Abigail Bakke, Ph.D.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Scientific and Technical Communication from the University of Minnesota
• M.A. in Composition from North Dakota State University

Biography:

Bakke’s research has focused on digital rhetoric and health communication. Combining those two areas, she has published and presented about ethos, credibility, and trust in health information on the internet. Bakke has a special interest in user-generated health content. Her current project explores how patients use the internet, including social media, to answer health and medical questions.

Bakke teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the Technical Communication program in the Department of English. She has taught courses engaging themes such as digital rhetoric, research methods, health communication, fake news, and scientific and technical literature.

Recent Publications:

Bakke, A. (2019). Writing for Patients on the Participatory Web: Heuristics for Purpose-Driven Personas. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 62(4), 318–333. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2019.2946999

Bakke, A. (2019). Trust-building in a patient forum: The interplay of professional and personal expertise. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 49(2), 156–182. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047281618776222

Breuch, L.-A. K., Bakke, A., Thomas-Pollei, K., Mackey, L. E., & Weinert, C. (2016). Toward audience involvement: Extending audiences of written physician notes in a hospital setting. Written Communication, 33(4), 418–451. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088316668517

Web:

• Selected Works
• LinkedIn