In Search of Scotland
Carl Whithaus
University Writing Program (UWP)
Carl Whithaus is a Professor of Writing and Rhetoric at UC Davis. He studies writing technologies and digital cultures. His books include Swarms, Viral Writing, and the Local: Rhetorical Dynamics across Networked Publics Multimodal Literacies and Emerging Genres (Pittsburgh, 2013), and Writing Across Distances and Disciplines (Routledge, 2008).
His most recent book, Swarms, Viral Writing, and the Local (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2025), examines how emerging social dynamics shape—and are shaped by—digital writing, reading, and distribution technologies. Drawing on cases that include Twitch livestreams, Discord servers, Roll20, TikTok videos, Reddit threads, Nextdoor screeds, and Yelp reviews, he describes how people write together in shared multimodal ecologies.
A Message to Students and Parents
I love writing and travel. They allow the imagination to thrive. I grew up moving about every three years. Before coming to UC Davis, I called Florida, Virginia, Singapore, Texas and New York City home.
In addition to my research and writing, I am a reader of sci-fi and fantasy literature and a long-time player of role-playing games (RPGs). I am fascinated by how gaming, game design and RPGs/MMORPGs have come to influence professional discussions in fields ranging from computer science to publishing and education.
Scotland is indeed a place where science and invention co-mingle with folk tales and myth – an ideal setting to consider how narratives, technologies and communities intersect. I look forward to exploring how Scotland’s layered histories and mythologies continue to shape contemporary identities and storytelling practices."