Jessica Restaino

Biography

I am Professor and Chair of the Department of Writing Studies. My research interests include feminist rhetorical studies and methods, especially ethnography; writing teacher preparation; pedagogical theories and the teaching of writing; feminist and queer theories; community literacy and activist writing/rhetorics; rhetorics of health and medicine. I am the author of two books and editor of an essay collection, and my writing has also appeared widely in professional journals and collections. My book,_Surrender: Feminist Rhetorics and Ethics in Love and Illness_, (Southern Illinois University Press) received the 2020 Conference on College Composition and Communication "Outstanding Book Award" and was also a runner up for the Rhetoric Society of America Book award. 

See below for links to book information and professional resources. 

Office hours, in addition to those posted below, are also available by appointment.

Education

• BA, Franklin and Marshall College
• PhD, Temple University

Research

My areas of specialization fall under the fields of composition and rhetoric, and include: writing teacher preparation, composition theory, community-based and activist writing, feminist rhetorics and research methodologies, and medical rhetorics.

Publications

Selected: 

Books

Restaino, Jessica. Surrender: Feminist Rhetoric and Ethics in Love and Illness. Southern Illinois University

Press, 2019.

Reviewed in College English; Rhetoric Society Quarterly; Community Literacy Journal; Peitho: Journal of

the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition; The Journal of the Assembly

for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Restaino, Jessica. First Semester: Graduate Students, Teaching Writing, and the Challenge of Middle Ground.

Southern Illinois University Press / CCCC (“Studies in Writing and Rhetoric” series), 2012.

Reviewed in Rhetoric Review; College Composition and Communication; Enculturation: A Journal of

Rhetoric, Writing, and Culture; Composition Studies; Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society

Restaino, Jessica; Cella, Laurie, (Eds). Unsustainable: Re-imagining Community Literacy, Service-Learning,

Public Writing, and the University, Lexington Books, 2012.

Reviewed in Community Literacy Journal

Book Chapters

Restaino, Jessica; Regan, Jacqueline; Lakshman, Anita. “Text Power Telling: Writing Through Sexual

Trauma,” in Goldblatt, E., Alexander, J. eds., Lit to Lit: Literature and Literacy in Conversation.

Utah State University Press, 2026. In press.

Restaino, Jessica; Rogers Collins, Roslyn. “‘Staying Whole’: A Conversation with Roslyn Rogers

Collins, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey” in Harper,

K.; Larson, S; Novotny, M., Eds., Doing Reproductive Justice: Stories of Failure, Resilience, and Hope

from the Ground. Ohio State University Press, 2026. In press.

Restaino, Jessica. “Losses, Leavings, and Remakings: An Afterword” in Micciche, L. et al (eds).

Revising Moves: Sharing and Narrating Revision in Action, Utah State University Press, 2025.

Restaino, Jessica and Timothy Oleksiak. “Desiring Consent: A Reflexive Methodology for Feminist

Research” in Schell, E. et al (eds), Rhetorica Rising: Feminist Rhetorical Methods for Social Change,

University of South Carolina Press, 2025. 115-126.

Restaino, Jessica. “Breaking My Own Text: Surrendering to Writing that Works” in Rhodes et al

(eds), The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Feminist Rhetoric, Routledge, 2025.

Restaino, Jessica. “Showing Up.” Alone with Each Other: Literacy and Literature Intertwined, by Eli

Goldblatt, Peter Lang, 2024.

Brooks, Ron; Dadas, Caroline; Restaino, Jessica; Field, Laura. “Embracing Failure: A Newly

Independent Department’s Attempts to Write Its Own Script.” Pivotal Strategies: Claiming

Writing Studies as a Discipline. Eds. Lynn C. Lewis. Utah State University Press, 2024. 76-101.

Restaino, Jessica. “Staying with the Middle,” in Standing at the Threshold: Working Through Liminality

in the Composition and Rhetoric TAship. Eds., McCauley, W. et al. Utah State University Press,

2021. 178-181.Goldblatt, Eli; Restaino, Jessica; Arrington, Paige. “Writing Wisdom: A Meditative Quilt” in Talking

Back: Senior Scholars and Their Colleagues Deliberate the Past, Present, and Future of Writing Studies.

Eds., Norbert Elliot and Alice Horning. Colorado State University Press, 2020. 158-172.

Articles

Restaino, Jessica; Campbell-Oparaji, D. “Jessica Restaino Interviews Dr. Damali Campbell-Oparaji,

‘A

Collective Conversation Project: Honoring the Stories of Black Women Physicians.’” Rhetoric

of Health and Medicine 6:3 (2023). (includes media)

Restaino, Jessica. “Deep Doldrums: On Loving (and Learning from) Lisa Ede,” Peitho: Journal of

the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition 24:24, 2021.

Restaino, Jessica; Ede, Lisa. “Method, Manifesto, Argument: An Intergenerational Response,”

Intraspection Journal, Fall 2019.

Restaino, Jessica; Cella, L. Goldblatt, E. Mathieu, P; Parks, S; Johnson, K; Feigenbaum, P. “The

Powerful Potential of Relationships and Community Writing,” Community Literacy Journal,

11:1 (Spring) 2016.

Restaino, Jessica. “Surrender as Method: Writing, Research, Rhetoric, Love.” Peitho: Journal of the

Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition 18:1 (2015).

Restaino, Jessica. “Writing Together: An Arendtian Framework for Collaboration. Composition Forum

40 (Fall 2014).

Restaino, Jessica; Cella, Laurie. “Lean On: Collaboration and Struggle in Writing and Editing.”

Literacy in Composition Studies 2.2 (November 2014).

Restaino, Jessica. “Laboring Bodies and Writing Work: The Pregnant First-Year Writing Instructor.”

Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society 2:2 (May 2012).

Restaino, Jessica; Nagle, Eileen. “‘Telephone Writing’ and the Collaborative Exploration of Poetry

Across Levels.” Academic Exchange Quarterly 13:1 (Spring 2009).

Restaino, Jessica; Long, Elenore. “Reader Response: A Dialogue Between Jessica Restaino and

Elenore Long.” Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric 8:1 (2008).

Restaino, Jessica. “Motherhoods: Feminist Solidarity and Fear Rhetoric.” Thirdspace: A Journal of

Feminist Theory and Culture (Summer 2008).

Restaino, Jessica. “Absent Voices: Rethinking ‘Writing Women Safe.’” Reflections: A Journal of Writing,

Service-Learning, and Community Literacy (Fall 2008).

Restaino, Jessica. “Self-Assessment in the Methods Class.” Academic Exchange Quarterly 10:2 (Summer

2006): 38-43.

Restaino, Jessica. “Doing the Dance: Montaigne, Studentessa, and Performance.” Schuyllkill 5:1

(Spring 2002).

Opinion Pieces, Media, Reviews, Poetry

Interviewed in Beckerman, Jim. “It’s Time to Think Outside the Box About Clichés and Take Them

to the Next Level.” The Bergen Record July 16, 2025.Co-hosted with Fishman, Jenn. “Reading Lisa Ede: A Memorial Webinar,” sponsored by the

Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition. April 6, 2022.

“Open Book/Open Mind: Liza Mundy in Conversation with Jessica Restaino,” Montclair Public

Library, May 29, 2018.

“A World Erased: Noah Lederman in Conversation with Professor Jessica Restaino,” Museum of

Jewish Heritage, February 1, 2017.

“SWR Authors Read a Favorite Passage: Jessica Restaino, First Semester: Graduate Students, Teaching

Writing, and the Challenge of Middle Ground. Soundcloud, “SWR Book Series,” Conference on

College Composition and Communication, 2018.

“Interview with Director of First-Year Writing: Dr. Jessica Restaino.” The Write Mode Podcast 2:6

(2018).

Restaino, Jessica. “Surrendering into Method: The Reverse Interview.” Action Hour Workshop,

Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition, 2016.

Interviewed in Chawla, Monica. “Surrendering as Method: Montclair Professor Writes About Losing

Her Friend to Cancer.” The UD Review October 19, 2014.

Restaino, Jessica. “Opinion: On Mothers, Daughters, and Best Friends.” The Record May 8, 2011.

Restaino, Jessica. “Review of Ayers, William and Ryan Alexander-Tanner. To Teach: The Journey, In

Comics. New York: Teachers College Press, 2010. 128 pp.” Composition Forum 23 (Spring

2011).

Restaino, Jessica. “Drained.” Unbuttoned: Women Open Up About the Pleasures, Pains, and Politics of

Breastfeeding. Eds., Connolly, M; Sullivan, D. Harvard Common Press, 2009.

Restaino, Jessica. “Working Hands.” Literary Mama: A Magazine for the Maternally Inclined (August

2008).

Restaino, Jessica. “Deuce.” Arabesques Review 3:2 (July 2007).

Restaino, Jessica. “Syllabi Swap: ‘Writing Women Safe.’” Philadelphia Education Network for

Neighborhood Development, 2001.