Corie Mesa
Rhetoric and Writing Studies, PhD
Graduating in 2029
Corie Mesa, PhD ’29, began her academic career in California, obtaining both a BA in English Subject Matter and Literature and an MA in Rhetoric and Composition from California State University, Northridge. After lecturing for five years there, she headed east to pursue a PhD in Rhetoric and Writing Studies at Northeastern, along with a Graduate Certificate in Digital Humanities.
Corie came to Northeastern because of the renowned faculty members in her field, like Professors Ellen Cushman and Neal Lerner.
She took Decolonial Theory & Method with Professor Ellen Cushman and learned about stigmatized languages in classrooms.
Corie’s capstone project on English-only legislation in classrooms for the Digital Humanities Certificate was accepted to the Rhetoric Society of America Conference in May 2026.
In June 2025, Corie became the assistant director of The Writing Center at Northeastern. Here, she witnesses firsthand how the Northeastern community is dealing with language in the age of technology.
She works alongside Professor Chris Gallagher at 826 Boston, a nonprofit writing and tutoring organization. She assists students with their college applications and essays.
Corie recently presented at the inaugural AI and Liberal Arts Symposium in Connecticut, where she shared her work on AI’s impact on student literacy.
After graduating, Corie plans on returning to California to teach at a Cal-State university.
