Felicita Arzu-Carmichael

Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the First-Year Writing Program
Office: 308 O'Dowd Hall
Phone: (248) 370-4982
Fax: (248) 370-2748
Email: carmichael@oakland.edu

Biography

Felicita Arzu-Carmichael (she/her/ella) is associate professor of writing and rhetoric at Oakland University, where she teaches courses in race, social justice, and professional writing, technical writing, and first-year writing. At Oakland, Felicita is associate director of the First-Year Writing Program, secretary of the Black Faculty Association, an executive member of the International Employee Resource Group and former director of the Embedded Writing Specialist program. She is an associate editor of College English, the flagship journal of the college section of NCTE. Felicita’s research and teaching center race, inclusion, and social justice, with intersections in professional and technical communication, online literacy, and cultural rhetorics. She is a recipient of the 2023-2024 CCCC Emergent Research Award for her research project “An Investigation of First-Year Composition Instruction in Two-Year Colleges in Belize, Central America.” Felicita has led many workshops and presented at regional and national conferences on topics including online writing instruction, Black feminist rhetorics, and inclusive pedagogy. Her work has appeared in Technical Communication Quarterly, Writing Program Administration, Composition Studies, and other journals and edited collections. Felicita is a native of Belize. In her home country, she serves as graphic designer of the National Garifuna Council (NGC), Orange Walk branch. The NGC is a non-governmental organization committed to preserving, strengthening and advancing the rights and culture of the Garinagu of Belize. The Garinagu (plural of Garifuna) are an Afro-Indigenous people of Central America, the Caribbean, and their global diaspora.

Education

Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Professional Communication. New Mexico State University.
M.A. in English Studies for Teachers. New Mexico State University.
B.A. English Education. University of Belize.

Courses

WRT 1020 Basic Writing
WRT 1050 Composition I
WRT 1060 Composition II
WRT 2060 Introduction to Writing Studies
WRT 2080 Introduction to Professional Writing
WRT 2088 Technical Writing
WRT 3010 Contemporary Issues in Writing and Rhetoric Studies
WRT 3084 Race, Social Justice, and Professional Writing
WRT 3900 Special Topics: Rhetoric(s) of Race and Ethnicity
WRT 4998 Capstone