vlog

Vyshali Manivannan

Vyshali Manivannan

Assistant Professor
Director
Dyson College of Arts and Sciences
English, Writing & Cultural Studies

Vyshali Manivannan

Westchester
255
Choate House
| Office Hours: Tue 2:00pm-5:00pm,Wed 12:00pm-2:00pm

Biography

Faculty Bio

Vyshali Manivannan is an Eelam Tamil American disabled creative-critical writer whose work focuses on the cultural, embodied nature of chronic pain, digital multimodal composition, intergenerational trauma, and Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict.

Awards and Honors

  • Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 2023, Honorable Mention for Kairos Award for Best Webtext
  • Computers and Communication, 2023, Michelle Kendrick Award for Outstanding Digital Production/Scholarship
  • College Composition and Communication Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication, 2023, Technology Innovator ("Troublemaker") Award
  • Rutgers University School of Graduate Studies, 2023, Distinguished Scholarly Achievement Award
  • #BorgDiem Disabled Word Invention Contest, 2022, First Place Prize for "Misability"
  • Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 2022, Kairos Award for Graduate Student/NTT Faculty in Scholarship/Research
  • vlog - PLV, 2021, LGBTQA+ Educator of the Year Award
  • Office of Residential Life and Housing, 2020, “Honoring Excellence” Faculty Award for Supporting Academic Achievement
  • National Residence Hall Honorary, Northeast Affiliate of the National Association of College & University Residence Halls, Inc., 2019, “Faculty of the Month” Campus Winner
  • Best American Essays, 2015, Notable Essay

Licensures and Certificates

  • NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Mental Health First Aid
  • vlog, Online Teaching Recertification

Education

PhD, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 2022
Communication, Information, and Media

MFA, Columbia University School of the Arts, New York, NY, 2007
Creative Writing

BA, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 2005
English

Research and Creative Works

Research Interest

accessibility – affect theory – autoethnography – chronic pain – diasporic-disabled composition – digital media – disability studies – fictocriticism – geeks, hackers, trolls – GenAI refusal – interactive narrative – intergenerational trauma – lyric essay – Oulipo – Tamil genocide – transgenre multimodal work – writing pedagogy

Artistic and Professional Performances and Exhibits

Chaos itself is an order
[Nonfiction - Anthology] Fourth GenreChaos itself is an order
[Nonfiction - Print Journal] Fourth GenreEaster in Sri Lanka: Today is loss that isn't loss
[Nonfiction - Online Journal] The Paris ReviewThe author draws a blank: Negotiating academia with/in "fibro fog"
[Theatre - Perform] Capacious Conference, Lancaster, PA, USAThe author is in pain: Encounters in the world of non-belonging
[Theatre - Perform] Affect Conference, Lancaster, PAI am always in transition when disaster strikes/r.kv.r.y. Literary Journal
[Nonfiction - Online Journal] Numerology
[Nonfiction - Online Journal] DIAGRAMThe meaning of a machete
[Nonfiction - Print Journal] Consequence MagazineThisIsMyManifesto.htm
[Nonfiction - Online Journal] The FanzineWhite van fear
[Nonfiction - Print Journal] Black Clock

Grants, Sponsored Research and Contracts

Book and Performance Completion Award
Manivannan, V. June 2024 - August 2024. Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, vlog. Funded.

Doctoral Student Academic Advancement Support Program Grant
Manivannan, V. 2021 - 2022. Rutgers University, Other. Funded.

Courses Taught

Past Courses

ENG 105: Composition and Rhetoric I (CAP)
ENG 110: Composition
ENG 110: Composition (CAP)
ENG 120: Critical Writing
ENG 201: Writing in the Disciplines
ENG 206: Intro to Writing Studies
ENG 214: Intro to Rhetorical Theory
ENG 322: Advncd Writing: Art of Memoir
ENG 396: Topic: Cultural Rhetorics
LIT 205: Intro to Lit, Culture & Media
LIT 275: Dsblty Stds in Lit & Cltre

Publications and Presentations

Publications

Chaos Itself Is an Order
Manivannan, V. (2025). Michigan State University Press. , pages 196-207.

What we see when we digitize pain: The risk of valorizing image-based representations of fibromyalgia over body and bodily experience
Manivannan, V. (2017). Digital Health. Vol 3

When "trolling" becomes an umbrella term
Manivannan, V. (2014).

Presentations

Narrating generative AI refusal
Manivannan, V. (2025). Computers and Writing. Athens, GA.

Perimortem (in [theoretical] rigor)
Manivannan, V. (2024). Computers and Writing. Fort Worth, TX.

If to move the soul a writer: Writing South Asian diasporic-disabled abundance
Manivannan, V. (2024). Conference on College Composition and Communication. Spokane, WA.

Aiyo, eylaathu: Composing with chronic pain and fatigue when you just #$%ing can’t
Manivannan, V. (2024). Ph.D. Colloquium. Rutgers University School of Communication and Information,

Carework and editing during COVID: Reflections on being a disabled guest editor
Manivannan, V. (2023). Modern Language Association. San Francisco, CA.

Professional Contributions and Service

Professional Memberships

  • Phi Beta Kappa (Dartmouth College) [Member]
  • Alliance for Refusing Generative Artificial Intelligence [Member]
  • MEAction Network [Participant]
  • National Council of Teachers of English [Member]

Related News and Stories

Students

In the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, hands-on learning isn’t reserved solely for the science labs and art studios. Pace’s experiential approach to the humanities builds on the University’s long-standing commitment to undergraduate research and civic engagement.