Alex Helberg was trained as a high school English teacher in Wisconsin, graduating shortly after collective-bargaining rights were stripped from the state’s public employees. This unfortunate turn in the state’s labor politics led him to pursue graduate education at Carnegie Mellon University, where he earned his Master’s and Doctoral degrees studying the rhetoric of public engagement in activist and advocacy contexts. During his time at Carnegie Mellon, Helberg actively researched and participated in local food justice movements, ranging from hunger charities to radical food distribution collectives. In 2018, he and fellow graduate students spearheaded in a university-wide advocacy effort to fund and open a food pantry for food-insecure Carnegie Mellon students and staff. He was also deeply engaged in the English Department’s writing program administration, serving as Assistant Director of Undergraduate Professional and Technical Writing, as well as the department’s Technology-Enhanced Learning Coordinator. He is currently the co-Executive Producer of the public scholarship project and podcast re:verb.

Publications:

Selected Journal Articles:

• Helberg, A., Poznahovska, M., Ishizaki, S., Kaufer, D., Werner, N., & Wetzel, D. (2018). Teaching textual awareness with DocuScope: Using corpus-driven tools and reflection to support students’ written decision-making. Assessing Writing, 38, 40-45.

Selected Public Scholarship:

• Helberg, A., & Pollak, C. (Hosts). (2020, November 12). Alienizing logics and coalitional politics (w/ Dr. Karma R. Chávez) (No. 47). [Audio podcast episode]. In re:verb.
• Helberg, A., & Pollak, C. (Hosts). (2020, August 17). ALL of our languages are elegant! (w/ Dr. Asao B. Inoue) (No. 41). [Audio podcast episode]. In re:verb.
• Helberg, A., & Pollak, C. (Hosts). (2019, October 29). The rhetoric of horror cinema (w/ Kendall Phillips) (No. 29). [Audio podcast episode]. In re:verb.
• Helberg, A., & Pollak, C. (Hosts). How can we empower the truth of ordinary people? (w/ Dana Cloud) (No. 15). [Audio podcast episode]. In re:verb.

Organized Panels:

• Belk, J., Helberg, A., Kulchar, D., & Pollak, C. (2020, March). Solidarity against precarity: The promise and perils of graduate student and contingent faculty organizing. Organized panel for the 2020 Conference on College Composition and Communication, Milwaukee, WI.
• Helberg, A., House, V., & Pennell, M. (2019, March). Writing the wrongs of systemic issues: Food systems rhetoric and action research. Organized panel for the 2019 Conference on College Composition and Communication, Pittsburgh, PA.

Selected Paper Presentations:

• Helberg, A. (2019, March). Student advocacy work as a model for teaching community writing. Paper presented at the 2019 Conference on College Composition and Communication, Pittsburgh, PA.
• Helberg, A. (2018, July). Framing the male victim: The men’s rights movement, the Isla Vista killings, and the politics of victimage in online forums. Paper presented at the 45^th International Systemic Functional Congress, Boston, MA.
• Helberg, A. (2018, June). Thinking globally, acting locally: Activist/advocacy rhetoric and the framing of situated approaches to systemic problems. Paper presented at the Rhetoric Society of America 18^th Biennial Conference.