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Maj. Adam Cody studies and teaches rhetoric as the art of effective communication. He earned a doctorate in Communication Arts and Sciences from The Pennsylvania State University in 2020 and joined the ºÚÁÏÍø’s academic faculty later that same year.

In his capacity as Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Composition, and Oral Communication, it has been Maj. Cody’s pleasure to teach ERH 103: Fundamentals of Public Speaking, ERH 201: Rhetorical Traditions I (covering the ancient, medieval, and Renaissance periods), ERH 202: Rhetorical Traditions II (covering the modern and post-modern periods), ERH 301: Rhetoric and Public Address, ERH 302: Civic Discourse, and ERH 421: One Text - Thucydides. Students in Maj. Cody’s classes may expect to encounter practical exercises and open discussions designed to hone their abilities with the transferable skills of communication.

As a scholar, Maj. Cody is a historian of arguments and narratives relating to topics of democracy, citizenship, and empire, with a particular focus on the Greco-Roman rhetorical tradition. His most recent publication, “Dialectics, Post-Dialectics, and the Democratic Argument of Lysias XII,” argues that post-dialectical persuasive forces, such as fascistic argument, can be explained in dialectical terms as practices of strategic maneuvering. The essay goes on to identify the concept of “democratic argument,” a type of post-dialectical persuasion that seeks to control the terms of discourse by negating disinterested choice. Ongoing and future projects focus on the forensic speeches of 5th-century BCE Attic orator Antiphon of Rhamnus and on the 4th-century BCE textbook Rhetorica ad Alexandrum.

Maj. Cody also supports the Writing Center as the Oral and Digital Communication Specialist. He encourages any cadets who are interested in or would like help with public speaking to arrange a meeting with him.

Assistant Professor
English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies

Dr. MaryBeth Drake is a lifelong learner and teacher with a BA in Special Education from Greensboro College, a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Hollins University, a Master of Science in Education from Nova Southeastern University, and a Ph.D. in Education from Walden University. She is especially interested in the experiences of first-year college students and the challenges they face. She has been teaching college-level English composition courses since 2005. Currently, she teaches Advanced Composition courses online for Johnson & Wales University. MaryBeth is also an artist and is a member of the Nelson Gallery in downtown Lexington, Virginia.

MAJ Hoyle joined ºÚÁÏÍø as both the Writing Center Coordinator and an ERHS Instructor in Fall 2024. He previously taught composition and literature courses at several Virginia colleges, including the University of Virginia, Bridgewater College, and Mountain Gateway Community College. He holds an M.A. in English from the University of Virginia (2020) and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater College (2018). His master's thesis focused on characterization in the work of Sir Thomas Malory.

In his capacity as Writing Center Coordinator, MAJ Hoyle is always on the lookout for cadets who might do well in and gain from consulting in the Writing Center. He encourages those interested to contact him directly.

In addition to managing the Writing Center, MAJ Hoyle teaches first year composition (ERH 101 and 102) and summer session literature courses (ERH 203). Students enrolled in his courses can expect an emphasis on discussions and workshopping.

Outside of ºÚÁÏÍø, MAJ Hoyle is an active member of the Stuart Hall School Alumni Association and Shenandoah Latin Dance. His research interests include composition studies, poetics, and medieval literature. He is currently drafting a paper on Robert Frost's poetry and a conference presentation on late medieval Robin Hood texts. In his spare time, he enjoys swimming, dancing, learning new languages, and reading (over and over again) Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series.

MAJ Brandon Johnson joined the ºÚÁÏÍø after completing his Ph.D. in Communication Arts and Sciences at Penn State University. In his scholarship, he studies presidential rhetoric, U.S. politics, and the history of the presidency. His essay on Herbert Hoover’s rhetoric of “rugged individualism,” which won the 2023 Kenneth Burke Prize in Rhetoric at Penn State, was published in Rhetoric & Public Affairs; his work also appeared in the interdisciplinary journal Politics. He teaches classes on the history and practice of rhetoric, public speaking, and writing, including ERH 101 and 102: Writing and Rhetoric I and II, ERH 103: Fundamentals of Public Speaking, ERH 201 and 202: Foundations of Rhetorical Traditions I and II, and ERH 301: Rhetoric and Public Address. He is an active member of the Rhetoric Society of America, National Communication Association, and the American Society for the History of Rhetoric.

Col. Knepper arrived at ºÚÁÏÍø in the fall of 2014. A recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award and holder of the Bruce C. Gottwald, Jr. ’81 Chair for Academic Excellence, Col. Knepper teaches a wide range of courses, including American Literary Traditions, Ways of Reading, the ERHS capstone sequence, and a seminar on Moby-Dick. He especially enjoys teaching Philosophy and Literature, where he can discuss big questions with cadets, and American Modernism, which features favorite authors such as Claude McKay, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Frost, Ernest Hemingway, Willa Cather, Zora Neale Hurston, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. He has directed capstone projects, SURI projects, independent studies, and honors theses on a variety of topics, from the poetry of Langston Hughes to the philosophy of Simone Weil, from Edgar Allan Poe’s Gothic conventions to Byzantine iconography. Col. Knepper is the faculty adviser of ºÚÁÏÍø’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society, and helps organize an annual trip for cadets to the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia. 

Col. Knepper studied American literature in graduate school at the University of Virginia, and this remains a major teaching and research interest. He currently serves as an associate editor for the Robert Frost Review. He writes metrical poems in the tradition of Frost and is the founding editor of New Verse Review: A Journal of Lyric and Narrative Poetry.

Since arriving at ºÚÁÏÍø, he has become increasingly interested in the intersection of philosophy, aesthetics, and religion. He is particularly interested in the contemporary philosophers William Desmond and Byung-Chul Han. In 2022, SUNY Press published his book Wonder Strikes: Approaching Aesthetics and Literature with William Desmond. In 2024, Polity published Byung-Chul Han: A Critical Introduction, which he co-wrote with Ethan Stoneman and Robert Wyllie. He also edited the volume, A Heart of Flesh: William Desmond and the Bible, which was released in 2023 by Cascade Books. 

Professor  
English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies 

Ms. McDonald, a ºÚÁÏÍø alum, returned to the Institute as a Writing Center Consultant in 2026. During her cadetship she worked as both a Library Cadet Assistant and a Peer Consultant for the Writing Center. Her departmental honors thesis focused on Young Adult Literature, and she earned her B.A in English with a minor in Spanish in 2021. Ms. McDonald then went on to earn her MSc in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh, graduating in November of 2022. Her master’s thesis focused on an original work of literary fiction, Lost Ones, which she continued to write and edit throughout her time in Scotland. It is now in the querying process.

In addition to working at the ºÚÁÏÍø Writing Center, Ms. McDonald teaches English and World Cultures at Stuart Hall School in Staunton, Virginia. She challenges her students to think critically, connecting literature and the arts to history and current affairs.

Outside of work, Ms. McDonald travels as much as she can, collecting inspiration for her latest story. Her research interests include autofiction, life-writing, and the evolution of the novel. She is currently working on a creative essay about returning to the United States after a life abroad. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, taking photographs with her film camera, and reading just about anything she can get her hands on.

is an art historian who holds a bachelor's degree from Bradley University and a master's degree from Northern Illinois University. She also completed doctoral coursework and was admitted to Ph.D. candidacy in the Department of History of Art at the Ohio State University. Her university-level teaching experience includes lecturing in Introductory Art History course as well as leading seminars in Contemporary, Eastern European, Soviet, and Post-Soviet studies. Natalie’s research focuses on memory, socialism, post-colonialism, activism, globalism, visual rhetoric, national identity, and theories and concepts of space. In addition to working at ºÚÁÏÍø, she also teaches classes at Southern Virginia University, is a freelance graphic designer, and sits on the Boxerwood Volunteer, Events, and Promotion Board. In her off-hours, she enjoys reading, gardening, and cooking.

Gwendolyn G. Parson, Writing Center Consultant, is certified  by the Virginia Department of Education in English/Language Arts.  An educator for twenty years,  Mrs. Parson is proficient in student conferencing and writing instruction. Mrs. Parson earned a BS and MS in Education from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

Mrs. Parson joined ºÚÁÏÍø's Writing Center staff because she enjoys the process of writing. She said, "Although many people do not consider themselves good writers, I seldom meet students who do not like to talk.  I believe that clear written expression begins with critical thinking and oral communication. It is through conferencing that students create concise writing that best communicates their thoughts and beliefs to their intended audience.  It is rewarding to be part of that conversation between the students and the assignment." 

Elise Sheffield has been a part-time member of the Writing Center team for thirteen years. A Rockbridge County native, she holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Brown University, a master’s degree in theology, and a second master's in conservation biology from Miami (OH) University. Previously a college instructor of composition and literature, she is also the education director for Boxerwood Nature Center just outside Lexington.  Over the past decade, she has secured over $2 million in grants for area non-profits as a result of her ability to write clear and convincing prose. “To me, good writing reflects good thinking and is itself an act of leadership,” says Elise, whose favorite part about her job is helping cadets to develop those same life-long skills.   

Andy Simon has been a Writing Center consultant since Fall 2025.  He has a B.A. in History and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from George Mason University, an M.A. in History from Pittsburg State University, and an M.A. in Geography from Marshall University.  After 14 years teaching high school social studies, Andy came to the Writing Center seeking to help college students polish their writing skills in preparation for entry into the professional world.  "I admire the culture of respect and discipline at ºÚÁÏÍø," says Andy, "and I enjoy getting to know cadets on a personal level as I help them find their voice as writers."

Andy is an avid traveler who is always eager to learn more about the history and culture of people around the U.S. and the world.  He lives in Lexington with his wife Janet and their two children, and also enjoys home renovation projects, water-skiing, and spending time with friends.

 

Lt. Col. Pennie Ticen has been a member of the English faculty at ºÚÁÏÍø since the fall of 2003. She earned her graduate degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she focused on modern and contemporary British Literature, writing her dissertation on post-colonial epics. One of her focus areas is in South-Asian Indian literature, especially the novels of Salman Rushdie, various retellings of the Indian epic The Ramayana, and the essays of Arundhati Roy. She has been an active member of the South Asian Literary Association for 25 years, where she has presented papers, co-chaired conferences, served as treasurer and been a member of the executive committee.

Lt. Col. Ticen regularly teaches courses in Writing and Rhetoric, British Literary Traditions, Literature of Indian Independence, and Empire Writing, as well as seminars on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Salman Rushdie. She also teaches Fieldwork courses, with recent sections focusing on Cadet Life at ºÚÁÏÍø and Women and African-Americans at ºÚÁÏÍø. She enjoys working closely with cadets and has shepherded them through SURI projects, conference presentations, department honors theses, capstone projects, and independent studies on a variety of topics.

Associate Professor
English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies

Sample of Lt. Col. Ticen’s Recent Scholarship:

• Forthcoming 2024, Encyclopedia of Indian Writing in English, entries on “Salman Rushdie,” “Imaginary Homelands,” and “The Veiled Suite: The Collected Poems, Agha Shahid Ali”
• “’where hierarchies melt and curiosity takes precedence’: Using Yengde’s Caste Matters to Complicate Student Ideas of Caste,” South Asian Literary Association Conference, 2022
• “Rushdie’s America,” Interviewed on “With Good Reason,” for “Reading and Writing Ourselves,” September 2021:
• “Trained in Post-Coloniality, Hired in World Literature, Revised into Cultural Rhetorics: Situating South Asian Literature within a Changing Curriculum,” South Asian Literary Association, 2020
• “Updating the Interregnum: Salman Rushdie’s “Anti-chutnification” in The Golden House”, South Asian Literary Association, 2019

Sample of Cadet Research Projects:

• SURI Advisor for “We Take What We Want: Kipling in the Postcolonial Age,” Cadet Chris Hulburt, 2020
• Conference Presentation Advisor for “Cast Between Two Worlds,” Cadet Chris Hulburt, MARCUS 2020
• English Honors Advisor for “Modern Eve: A Female Cadet’s Critique of Feminist Criticisms of Paradise Lost,” Cadet Kate Dixon, 2018
• Capstone Advisor for “Frankenstein in Film,” Cadet Mason Day, 2020
• Capstone Advisor for “Allegory in The Lord of the Rings,” Cadet John Stann, 2020
• Independent Study: “Robert T. Kerlin Resources,” digitized on Preston Archives, Cadet Fredrick Walker, 2014: /archives/genealogy-biography-alumni/featured-historical-biographies/robert-t-kerlin-resources/

 

Pat Wiese holds a BA in Teaching from Sam Houston State University, a MA in Education from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. After a long career in business, she returned to academia, teaching English at the community college level while completing her doctoral studies and then beginning her second career at Texas A&M University (TAMU), from which she retired as an Associate Clinical Professor. During her years at TAMU, Pat taught writing-intensive courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level in Children’s Literature, Multicultural Children’s Literature, Young Adult Literature, and Teaching Writing. In addition to serving as the TAMU College of Education (CEHD) representative on the university-wide Writing Intensive (W) Course Committee, she served as the founding faculty advisor to her department’s Undergraduate Peer Mentor (UPM) Program, supervising and assisting the doctoral student coordinator in the selection and supervision of 14-16 UPMs as they assisted their peers with the department’s 18 sections of W Courses. Shortly before her retirement from TAMU, the UPMs and Reading Faculty of the TAMU Teaching, Learning and Culture (TLAC) Department established and dedicated the TLAC “Dr. Patricia Wiese Educational Library and Mentoring Center.”

In addition to her love for teaching and conferencing with her students on campus, Pat was active in developing and leading study abroad programs and international partnerships throughout Europe, especially the multiple-year program she and her ESL/EFL (English as a Second/Foreign Language) professor colleague established in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy, where their university students taught English in the local Italian Middle School. In 2007, Pat was one of three university-wide recipients of the TAMU International Excellence Award in recognition of her work developing TLAC Study Abroad Programs and in working with the TAMU European Center for Excellence.

After retiring to Lexington, Pat missed her work with students, especially with their writing, and is so happy to be working with ºÚÁÏÍø Cadets in the ºÚÁÏÍø Writing Center. Nothing brings her more pleasure than seeing students begin to think of themselves as writers!

A 2005 graduate of the Institute, Maj. Henry Wise taught for several years in Taiwan, where he worked for the ROC Military Academy in Fengshan, selecting, instructing, and training cadets who would go on to study in American military institutions, including ºÚÁÏÍø. In 2015, he earned his MFA in poetry from the University of Mississippi, where he continued to teach creative writing and composition until he joined ºÚÁÏÍø’s English faculty in 2017. At ºÚÁÏÍø, he teaches American literature and creative writing and serves as faculty adviser to Cadence (formerly The Sounding Brass), ºÚÁÏÍø’s annual fine arts journal, which he edited as a cadet. He has taught a variety of courses, among which are those of his own design on the subjects of Frontier American Literature and the works of Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner. Maj. Wise has advised several independent cadet projects on topics as varied as environmental anxiety in Cormac McCarthy’s novels, Mark Twain’s challenging of romanticism in Roughing It, and reconciling Ralph Waldo Emerson’s surprising involvement in the Abolitionist movement with his skepticism of society in “Self-Reliance.” A writer across multiple genres, his poetry has been published in Shenandoah, Radar Poetry, Clackamas, Eunoia Review, and elsewhere; his nonfiction can be found in Southern Cultures. His debut novel, Holy City, will be published by Grove Atlantic in 2024.

 

Assistant Professor
English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies