- 513-745-3634
- Hinkle 303
- ML HIN-123
Renea Frey
Faculty Director of Assessment
Writing Program Director
Associate Professor, English Department
Renea Frey received her BA and MA from Northern Kentucky University, where she studied English Literature, and her PhD from Miami University in Composition and Rhetoric. She serves as Director of Xavier’s Writing Program and teaches Rhetoric, Professional Writing, Writing as Social Action, Composition Tutoring, Rhetoric of Darwinism, Rhetoric and Art in Europe (Study Abroad), and Theories and Research in Writing.
Her scholarship broadly examines how rhetoric shapes voice, ethical engagement, belonging, and experience across interpersonal and institutional contexts. Across her work on parrhesia, empathy, writing pedagogy, student belonging, multimodal composing, AI literacy, and Jesuit rhetorical traditions, she is particularly interested in how rhetorical practices and environments shape conditions that foster or constrain the ability to speak, listen, learn, and participate fully. Her research includes parrhesia and the rhetorical strategies of people who speak out despite social or institutional risk; empathy as rhetorical and inventional practice; nineteenth-century women’s rhetoric and rhetorics of science; writing pedagogy and program administration; multimodal and digital composing; belonging and student retention; AI literacy in writing studies; and Jesuit rhetorical traditions and pedagogy.
A growing area of her research and teaching focuses on the Jesuit rhetorical tradition of eloquentia perfecta and the ways architecture, visual art, movement, sound, and sacred space function rhetorically. She brings this work into her study-abroad teaching in Europe, where students encounter historical rhetorical spaces directly and analyze how immersive environments communicate, persuade, and shape experience.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH MENTORING
Dr. Frey regularly mentors undergraduate researchers in writing studies, rhetoric, and Jesuit higher education. She co-mentored Eigel Undergraduate Research Fellows conducting a four-year study of community-engaged learning and subsequently co-authored two publications with undergraduate researchers. She has also mentored and co-authored research with students through Xavier’s undergraduate research programs and Writing Program-supported research on topics including writing program administration and retention initiatives, LGBTQ+ belonging and Catholic identity, Jesuit rhetorical practices and archival research, and AI literacy in writing studies.
- 513-745-3634
- Hinkle 303
- ML HIN-123
Renea Frey received her BA and MA from Northern Kentucky University, where she studied English Literature, and her PhD from Miami University in Composition and Rhetoric. She serves as Director of Xavier’s Writing Program and teaches Rhetoric, Professional Writing, Writing as Social Action, Composition Tutoring, Rhetoric of Darwinism, Rhetoric and Art in Europe (Study Abroad), and Theories and Research in Writing.
Her scholarship broadly examines how rhetoric shapes voice, ethical engagement, belonging, and experience across interpersonal and institutional contexts. Across her work on parrhesia, empathy, writing pedagogy, student belonging, multimodal composing, AI literacy, and Jesuit rhetorical traditions, she is particularly interested in how rhetorical practices and environments shape conditions that foster or constrain the ability to speak, listen, learn, and participate fully. Her research includes parrhesia and the rhetorical strategies of people who speak out despite social or institutional risk; empathy as rhetorical and inventional practice; nineteenth-century women’s rhetoric and rhetorics of science; writing pedagogy and program administration; multimodal and digital composing; belonging and student retention; AI literacy in writing studies; and Jesuit rhetorical traditions and pedagogy.
A growing area of her research and teaching focuses on the Jesuit rhetorical tradition of eloquentia perfecta and the ways architecture, visual art, movement, sound, and sacred space function rhetorically. She brings this work into her study-abroad teaching in Europe, where students encounter historical rhetorical spaces directly and analyze how immersive environments communicate, persuade, and shape experience.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH MENTORING
Dr. Frey regularly mentors undergraduate researchers in writing studies, rhetoric, and Jesuit higher education. She co-mentored Eigel Undergraduate Research Fellows conducting a four-year study of community-engaged learning and subsequently co-authored two publications with undergraduate researchers. She has also mentored and co-authored research with students through Xavier’s undergraduate research programs and Writing Program-supported research on topics including writing program administration and retention initiatives, LGBTQ+ belonging and Catholic identity, Jesuit rhetorical practices and archival research, and AI literacy in writing studies.
First Year at Xavier
2015
Personal Links
Expertise Classical rhetoric and rhetorical theory; parrhesia and speaking truth to power; empathy as rhetorical and inventional practice; nineteenth-century women’s rhetoric and rhetorics of science; composition and writing pedagogy; writing program administration; large-scale assessment and data interpretation; multimodal and digital composing; AI literacy in writing studies; student belonging and retention; Jesuit rhetorical tradition and pedagogy; eloquentia perfecta; rhetorical space and immersive environments.
- PhD, Miami University;MA, Northern Kentucky University;BA, Northern Kentucky University
- The Theory, History, and Practice of Parrhesia: The Rhetoric of Resistance. Palgrave Macmillan, 2024. Nancy Dasher Award Winner, 2025, College English Association of Ohio.
- “Empathy Exchange: Connecting to Audience through Narrative, Listening, and Regard for the Other.” In Empathy and the Other: Difference, Connection, and the Teaching of Writing, Utah State University Press, 2026.
- “An Expectation of Care: Flexible Emergence of Students’ Critical Consciousness in a Community-Based Writing Project.” Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, vol. 30, no. 1, 2026.
- “Grounded Tradition in a Flexible Present: Eloquentia Perfecta, Multimodal Composing, and Writing for the Greater Good.” Jesuit Rhetoric Across Space and Time: Local and Global Perspectives, Brill, 2026.
- “Toward a Justice-Oriented Professionalism: Lessons Learned from a Critical Service-Learning Project in a Professional Writing Course.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Jan. 2026.
- “Speaking Truth in Hostile Times: Strategies for Writing Program Administration under Restrictive Legislation.” Writing Program Administration Journal, vol. 49, no. 1, Fall 2025.
- Jesuit Rhetoric and Composition Network; Chair 2020—present
- College English Association of Ohio; Executive Council 2010—present
- Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities; Commission on Artificial Intelligence 2026–present