My research investigates the ethical, cultural, and pedagogical dimensions of technical and professional communication in an increasingly automated and globalized world. Methodologically, I combine empirical qualitative and quantitative inquiry to examine how emerging technologies shift writing practices in international and diverse contexts, and how technical communicators can advocate for social and design justice.
My work is broadly organized into three primary pillars of inquiry:
Technical and Professional Communication
This line of research examines the ethical boundaries of document design, user experience, and human-AI collaboration. My recent work investigates the use of AI in professional writing, exploring how practitioners and educators navigate the integration of generative AI into technical communication workflows.
Key Focus: AI ethics, design justice, user experience (UX) design, and workplace communication practices
With co-PIs Timothy Ponce (Texas State University) and Leslie Seawright (Missouri State University), awarded $5000 grant from the Association of Business Communication to conduct qualitative interviews of TPC practitioners on AI ethics.
With co-PIs Timothy Ponce (Texas State University) and Leslie Seawright (Missouri State University), $65,000 grant under review with Microsoft to build a document design ethics tool into CoPilot.
Seawright, L., Hodges, A., & Ponce, T. (2025). “Is This Ethical?”: New Data on the Ethical Principles and Practices of Document Design. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 56(2), 145–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472816251342582
Transnational Writing Programs and Professional Contexts
Focusing on the global footprint of technical communication, this research explores how writing conventions are negotiated across borders, languages, and cultures. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and collaborations in Latin America, I analyze how multilingual professionals navigate English as a Business Lingua Franca (BELF) in technical industries.
Key Focus: Transnational WAC/WID, multilingual engineering communication, and MENA writing center ecosystems
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
My pedagogical research focuses on creating inclusive, high-impact technical writing curricula. I investigate how to train students and faculty to ethically partner with generative AI, design equitable learning environments for teaching faculty, and build community-engaged professional writing courses.
Key Focus: Inclusive pedagogy, AI course design, and professional communication in community-engaged research.
Amy Hodges 