Robert Randolph, Jr., PhD | Writing Studio Director
Robert Randolph, Jr., PhD (he/him), is a vernacular scholar from Eastern North Carolina. He has held appointments at North Carolina A&T State University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, American University, and Shaw University. His research and teaching interests include writing center studies, socio-cultural foundations of education, and Black feminist and queer rhetorics and pedagogies. His writing center scholarship can be found in The Writing Center Journal and Composition Studies. His notable publications include “The Queer Poetics of Social Justice: Literacy, Affect(ion), and the Critical Pedagogical Imperative” and “Shifting the Talk: Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Feminism at HBCUs.” His most recent project, titled “A Grammar of Willfulness: On Writing Centers, Critical Marginality, and the Feminist Killjoy,” employs willfulness (persistence, obstinance, stubbornness, and unruliness) and ‘the feminist killjoy' trope as reading devices for current writing center research and practice. Randolph holds an MA in English and African American Literature from North Carolina A&T State University and a PhD in Educational and Cultural Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Masoud Mahmoodi-Shahrebabaki, PhD | Assistant Director
Masoud Mahmoodi-Shahrebabaki, PhD, brings a wealth of expertise in writing instruction and program development to the Palo Alto University Writing Studio. With a distinguished teaching career spanning multiple institutions, including the University of California Irvine, University of Colorado Denver, and Soka University, Dr. Mahmoodi-Shahrebabaki has developed innovative writing curricula and guided diverse student populations toward academic success. As a former writing center specialist, he has worked extensively with writers across academic disciplines and career stages, from first-year students to faculty researchers. Dr. Mahmoodi-Shahrebabaki is currently developing a comprehensive first-year writing curriculum that responds to the impacts of AI on student writing behaviors.