been a lifesaver. Miserable at first, but it ended up good.
I did what maybe so many people fell victim to during COVID, which is making sourdough. Again, your hands are dirty, you can't be on your computer, you can't be on your phone. I started making sourdough a little bit too seriously. I have backed off a little bit, because I need a life, but I've enjoyed that.
February 23, 2026