BUZZARDS BAY: Morgan Banville, PhD, an assistant professor of Humanities at Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA), a top-ranked public university with undergraduate degree programs focusing on science, engineering, technology, math, and business that blend academics and experiential learning, is the recipient of the 2024 Outstanding Dissertation Award in Technical Communication from the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), a constituent organization within the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Dr. Banville was awarded the honor for her dissertation “Am I Who I Say I Am? The Illusion of Choice: Biometric Identification in Healthcare.” Her award-winning dissertation was evaluated by the CCCC selection committee according to five criteria, including originality of research and overall quality of writing and was chosen based in part on its “exceptional methodology, introducing the novel framework of ‘interlocking surveillance’ to analyze technology’s role in social inequities.”

She will be announced as the award recipient at the CCCC Awards Presentation on April 5, during the 2024 CCCC Annual Convention in Spokane, WA.

Dr. Banville, who joined the Massachusetts Maritime Academy faculty in August of 2023, received her doctorate in Rhetoric, Writing, and Professional Communication from East Carolina University in the same year. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth.

“I’m incredibly honored to be recognized by CCCC and want to extend my appreciation to the Awards committee, as well as my own dissertation committee (Nikki, Erin, Will, and Emma), family, and friends,” said Dr. Banville. “My dissertation is foundational to my goal of creating more public-facing scholarship identifying and exploring the material impacts of surveillance, especially focusing on biometric technologies.”

“The entire MMA community extends its congratulations to Morgan; she is highly deserving of this prestigious award from the Conference on College Composition and Communication,” said Rear Admiral Francis X. McDonald, USMS, president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.