Natasha Rentas
Writer, rhetorician and scholar of composition, revising the rhetorics that shape educational equity and strategically devalue difference.
Hi! I'm Tasha, and I hold a B.A. in writing and rhetoric with a specialization in professional writing and editing, and a medical writing and rhetoric certificate from the University of Central Florida. I am thrilled to have the privilege of continuing my studies at UCF as I pursue an M.A. in rhetoric and composition.​
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As a rhetorician, graduate student, and scholar, I have become invested in how society strategically undervalues difference. I am drawn to the intersection of rhetoric of health and medicine (RHM), disability studies (DS), and composition studies, especially as they relate to graduate student well-being, academic labor, and the rhetorics of disclosure. My research explores how rhetorics of care, access, and identity shape our understandings of health and mental disability, and how these understandings circulate through public health discourse, institutional policy, and educational practices. I am especially drawn to questions of narrative authority and rhetorical accountability in health communications, and how medical and institutional language impacts individuals with mental illness, neurodivergence, and other marginalized identities.
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In my writing, I take an interdisciplinary approach that spans academic research, comics scholarship, and public-facing health communication. I’ve examined environmental health risks, institutional ableism, and the rhetorical work of illness narratives across genres and contexts. My aim is to produce research that not only contributes to scholarly conversations in RHM and composition, but also engages meaningfully with broader questions of social justice, equity, and well-being, particularly in graduate students.
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I have also become interested in writing program administration (WPA) and how programmatic structures influence access and support within writing instruction. As a future educator, I’m committed to building classrooms grounded in equity, inclusion, collaboration, and critical engagement with language and literacy. I believe student success is best supported through flexible, responsive teaching practices that honor students as individuals- each with their own unique writing processes, knowledges, and lived experiences.
This virtual writing menagerie showcases a selection of my work that reflects both my development as a writer and the interdisciplinary scope of my interests. The samples within highlight my ability to think critically and write rhetorically across a range of subfields and genres- including academic research, medical writing, comics scholarship, and editorial work. Through the supportive and exploratory environment of UCF’s Department of Writing and Rhetoric, I’ve had the opportunity to explore to infinity and beyond subfields such as the rhetoric of science, the rhetoric of health and medicine, public health communication, disability studies, writing studies, and the intersections of RHM and the humanities.
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In addition to my writing, this portfolio features a teaching section that showcases my commitment to accessible, student-centered pedagogy. You’ll find lesson plans introducing disability pedagogy, which I had the opportunity to design and implement in an upper-level graduate writing course- allowing me to further explore inclusive, responsive teaching practices. This section also includes syllabus policies I developed for First-Year Composition (FYC), my teaching philosophy, and reflections from my time as a writing consultant in the University Writing Center (UWC). Together, these materials reflect my ongoing growth as both an educator and a scholar in rhetoric and composition.
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Thanks for stopping by- feel free to connect with me! I am always open to collaboration, conversation, and new opportunities to learn and grow.