Department of English
Office: Creighton Hall 129 C
Phone: 402.280.2178
Email: ROBERTDORNSIFE@creighton.edu
In 2019, Rob received IGGY Award(s). (“Affectionately named after Jesuit founder St. Ignatius, the IGGY Award is sponsored by the Office of Retention and is awarded to outstanding freshman mentors, counselors, advocates and role models as part of our Founder’s Week celebration.”)
Rob received Creighton University's highest student-selected teaching honor, the Robert F. Kennedy Student Award for Excellence in Teaching, presented at the Creighton University Spring Commencement ceremony. Rob won a Reloy Garcia Award for Excellence in Teaching in English, presented at a Department of English Honors and Awards Convocation. Creighton’s campus newspaper, The Creightonian, cited Rob (in a tie) as “Favorite Professor” in its “Best of CU” supplement. Rob was selected to address the freshman class on the topic of “Unity of Heart, Mind, and Soul” as part of a Welcome Week “Call to Community” program. He was invited to address the sophomores during their own “Welcome Back Week.” He was the Distinguished Speaker at the 4th Annual Distinguished Lecture Series at Texas A&M University, where he will addressed the English graduate students and the English department faculty on the topic of composition pedagogy. The title of his lecture was “Pedagogical Cowardice: Changing Courses and Their Tensions.” After this lecture, Texas A & M’s English Graduate Student Associated sponsored two, one-time, Awards for Bravery in Teaching. Rob received from the Creighton College of Arts and Sciences the College Award for Professional Excellence in Full Time Teaching. He was recognized for his “outstanding performance and lasting contribution” to the Freshman Leadership Program. He was honored with the First Annual Creighton University Greek Community Award for Outstanding Educator and Leader at Creighton University. Rob received awards at annual Greek Awards Banquets for his "commitment to students." (He has since served as judge for the Greek Awards. ) He has received awards such as Teacher of the Month from Pi Beta Phi sorority (2014). Rob was nominated by the students of the Midwest Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (MACURH) to represent Creighton University at its conference. He was the Guest Speaker at the Greek Awards Night. Rob has twice been the Featured Speaker at the Honors Program Retreat. He is a member of Alpha Sigma Nu and Omicron Delta Kappa. He has served as a consultant to the Writing Program at Loyola College in Baltimore.
(Rob has been nominated for and/or received other recognitions not listed here.)
Rob published a book chapter titled “Three Tips for Navigating Contentious Classroom Discussion” in
Active Learning: A Practical Guide for College Faculty. He also delivered a conference paper titled “’Putting a Bow On It’ Rock Guitar as a Never-Again-New-Space.” Earlier, he published a book chapter titled “Good Teaching as Vulnerable Teaching,” in the book Teaching Strategies for the College Classroom: A Collection of Faculty Articles, Magna Publications. This piece had previously appeared in The Teaching Professor. Rob published a book chapter titled “Is Digital The New Digital?: Pedagogical Frames of Reference and Their Implications in Theory and Practice” in (Copy) Write: Intellectual Property in the Composition Classroom, which is published by a collaboration between The WAC Clearinghouse and Parlor Press. Rob delivered “Owning Stewardship” at the CCCC in Atlanta. Rob has published articles in Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy; Computers and Composition (Online); the Journal of Advanced Composition; Computer Assisted Composition Journal; The Teaching Professor; and in NEJ, KE, MEJ, The National Teaching and Learning Forum, The Writing Lab Newsletter, and others. He edited a master anthology for Xanedu titled Composition and Technology in the 21st Century. He provided "Computer Connection" text for Harcourt's Rinehart Guide to Grammar and Usage, and contributed a chapter to the NCTE book Administrative Problem-Solving for Writing Programs and Writing Centers. Rob had an invited submission appear in the premiere issue of the journal Cyberfict. Rob has presented, and served as advisor to, multiple conference presentations, and advised muliple theses and Senior Projects.
