Timothy Ballingall

Instructional Assistant Professor
Department of Liberal Studies

Timothy Ballingall

"Wherever there is persuasion, there is rhetoric. And wherever there is 'meaning,' there is 'persuasion.'"

– Kenneth Burke

(409) 740-4040tballingall@tamug.edu

Learn more about Timothy Ballingall

Get To Know Timothy Ballingall

What in your life drew you to your current field of study?

When I was a teenager, I played guitar in a heavy-metal band and I was always writing original songs, metal or otherwise. I also started getting really into film scores, video editing, photography, film in general, and literature. I started reading novels, short stories, and poetry. I learned to play keyboard (at least well enough to make multitrack recordings). I even tried my hand at making short films with my friends and writing a few screenplays. What united all these interests was a fascination with the ways meaning is shared through language and media. In undergrad, I took an Advanced Composition course that, by way of semiotics, introduced me to this thing called rhetoric. Since then, I’ve retained an interest in what I’d now call multimodality, but much of my graduate and current research has taken a broader view of rhetorical history, gender, and genre.

What do you hope your students gain from studying or working with you?

Like many English teachers, I hope my students learn to appreciate that how they write something is just as important as what they write. After working with me, I hope students remember not a specific topic I lectured about but rather what they made, composed, and discovered for themselves.

What are you passionate about in your personal life?

I love spending time with my beautiful family. I enjoy keeping up with the news, various podcasts, and good TV/movies.

Education

Ph.D., Rhetoric and Composition, Texas Christian University (2021)
M.A., English, West Chester University (2013)
B.A., English/Professional Writing, Kutztown University (2011)

Licenses and Certificates:

Graduate Certificate, Women & Gender Studies, Texas Christian University (2021)

Courses Taught

ENGL 210: Technical and Professional Writing 

Publications

“Are We Overlooking (and Underselling) the Writing Capstone Course?” With Brad Lucas. 
Composition Studies, Forthcoming.

“Motherhood, Time, and Wendy Davis’s Ethos.” Peitho, vol. 20, no. 1, 2017, pp. 100-21.

Presentations

“Gendering the Bridge of Understanding: Mary Oyama's Advice Column and the Nisei Press.” 
American Journalism Historians Association, Dallas, TX. October 3-5, 2019.

“How the Writing Major Ends: The Culminating Capstone Course.” Conference of College Teachers of English, Stephenville, TX. March 1-3, 2018.

“Maternal Epideictic Rhetoric in a Mid-Twentieth-Century Advice Column.” Feminisms and Rhetorics, Dayton, OH. Oct. 4-7, 2017. 

Grants and Fellowships

Madeleine L’Engle Travel Research Fellowship, Smith College Special Collections (2019): $1,000

Doctoral Research & Professional Development Grant, TCU English Department Graduate Program Committee (2018): $1,000 

Awards & Recognition

Jean Palmegiano Award for Outstanding International/Transnational Journalism Research, American Journalism Historians Association Convention, Dallas, TX (Oct. 3-5, 2019)

Tate Prize in Composition Studies, TCU English Department (2017)

Contact Info

Timothy Ballingall
Instructional Assistant Professor
Department of Liberal Studies


tballingall@tamug.edu
Phone: (409) 740-4040

Classroom Lab Building (CLB), Office 126


CV