Assistant Professor and Assistant Writing Program Admin, Department of English and Comparative LiteratureJoining San José State’s University in fall, 2015, Ryan Skinnell is a rhetoric and composition specialist and a former professor at the University of North Texas. During the course of his studies at UC Santa Barbara, CSU Northridge, and Arizona State University, Skinnell experienced a wide range of environments that helped shape his teaching philosophies and reinforced his love of rhetoric and composition. By joining the San José State faculty, Skinnell hopes to become a part of the energy and momentum that is ever-present on San José State’s campus and transmit his enthusiasm to his students, ultimately contributing to his students’ achievements.
“What I appreciate most about teaching is that it’s really hard,” Skinnell remarked. “Every time I teach a class — any class — I expect to learn a lot from my students, and I’ve never been disappointed. I love learning, and I always learn a lot from my students about what I’m teaching.
”As a rhetoric and composition specialist, Skinnell utilizes the complex relationships that exist between writing, argumentation, persuasion, language, and power in order to teach all kinds of students to be better users of language. He enjoys this aspect of his specialization the most and is proud to count himself among those who contribute to the understanding of language’s intricacies and nuances.
When Skinnell is not teaching, he’s spending time with his spouse and three young daughters. They frequent museums, explore new areas, and eat new foods as often as they can. Now that they are located in the Bay Area, he is excited to add treks to the numerous California beaches and trips to Yosemite to his list of family activities.
