Vyshali Manivannan
Director
Biography
Faculty Bio
Vyshali Manivannan is an Eelam Tamil American disabled creative-critical writer whose work focuses on the cultural, embodied nature of chronic pain, digital multimodal composition, intergenerational trauma, and Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict.
Awards and Honors
- Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 2023, Honorable Mention for Kairos Award for Best Webtext
- Computers and Communication, 2023, Michelle Kendrick Award for Outstanding Digital Production/Scholarship
- College Composition and Communication Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication, 2023, Technology Innovator ("Troublemaker") Award
- Rutgers University School of Graduate Studies, 2023, Distinguished Scholarly Achievement Award
- #BorgDiem Disabled Word Invention Contest, 2022, First Place Prize for "Misability"
- Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 2022, Kairos Award for Graduate Student/NTT Faculty in Scholarship/Research
- 鶹ֱ - PLV, 2021, LGBTQA+ Educator of the Year Award
- Office of Residential Life and Housing, 2020, “Honoring Excellence” Faculty Award for Supporting Academic Achievement
- National Residence Hall Honorary, Northeast Affiliate of the National Association of College & University Residence Halls, Inc., 2019, “Faculty of the Month” Campus Winner
- Best American Essays, 2015, Notable Essay
Licensures and Certificates
- NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Mental Health First Aid
- 鶹ֱ, Online Teaching Recertification
Education
PhD, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 2022
Communication, Information, and Media
MFA, Columbia University School of the Arts, New York, NY, 2007
Creative Writing
BA, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 2005
English
Research and Creative Works
Research Interest
accessibility – affect theory – autoethnography – chronic pain – diasporic-disabled composition – digital media – disability studies – fictocriticism – geeks, hackers, trolls – GenAI refusal – interactive narrative – intergenerational trauma – lyric essay – Oulipo – Tamil genocide – transgenre multimodal work – writing pedagogy
Artistic and Professional Performances and Exhibits
Chaos itself is an order
[Nonfiction - Anthology] Fourth GenreChaos itself is an order
[Nonfiction - Print Journal] Fourth GenreEaster in Sri Lanka: Today is loss that isn't loss
[Nonfiction - Online Journal] The Paris ReviewThe author draws a blank: Negotiating academia with/in "fibro fog"
[Theatre - Perform] Capacious Conference, Lancaster, PA, USAThe author is in pain: Encounters in the world of non-belonging
[Theatre - Perform] Affect Conference, Lancaster, PAI am always in transition when disaster strikes/r.kv.r.y. Literary Journal
[Nonfiction - Online Journal] Numerology
[Nonfiction - Online Journal] DIAGRAMThe meaning of a machete
[Nonfiction - Print Journal] Consequence MagazineThisIsMyManifesto.htm
[Nonfiction - Online Journal] The FanzineWhite van fear
[Nonfiction - Print Journal] Black Clock
Grants, Sponsored Research and Contracts
Book and Performance Completion Award
Manivannan, V. June 2024 - August 2024. Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, 鶹ֱ. Funded.
Courses Taught
Past Courses
ENG 105: Composition and Rhetoric I (CAP)
ENG 110: Composition
ENG 110: Composition (CAP)
ENG 120: Critical Writing
ENG 201: Writing in the Disciplines
ENG 206: Intro to Writing Studies
ENG 214: Intro to Rhetorical Theory
ENG 322: Advncd Writing: Art of Memoir
ENG 396: Topic: Cultural Rhetorics
LIT 205: Intro to Lit, Culture & Media
LIT 275: Dsblty Stds in Lit & Cltre
LIT 315: Twentieth Century Literature
WS 297: Crtve Wrtng for Social Justice
WS 297: Tpc: Fmnst Disability Justice
Publications and Presentations
Publications
Chaos Itself Is an Order
Manivannan, V. (2025). Michigan State University Press. , pages 196-207.
What we see when we digitize pain: The risk of valorizing image-based representations of fibromyalgia over body and bodily experience
Manivannan, V. (2017). Digital Health. Vol 3
When "trolling" becomes an umbrella term
Manivannan, V. (2014).
Presentations
Narrating generative AI refusal
Manivannan, V. (2025). Computers and Writing. Athens, GA.
Perimortem (in [theoretical] rigor)
Manivannan, V. (2024). Computers and Writing. Fort Worth, TX.
If to move the soul a writer: Writing South Asian diasporic-disabled abundance
Manivannan, V. (2024). Conference on College Composition and Communication. Spokane, WA.
Aiyo, eylaathu: Composing with chronic pain and fatigue when you just #$%ing can’t
Manivannan, V. (2024). Ph.D. Colloquium. Rutgers University School of Communication and Information,
Carework and editing during COVID: Reflections on being a disabled guest editor
Manivannan, V. (2023). Modern Language Association. San Francisco, CA.
Professional Contributions and Service
Media Contributions
Cox, A. & Lynch-Biniek, A. Time, non-tenure-track labor, and the academic knowledge economy in English Studies: Let’s break the scholarship machine. College Composition and Communication, 75(4), 675-703 [Other], 2024
Book chapter
International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation. Extremist chan culture. Global Network on Extremism and Technology [Other], July262024
White paper mention
Delfino, A. Hands-on humanities: Experiential learning in unexpected places. Dyson Digital Digest [Internet], February152024
Ilie, M. Interview with Vyshali Manivannan. Campus Clipper [Internet], November142023
Hsu, J. Long COVID, ME/CFS, and patient-led care: Jo’s experience of post-viral chronic illness. TransGriot [Internet], June12022
Media mention
Nieman, A. Professor Manivannan honored at Academic Achievement Banquet. 鶹ֱ Chronicle [Newspaper], February282020
Khan, S. Bringing the safety pin to the classroom: How this JMS professor is creating a safe space for students to voice their opinions. AlumKnights [Newspaper], March222017
Krienke, M. Interview with Vyshali Manivannan. r.kv.ry Quarerly Literary Journal [Internet], September2014
Interviewed by Mary Krienke about published creative nonfiction essay, "I Am Always in Transition When Disaster Strikes"
Professional Memberships
- Phi Beta Kappa (Dartmouth College) [Member]
- Alliance for Refusing Generative Artificial Intelligence [Member]
- MEAction Network [Participant]
- National Council of Teachers of English [Member]