Beth Connors-Manke’s writing and thinking focuses on advocacy and the public sphere, particularly the way rhetors in disadvantaged positions engage in public discourse. In her work, she also considers the ways public sphere issues manifest in physical spaces. Under this broad framework, she has studied the rhetoric of witness in prison writing, women’s presence on urban streets, human trafficking, and the articulation of alternative economies. As a compositionist, she also studies and teaches genre, style, editing, and DIY publishing. From 2009-2013, she was the features editor of the Lexington newspaper North of Center, an experiment in grassroots community writing and activism. She is also co-founder and  managing editor of The Whole Horse Project.

Drawn to combine her intellectual work with community engagement, Professor Connors-Manke has worked at a domestic violence shelter for women and children in Cleveland, served Lexington's Latino community as a volunteer ESL teacher, and participated in grassroots activism for affordable housing.

Professor Connors-Manke is currently writing an essay series on education, which can be found on The Whole Horse Project. The first in the series, “The Beauty of Education,” addresses curriculum and experiential education. In light of current discussions about racial justice, in her second essay she probes what racial justice means for a teacher in “Teaching Amid Terror: A Meditation on Whiteness.”

Listen to her faculty podcast here.