Christopher Scott Wyatt

I was born and raised in California's San Joaquin Valley, not far from Sequoia National Park. The path to higher education was a meandering path through education, small business ownership, corporate life, and back to education.

Creating and using digital type has remained a passion since the 1980s. I began working with type in high school, creating bitmap fonts for video games. This required learning how both printers and computer screens worked. As a member of the school newspaper staff, I configured and maintained the lab Apple LaserWriter, which was rigged to work with IBM PC XTs. Working at the local newspaper, I learned plate making, phototypesetting, and the complete production process.

Rhetoric of Visual Design and Typography

Semiotic analyses of designs, particularly typographical choices, and the meanings transmitted to audiences. Interested in the historical evolution of typefaces, their uses, and the symbolism embodied by typography. As a scholar-artist, I explore all appearances of text within cinema and video, both within the narrative and as framing devices.

Creative Writing and the Rhetoric of Narrative on Stage and Screen

Qualitative and quantitative analyses of stage and screen works to model effectiveness as defined by audiences, writers, directors, and producers. Interested in works that successfully promote social change through narrative techniques.

Educational Background

Ph.D. in Rhetoric, Scientific and Technical Communication; University of Minnesota

Specialty Areas: Design, Narrative, Writing Pedagogy, and Technology

Dissertation: Online Pedagogy: Designing Writing Courses for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

MFA in Film and Digital Technology; Chatham University, Pittsburgh

Research Topic: Being an Ally: Advocacy and Privilege in Narrative Cinema Arts Instruction

Thesis Project and Film: Movie Types: The Role of Typography in Cinema

MA in English Composition Theory and Rhetoric; California State University, Fresno

Specialty Areas: Film, New Media, and Digital Rhetoric

Thesis: The Blackboard Barrier: Student and Teacher Perceptions of Blackboard Online Learning

BA in Print Journalism, BA in English Education; University of Southern California