Jennifer Eidum
Associate Professor of English
Department: English
Email: jeidum@elon.edu
Phone number: (336) 278-6481
Professional Expertise
Brief Biography
Jennifer E. Eidum received her PhD in English Language and Rhetoric from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2015 and joined Elon’s faculty the same year. Her teaching and research focus on engaged learning practices, such as reflection and metacognition, community-based learning, and study abroad. You can find her teaching courses on applied linguistics (e.g. teaching English to speakers of other langauges (TESOL), sociolinguistics), writing studies (e.g. English 1100, writing civic action), and core curriculum courses such as her capstone on Global Hip Hop.
At Elon, Jennifer served for six years as the Faculty Director of Global Neighborhood, living with her family alongside Elon undergraduates. Her experiences collaboratively leading the Global Neighborhood led to her co-edited book, The Faculty Factor: Developing Faculty Engagement with Living-Learning Communities (2023).
Jennifer currently serves as the director of Elon's Peace Corps Prep program. Jennifer grew up in Montana and has lived in several cities abroad, including Aberystwyth, Wales, UK, Pervomais'k, Ukraine (while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer), and Budapest, Hungary.
News & Notes
Education
Ph.D. English Language and Rhetoric, University of Washington, Seattle
M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, University of Washington, Seattle
B.A. Politics & Government, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington
Courses Taught
ENG 1100 - Writing: Argument and Inquiry
ENG 2040 - Language In Society
ENG 3060 - TESOL Theory & Practice
COR 1100 - The Global Experience
COR 3110 - Globalization of Hip-Hop
PWR 3230 - Writing Civic Action
Leadership Positions
Director of Elon's Peace Corps Prep Program, 2018 - Present.
Faculty Director of Global Neighborhood, 2016 - 2022
Service Learning Faculty Scholar, 2016-2017
Grants Awarded
Spring 2025, Teaching Grant, Faculty of Education, Masaryk University, Czech Republic [30,000 Czech Koruna ($1,300) grant]
Spring 2024. English Language Specialist, U.S. Department of State, “Sustaining Excellence: Taking care of teachers, communities, and students - a series with the American Center Moscow.”
Fall 2023. English Language Specialist, U.S. Department of State, “Resilient English Teachers, Resilient Russian Schools.”
Summer 2019, Teaching & Learning Grant, “Challenging Privileged Practices in the College Writing Program,” Center for Advancement of Teaching & Learning, Elon University [$3,500 grant].
Spring 2019, Intellectual Climate Programming Grant with Courtney Kobos, Elon University [$750].
Spring 2019, Phi Beta Kappa Fund for Excellence Grant, “Looking Beyond the Classroom: Responding to Educator Needs in Linguistically Diverse Schools,” Elon University [$1,000].
2018-2019, Council of Writing Program Administrators General Research Award for the project “Reflective Writing and Programmatic Identity: A Cross-Institutional Study of First Year Students’ Reflections" [$1000 grant].
2018-2019, Diversity and Inclusion Grant, “Interrogating Privileged Practices in the College Writing Program,” Center for Advancement of Teaching & Learning, Elon University [$1,000 stipend $500 grant].
Summer 2018, Faculty Research & Development Summer Fellowship with Financial Assistance, Elon University.
Fall 2017, Faculty Research & Development Reassigned-Time Fellowship, Elon University.
Fall 2017, Teaching and Learning Grant, Center for Advancement of Teaching & Learning, Elon University, for the project "Integrating Multilingual Students Across First-Year Writing: Supporting Faculty Development in Cross-Cultural Writing Courses" [$4,470].
2015-2016, Faculty Research Grant, Center for Research on Global Engagement, Elon University [$920].
2015, Huckabay Teaching Fellowship, University of Washington.
2014, Phyllis F. and Donald E. Dorset Graduate Fellowship, University of Washington.
Publications
Eidum, Jennifer E. (2025). Review of Perspectives on Good Writing in Applied Linguistics and TESOL, Journal of Response to Writing, 11 (1).
Lindenman, Heather, Margaret Chapman, Jennifer E. Eidum, Lina Kuhn, Li Li. (Spring 2024). Beyond the “Improvement Imperative”: Writing to Change Oneself and the World in First-Year Composition. Composition Studies, 52(1), pp. 47-68.
Clinnin, Kaitlin, Jennifer E. Eidum, Morgan Hanson, and Mariya Tseptsura. (2023). Ready for a Career and a Family: Experiencing (In)fertility as an Early Career WPA. In Joe Janagelo and Mark Blaauw-Hara (eds), Understanding WPA Readiness and Renewal. Peter Lang International Publishers, Studies in Composition and Rhetoric Series, Vol 22.
Eidum, Jennifer E. (Spring 2023). Peace Corps Networks: Activating Volunteers for a Lifetime. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 24(1), pp. 114-122. https://doi.org/10.1353/gia.2023.a897709
Eidum, Jennifer E. and Lara Lomicka (January 2023). The Faculty Factor: Developing Faculty Engagement with Living Learning Communities. Under contract at Stylus Publishing, Sterling, VA.
Eidum, Jennifer E. (Summer 2022). Thank You for Asking: Pregnancy, Isolation, and Hope During a Global Pandemic. The Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics, 6(2). This special issue on carework and writing during COVID was awarded the Computers & Writing 2023 Michelle Kendrick Award for Outstanding Digital Production/Scholarship.
Eidum, Jennifer E. (Fall/Winter 2021-2022). Embracing Disruption: A Framework for Trauma-informed Reflective Pedagogy. Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric, 21(1).
Eidum, Jennifer E., Lara Lomicka, Warren Chiang, Ghada Endick, and Jill Stratton. (2020). Thriving in Residential Learning Communities. Learning Communities Research and Practice (8).
Lomicka, Lara and Jennifer Eidum. (2019, November-December). Pathways to Thriving: First-Generation Students and Living and Learning Communities. Talking Stick Magazine.
Eidum Zinchuk, Jennifer. (Fall 2017). Getting Writing Ready at the University of Washington: Developing Metacognition and Confidence at a Time of Academic Transition. Composition Forum.
Eidum Zinchuk, Jennifer. (08 February 2016). Activating Learning: Teaching for Metacognition, Literacy & NCTE: The Official Blog of the National Council of Teachers of English.
Eidum Zinchuk, Jennifer. (12 December 2014 ). Challenging Languages; Challenging Form: Student Perspectives on Translingual Composing, Sweetland Digital Rhetoric Collaborative.
Presentations
“Boosting engagement in first year LLCs through equity and inclusion,” Conference on The First-Year Experience, Orlando, Florida, forthcoming February 12-15, 2022 (with L. Lomicka and R. Sriram).
“Thriving in Residence: A Call for Equitable and Engaging Communities,” Plenary talk with Lara Lomicka at the Residential College Symposium, hosted by University of North Carolina Greensboro and Elon University, November 12-13, 2021.
“Course Design for Teaching Multilingual Students,” English Department faculty workshop, University of North Carolina at Asheville, November 10, 2021.
“Language for Inclusion and Opportunity in Higher Ed,” University of North Carolina at Asheville, October 6, 2021.
“Writing to Change Oneself and the World: Adapting First-Year Writing during Covid-19,” Conference on College Composition and Communication (online), April 7-10, 2021 (with H. Lindenman, L. Li, and M. Chapman, and L. Kuhn).
“Language, Translingualism, Multilingualism: Reimagining the University for a Global Future,” Keynote workshop for the Carolinas Writing Program Administrators’ Meeting in the Middle conference, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, February 14, 2020.
“The Faculty Factor: What faculty in RLCs need to know,” Residential College Symposium, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, forthcoming November 7-9, 2019 (with L. Lomicka).
“Thriving in Residential Learning Communities: an investigation of student characteristics and RLC types,” the Conference on Residential Learning Communities as a High Impact Practice, Elon University, Elon, North Carolina, June 16-17, 2019 (with L. Lomicka, W. Chiang, G. Endick, and J. Stratton).
“Looking Beyond the Classroom: Responding to Educator Needs in Linguistically Diverse Schools,” National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, November 15-18, 2018 (with C. Kobos).
“Why Grade? Rethinking Grades and Grading,” Elon University Teaching and Learning Conference, Elon, North Carolina, August 16, 2018 (with M. Chapman and C. Morehead).
“Developing First Year Student Leaders within a Residential Campus,” Residential College Symposium. Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri, November 2-4 2017 (with K Price and S Beckas).
“‘I guess I’m the ESL Person’: Politics of institutional identity and change-making for L2 specialists at smaller institutions,” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Portland, Oregon, March 15-18.
"Memories in Motion: Tracing Pedagogical Memories in Conversations about Writing." The Thomas R. Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition. Louisville, Kentucky. October 20-22, 2016.
“A Real-Time Conversation with Campus Partners: What We Learned from Collaborating on Our Residential Campus Initiative,” Conference of Writing Program Administrators, Raleigh, North Carolina. July 14-17, 2016 (with P. Patch, J. Coker, G. Shemkovitz, and J. Warman).
“Cognitive Approaches to Difference: Implications for WAC of Current Neuroscience Research,” International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. June 23-25, 2016 (with I Clark, W Macauley, Jr., and D Roen).
“Metacognition Recognition, or ‘I know it when I see it’,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Houston, Texas. April 6-9, 2016 (with J LeMesurier, J Fiscus, A Bawarshi, and M Reiff).
"Institutional Ethnography, Writing Program Research, Sustainability," Conference of Writing Program Administrators. Boise, Idaho, July 16-19, 2015 (with M LaFrance, M Miley, and K O’Meara).
“Innovating Global Classrooms: Transdisciplinary Approaches for Supporting Multilingual Student Success,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Tampa, Florida. March 18-21, 2015 (with A Bawarshi, B Chamcharatsri, N Fahim, K O'Meara, and S Snyder).
“Metacognitive Transformation: Enacting Pedagogical Memory at Times of Academic and Linguistic Transition,” The Symposium on Second Language Writing. Tempe, Arizona. November 13-15, 2014.
“Teaching through Transition: Cultivating Pedagogical Responsivity in Third Spaces,” The Thomas R. Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition. Louisville, Kentucky, October 16-18, 2014.
Professional Development
Advancing Equity Summer Institute, Elon University, June 2023.
Participant in the Decolonizing our Pedagogies Community of Practice, Center for Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL), Spring 2023.
Participant in Race & Racism 101 Workshop, Seeds of Change Consulting, Online. November 1, 2022.
Participant in Phase 1 Racial Equity Workshop, Racial Equity Institute, Burlington, North Carolina, Fall 2019.