Maj. Mary Stewart Atwell came to VMI in 2015. Previously, she taught at Cal Poly State University and Missouri State University. She received her B.A. from Hollins University, her M.A. from the University of Virginia, and her M.F.A. and Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. Maj. Atwell teaches courses in British literature and creative writing, specializing in fiction. She serves as the Institute Pre-Law Advisor and the Alumni Network Coordinator in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies.

Maj. Atwell is the author of the novel Wild Girls (Scribner). Her short fiction has appeared in Epoch and Alaska Quarterly Review, among other journals, and in the anthologies Best New American Voices and Best American Mystery Stories. Her articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, and The Writer's Chronicle. Her work is forthcoming in the anthology Paperback Writer: Literary Advice into the Twenty-First Century (Palgrave).

Assistant Professor
English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies

Major Steven Knepper joined the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies in 2014.  He previously taught at the University of Virginia, the Miller School of Albemarle, and Erskine College.  He also held an associate fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.  He earned a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature from UVA in 2012.  

At VMI, Major Knepper has taught Writing and Rhetoric, American Literary Traditions, Ways of Reading, Philosophy, and Literature, One Text: Moby-Dick, and period courses on Romanticism and Modernism.  He has also advised a number of capstone essays and Honors theses. Major Knepper received VMI’s Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award in 2016. 

Major Knepper studied American literature in graduate school, and he has recently published several essays and reviews on Robert Frost.  He also writes narrative poetry in the tradition of Frost.  His poems have appeared in The American Journal of Poetry, The Rappahannock Review, Pembroke Magazine, The James Dickey Review, SLANT, and other journals. Additional research interests include contemporary poetry, tragedy, intellectual and literary history, literary form, aesthetics, and religion.   

Major Knepper first visited Lexington in 2005, when VMI hosted the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.  He was impressed by the discipline, integrity, and intelligence of cadets then, and he considers it an honor to teach them now. 

Outside of the classroom, Major Knepper enjoys gardening, hiking, and spending time with his family.  

Selected Recent Essays:

“Building with Birch: A Note on ‘Home Burial.’”  The Robert Frost Review, no. 27, 2018, pp. 95-102.

Co-written with James Tuten, “Easy Riders and Hard Roads in the Early Recorded Blues.”  The Road in American Music. Edited by Gordon Slethaug. New York: Bloomsbury, 2017, pp.  39-55.

“Bridging Literary Studies and Rhetoric with Form.”  The CEA Critic, vol. 79, no. 3, 2017, pp. 304-308.

“George Steiner on Original Sin, Hope, and Tragedy,” TELOS, no. 178, 2017, pp. 169-189.

“The Counselor and Tragic Recognition.” The Cormac McCarthy Journal, vol. 14, no. 1, 2016, pp. 37-54.

“Political Foundations in ‘Mending Wall.’” The Robert Frost Review, no. 23/24, 2014, pp. 54-69.

Associate Professor
English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies

Dr. Reshef Agam-Segal completed his doctorate in philosophy at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Born and raised in Israel, he moved to the United States in 2008. He taught philosophy at Auburn University (AL) before joining VMI in 2012. Dr. Agam-Segal specializes in the philosophy of Wittgenstein, and in moral philosophy, and he has special interests in the logic of figurative language, as well as the relations between philosophy and literature. He has published papers in several professional international journals, including Inquiry, Philosophy, Metaphilosophy, the Journal of Philosophical Research, and the Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy. He is the co-editor of Wittgenstein’s Moral Thought (Routledge, 2017).

Associate Professor

English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies

An Assistant Professor of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies, Maj. Michelle Iten teaches courses in civic discourse, the history, and theory of rhetoric, language and style, and writing for military officers. She earned her B.A. in English / Writing and M.A. in English / Rhetoric from St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, where she served as assistant director of the writing center and later as a full-time instructor teaching courses in research writing, creative nonfiction, business writing, and rhetorical theory. After career experience in corporate communications, public relations, and magazine publishing, she earned her Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition from Texas Christian University, where she held multiple research and teaching fellowships.  

Major Iten specializes in rhetorical democracy and in the theory and teaching of written rhetorical argument. Her current research projects include the rhetorical nature of contemplative practices in democracy, democracy and the self, democratic time, and links between Kenneth Burke and John Dewey. Other research and teaching interests include propaganda theory and criticism, rhetorical approaches to political virtues, and emotional intelligence in everyday democratic interactions. An active member of the Rhetoric Society of Europe and the Rhetoric Society of America, she has published on social class in argument pedagogy, the rhetorical theorization of democracy, and contemplative practices as part of civic discourse pedagogy.

Major Iten is particularly committed to undergraduate education in rhetoric and advancing student writers’ abilities to bring multiple bits of knowledge to their academic and political lives.

Assistant Professor
English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies

Publications, Presentations, & Cadet Research Projects

• “The First Discipline is Class: Aiming at Inclusion in Argument across the Curriculum,” The Writing across the Curriculum Journal, 2017
• “Inventing in Our Own House: Theorizing Democracy from the Standpoint of Rhetoric,” Re-inventing Rhetoric Scholarship, Parlor Press, 2019
• “Thinking with ‘Energy’: How Keyword as Method Illuminates Rhetorical Democracy,” Carolina Rhetoric Conference 2019
• “Becoming Symbol-wise in Democratic Relations: The Whole Self as Rhetorical Action,” Rhetoric Society of Europe Conference 2019
• English Honors Advisor for “A Theory of Rhetorical Appeals to Psychological Certainty: Audience, Motive, Strategies” by Cadet Emma C. Quirk, 2018
• English Honors Advisor for “Fascism as Faith: Nationalist Spain and the Rhetoric of Francisco Franco,” by Cadet Andrew M. Hunt, 2019

An introduction to the early history of rhetoric, from the ancient Greeks to the Renaissance. Emphasis is placed on defining rhetoric and the ways in which ethical, religious, political, economic, and cultural beliefs and values shape its traditions, terms, and realms of influence. Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.

A research-oriented introduction to theoretical frameworks for reading and analyzing texts as cultural products, with an emphasis on interpreting the relationship between context and meaning. Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.

An introduction to British literary movements focusing on major texts that illustrate how writers have shaped and been shaped by traditions and cultures. Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.

An introduction to American literary movements by focusing on major texts that illustrate how writers have shaped and been shaped by traditions and cultures. Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.

An introduction to some of the main concepts and arguments developed by philosophers from before the birth of Socrates to the end of the Middle Ages. Questions to be explored might include: What is the fundamental nature of reality? What is the nature of human beings? What and how can we know about such things? Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.

A study of the conventions of fiction with opportunities to practice writing in the genre. The course emphasizes the process and techniques of original composition and includes opportunities to share work beyond the classroom. Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.

An examination of civic discourse and the major theories of rhetoric that define and shape acts of public literacy today. Particular attention will be devoted to the role that language plays in shaping knowledge, identity, and community, and the way different definitions, purposes, and strategies of rhetoric help us to construct meaning. Cadets will write for real audiences in the public domain. Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.

An intermediate writing course that focuses on the study of style, one of the five canons of rhetoric. Cadets will develop their abilities to read, draft, and revise complex texts, paying special attention to the relationship between style and meaning. Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.

An examination of contemporary issues through the written discourse of professional communities. These seminars will treat select professions–law, the government, the military, the arts, among others. Cadets will study the profession’s rhetorical traditions, read and analyze significant texts from a rhetorical perspective, and develop writing projects that evolve from relevant reading, research, and experiences with professionals in the field. Projects with practical application for external audiences will be emphasized. Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.

An exploration of similarities and differences between the allegedly ancient enemies, philosophy and literature. Questions to be explored might include: Is literature all subjective, working only to stir emotions? Is philosophy capable of purely objective reasoning? Do philosophy and literature share any goals? Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.

A study of logic designed to improve cadets’ ability to identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments, understood not as forms of verbal combat but as cases of reasoning from premises to a conclusion. The course aims to improve critical thinking skills and the ability to defend one’s own beliefs rationally. Prerequisite(s): ERH 102, with a minimum grade of C.

Intermediate independent reading, research, and/or writing projects that build on previous coursework in the major, pursued under the supervision of a member of the faculty. Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.

An immersive and research-intensive seminar in which cadets will analyze and reflect on works generated in previous courses in the major; identify a viable topic; conduct primary and secondary research; draft and revise a formal research proposal; and prepare an oral presentation. Cadet also will begin creating an English Major Showcase ePortfolio.

An examination of a single masterwork–literary, philosophical, or artistic–focused on the ways in which cultural and historical context influence the production of and responses to texts. Prerequisite(s): ERH 102 with a minimum grade of C.