COOK FAMILY WRITING PROGRAM

Michele Zugnoni serves as a professor and a first-year advisor. In the six years Zugnoni has been at Northwestern, she's created several first-year seminars, with the most recent two focusing on women in mythology and history, and the hero’s journey. Zugnoni has also used her expertise as a former attorney to create an undergraduate course in legal writing, which combines the types of writing assignments students might complete in law school with opportunities to engage in moot court and mock trial. Zugnoni’s other courses include Writing and Speaking in Business and Design Thinking and Communication.

As an educator, Zugnoni incorporates role playing, interactive activities, and gamification to foster a dynamic, student-centered environment for active learning. Zugnoni’s students become both the creators and engineers of their own education, an approach grounded in Zugnoni’s belief that ownership of the learning process fosters deeper engagement and confidence. By offering students opportunities to make active choices at each stage of the writing process – from brainstorming to drafting to revision – Zugnoni encourages them to shape their work in ways that align with their unique perspectives and goals. This process reflects Zugnoni’s belief that writing is not just a skill but a vehicle for critical thinking, personal growth, and effective communication, preparing students to contribute meaningfully to their professional and academic communities at Northwestern and beyond.

Zugnoni also has an active research agenda, and is currently focused on two main areas. First, Zugnoni is working on the third phase of the International WAC/WID Mapping Project. In this role, Zugnoni is surveying universities across the United States to learn how they incorporate elements of Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing in the Disciplines (WAC/WID) into their courses. This initiative provides a comprehensive view of WAC/WID practices nationwide, contributing valuable insights to the field of writing studies. Zugnoni is also exploring negotiation and mediation, particularly how both function beyond a zero-sum framework, fostering connection, relationships, and positive working environments through effective communication and empathy.

During her time at Northwestern, Zugnoni served for four years as the Writing Program Director of Design Thinking and Communication. In this role, she secured grant funding to foster the creation of Open Educational Resource materials by herself and other faculty. She also supported the development and success of current faculty, and shaped and implemented a mentoring program for new faculty. During AY 2023-2024, Zugnoni was selected to serve as a Searle Fellow based on her promise in leadership and pedagogy. She used this fellowship to develop her course in legal writing and also to create a mentoring program. Zugnoni now directs the Summer Mentoring Program, hosted by the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum’s Mentoring Committee, which pairs writing professionals across the globe in one-on-one relationships designed to foster professional growth and development.

Prior to taking her position at Northwestern, Zugnoni worked as a public interest attorney in California, where she valued the opportunity to teach people how to be a voice for themselves. Recognizing the importance of voice, Zugnoni chose to make the transition into writing education. She graduated from UC Davis during the summer of 2019 with a PhD in Education and a designation in Writing, Rhetoric and Composition. Zugnoni’s dissertation focused on the narrative experiences of first-generation college students and, in particular, how writing teachers can help first-generation students cultivate a sense of community and professional identity in the writing classroom.

Beyond teaching and research, Zugnoni spends many hours writing creative fiction, playing piano and video games, and traveling to new locales. She is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Publications

Zugnoni, M. (2024). The time capsule: A narrative composition for developing social support systems. Writing Spaces, 5, pgs 1-6.

Zugnoni, M. (Under review for spring 2025 publication). The synergy of Design Thinking and Communication.