Jordan Wiggins

Research Questions:

Overall question: How do rhetorical and communication methods—particularly those used by trusted individuals and amplified through social media—shape what learners are willing to learn or unlearn, influence their susceptibility to mis/dis/mal-information, and affect their emotional and intellectual responses when confronting or dismantling false beliefs about authority and truth?

Sub Questions:
-How does social media impact what you have and are willing to learn? How will they impact your unlearning?

-How has the Rhetorical and Communication methods of the important people in your life led to you believing mis/dis/mal-information?

-What Rhetorical methods are easy to fall for, even when what is being communicated is false? Does this impact learning?

-Who has intellectual authority? How can we analyze and determine the appropriate people to have this authority?

-What Rhetorical/Communication methods or actions should be taken when learners experience fear during the unlearning process– specifically when learners are presented with information that go against what they have been told by those they trust?

-How do learners respond to realizing that those who they trusted have used harmful Rhetorical and Communication methods to manipulate, hurt, or harm them— whether knowingly or not; whether intentionally or not?

-How do learners respond to realizing that those who they trusted have used harmful Rhetorical and Communication methods to spread misinformation, disinformation, and/or malformation?

• artificial intelligence,
• neuroscience,
• anthropology,
• psychology,
• philosophy, and
• linguistics.

Wiggins, with a background in Technical Communications and Applied Learning Sciences, focuses his research on the intersections of intellectual authority, unlearning, critical pedagogy, and socio-cultural rhetorics. His work interrogates the rise of pseudo-intellectualism, the ethics of expertise, and the ways authority is constructed and perceived in academic and public discourse.

He also explores how epistemic responsibility influences knowledge production, particularly in digital and educational spaces, while integrating concepts like Mbongi to enhance collaborative learning. Additionally, his research examines environmental rhetorics, AI’s impact on knowledge systems, and the role of bias in healthcare and social narratives, bridging academic theory with real-world application.

Cognitive and Learning Sciences are guided by several interdisciplinary foundations, including

• artificial intelligence,
• neuroscience,
• anthropology,
• psychology,
• philosophy, and
• linguistics.

Adjacently, he investigate the impact of accessibility standards, such as ADA and 508 compliance, on learning outcomes, as well as strategies for leveraging UX principles to enhance educational tools and environments.

Note: I must acknowledge the CCCC Black Technical and Professional Resource Guide and it’s contents. The information and resources in this guide provide a foundation to much of the knowledge I engage in for research and with my work. 

• American Literature
• Medical Rhetoric
• Grant Writing
• African American Literature
• Technical & Business Writing
• Journalism
• Composition & Rhetoric
• User Experience
• Masculinities & Femininities in Literature
• Cult Rhetorics
• Accessibility & TechComm
• Humans & Technology
• Blacks & the Bible
• Political Rhetoric

Undergraduate: Thank you Allen University for giving the young emerging scholar a chance. Thank you Dr. Catherine Adams for teaching me African American literature, Advanced Composition, and the thought of ‘Know Thyself’. Thank you Dr. Fayaz Kabani for teaching me Creative Writing, Contemporary Poetry, and Romantic Literature. Thank you Dr. Kevin Trumpeter for teaching me American Literature, Journalism, and Contemporary Fiction. Thank you Dr. Connie Chic-Smith for teaching me Business & Technical Writing and Hip-Hop Culture & Rhetoric. Thank you to the Late Mrs. Jamey Bradford-Kinard for teaching me Professional Writing.

Graduate: Thank you East Carolina University for enhancing my knowledge to research and the field. Thank you Dr. Erin Clark, Dr. Brent Henze, Dr. Guiseppe Getto, and Dr. Matt Cox.

Doctoral: Thank you University of Miami for enhancing my knowledge to research and the field. Thank you Dr.Maria Kolovou, Dr. So Mi Kim, Dr. Chakeia Andrews, and Dr. Luke Hobson.

Some of my other personal reading materials include The Ethos of Black Motherhood by Kimberly Harper; Environmental Racism and its Assault on the American Mind by Harriet Washington; Becoming a Writing Researcher by Blakeslee & Fleischer; James Baldwin, bell hooks, Richard Wright, Gloria Naylor, Audre Lorde, Octavia Butler, George M. Johnson, and many other authors/ researchers that occupy the spaces of my bookshelves. The writings of these researchers and authors detail the experiences of people in various communities– whether you can identify with them or not. I seek to understand the human side of people and empathize with their experiences, while providing a critical response.