RCCD Faculty Lecture

English Professor Delivers Faculty Lecture; Makes Argument for Climate Change

Jeff Rhyne, professor of English at Moreno Valley College, delivered Riverside Community College District’s 61st Distinguished Faculty Lecture. His lecture entitled, Making Arguments Matter: Facing Climate Catastrophe and Teaching College Writing, analyzed reports on global warming and arguments about the climate crisis to theorize why more people are not alarmed, and thus more motivated, to make or advocate for impactful changes.

The Distinguished Faculty Lecture, inaugurated in 1961, is one of the most important functions for faculty, community, and students in the District. Each year, RCCD’s faculty selects one of its own to present this prestigious lecture on a scholarly subject.

Rhyne earned an English degree from Pomona College in 1991, a master’s degree in 1998 and then a Ph.D. in 2002 in English from the University of California, Riverside. He has been teaching since 1992 when he started his career as a high school English teacher. He subsequently taught English as a foreign language in Lithuania and at California State University, Northridge. During his career in post-secondary education, he has taught college composition and a range of American and African American literature courses at UCR, Pomona College, University of Redlands, and Indiana University at South Bend before starting at Moreno Valley College in 2006. Rhyne earned tenure and rank of associate professor at Moreno Valley College in 2010 and was eventually promoted to full professor in 2017. He currently serves as the chair of the Department of Communications, English & World Languages, and the College’s vice president of the District Faculty Association.