Dustin R. Iler

Senior Lecturer in College Writing
PhD, Washington University in St. Louis
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    • College Writing Program
    • MSC 1096-153-122
    • Washington University
    • 1 Brookings Drive
    • St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
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    Dustin R. Iler holds a Ph.D. in English and American literature from Washington University in St. Louis (2013), where he is a lecturer for the College Writing Program. He teaches “Technology & Selfhood,” an introductory writing course, a writing workshop on engaging research, and “Conspiracy Theories and Online Hoaxes: The Rhetoric of Disinformation.” He also offers upper-division writing courses such as “Argumentation” and “Exposition” for the English Department, as well as literature, writing, and public speaking courses for University College, such as “The American Novel On the Road.”

    For the College of Arts & Sciences High School Summer Academy he has designed the course on research, and for previous summer programs has taught “Banned Books” and “Funny Pages: From Comics to Graphic Novels.”

    In the time between teaching, reading, and writing, he enjoys running players through the hazards and hilarities of Dungeons & Dragons, contemplating the rigors of kayfabe in professional wrestling and politics, and both contemplating and savoring the moments when life becomes weirder than fiction.

    Featured Courses

    College Writing: Technology & Selfhood

    In writing about technology we will consider perspectives across the university curriculum in order to better comprehend our relationship with our tools and to scrutinize the dynamic interaction, communication, and interdependence of different kinds of tools for various means of communication and representation. We will strive to think critically about ourselves as part of larger communities and systems by attending closely to the ways we communicate with and about others through technologies such as writing, film, and social media.

    Conspiracy Theories and Online Hoaxes: The Rhetoric of Disinformation

    Why do people believe in conspiracies, and what can we do to quell disinformation? Working with case studies such as QAnon, climate change denial, the anti-vaccination movement, and the Flat Earth Society, this course will explore the rhetoric that convinces people to believe in disinformation and the networks that contribute to its proliferation, while also studying ways to combat disinformation, from methods for debunking conspiracy theories and hoaxes to the actions that journalists, educators, and others can take to resist the spread of disinformation.

      Writing Workshop

      This workshop focuses on engaging research, with all of the multiple meanings implied in the phrase's wordplay: engaging as interesting and interested; as active, responsive to and engaged with others. Where possible, we will focus on practical, applied work with sources, which should provide a good foundation for advanced research and writing in your discipline, and we'll give some thought to the different methods by which different audiences and scholarly disciplines select, analyze, evaluate, incorporate, and document the works of others.

        Argumentation

        This advanced composition course examines the strategies of argumentation, exploring such elements of argument as the enthymeme, the three appeals, claim types, and fallacies.

        Exposition

        This advanced composition course considers style in relationship to audience and purpose, asking the writer to engage more consciously with writing conventions, and to explore strategies appropriate to various writing situations, from the more experimental and performative to the more formal and scholarly.

        in the news:

        Iler named 2015 Outstanding Writing 1 Instructor

        Iler named 2015 Outstanding Writing 1 Instructor

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