AbstractsCommunication

In our current age of media ubiquity and evolving technologies it’s no secret that people all overthe world are taking up new skill-sets and utilizing digital tools to tell stories and expressthemselves. Scholars in rhetoric and composition (Selfe, et al. 2012; Halbritter, 2013; Sheridan,Ridolfo & Michel, 2012) have been studying the ways digital media has allowed for rhetoricalopenings through the use of new media, and continue to debate how such composing affectswriters both inside and outside of academic spheres. This dissertation research looks at a specificdigital storytelling project, titled Hollow, to understand how residents in a small, Appalachiancommunity are using digital tools and spaces to speak back to stereotypes and effect change intheir community. These findings provide researchers and pedagogues in rhetoric andcomposition with a more thorough, contextualized portrait of how people are taking up andmanipulating digital tools and spaces to understand their identity as citizens of a particularcommunity and to better comprehend how they are using their new-found literacy practices toenact tangible changes in their community. Insights gained from such research can better informus about the potential of digital tools and spaces, and how we might foster similar applicationselsewhere in hopes to engage and understand the literate practices of those inside and outside ofour classrooms.