Dr. Calvin Pollak

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Calvin Pollak is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of English at the University of Washington. He earned his Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Carnegie Mellon University in 2021. Following his doctoral studies, he worked as a postdoctoral teaching fellow in Technical Communication at Utah State University, where he developed a hybrid technical communication pedagogy focused on linguistic justice and equitable team collaboration. His research interests include communication, discourse analysis, rhetoric, and composition. He is dedicated to closely examining students' writing and design, as well as multimedia texts, particularly regarding the significance of various communication design decisions. Pollak maintains an active research agenda in technical and professional communication, as well as rhetoric and discourse studies. His work has been published in several journals, including Technical Communication Quarterly, Written Communication, and the Journal of English Linguistics. Additionally, he is involved in a public scholarship project, re:verb, which aims to make academic knowledge in rhetoric and discourse accessible to the public, engaging with relevant public issues.

Research Interests

Requirements for University of Washington

Master Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3
TOEFL
Total
Required:80
IELTS
Overall
Required:6.5
Duolingo
Overall Score
Required:105
Overall
Required:105
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university
Application Checklist
  • Online application
  • Transcripts
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Letters of Recommendation
  • Resume/CV
  • English proficiency scores (for international students)
Specialization Notes

Standard Graduate School requirements for University of Washington apply to most departments listed unless specified otherwise by the program.