Khirsten L. Scott, PhD

Daughter of the U.S. South, Dr. Khirsten L. Scott is a community-engaged scholar whose work sits at the intersections of rhetoric and writing studies, Black feminist literacies, digital studies, and critical pedagogy. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Language, Literacy, and Culture in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh and Director of the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project. Her research examines how writing, storytelling, and community-based learning foster the growth of Black girls and youth across intellectual, cultural, and civic domains. In her work, she bridges theory, practice, and community partnership to explore how writing functions as a space for resistance, care, and collective meaning-making.

Dr. Scott earned her BA in English Literature and Language from Tougaloo College, her MA in Composition, Rhetoric, and English Studies from the University of Alabama, and her PhD in English, Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Louisville. Her educational experiences inform her research on the literacy traditions that shape Black educational spaces and communities.

She is currently completing her first book, Black on the Edge: Writing, Resistance, and HBCU Survival Literacies, under advance contract with the University Press of Mississippi. The book blends personal narrative, historical analysis, and critical theory to explore the resilience and cultural significance of historically Black colleges and universities within the U.S. higher education landscape. Focusing on what she calls “survival literacies”—practices of resilience, resourcefulness, and resistance—Dr. Scott highlights how HBCUs sustain intellectual community and narrative inheritance across generations while nurturing the civic and intellectual development of Black students. By placing HBCU stories at the forefront, the book challenges dominant narratives about institutional value and underscores the transformative role of HBCUs in shaping the future of Black education.

Within Pittsburgh and beyond, Dr. Scott cultivates spaces where Black youth and scholars can develop their voices, tell their stories, and shape knowledge on their own terms. She is the founder and lead organizer of HYPE Media (Homewood Youth-Powered and Engaged Media), a critical and digital literacies program that creates youth-led storytelling spaces responding to stigmatized narratives about Black girls, Black women, and Black communities, and she collaborates with university students, educators, and community partners to use writing, media, and creative expression as tools for civic voice and collective engagement. She is also cofounder of DBLAC (Digital Black Lit and Composition), a national virtual and in-person community providing writing support, professional development, and intellectual space for Black scholars, reflecting her broader commitment to sustaining Black intellectual life across generations.

Dr. Scott’s commitment to mentorship and community-engaged scholarship has been recognized nationally and locally. She received the national Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement from Campus Compact, the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentoring at the University of Pittsburgh, and was named to the Pittsburgh Courier’s 40 Under 40 list.

In addition to her research and teaching, Dr. Scott works as a critical education consultant with schools, nonprofits, and national organizations seeking to deepen their approaches to literacy, youth development, and community engagement. Her consulting centers culturally responsive learning, youth voice, and community-rooted approaches to education, helping organizations design programs, professional learning experiences, and strategic initiatives that align practice with equity-centered values. She works collaboratively with educators, youth workers, and institutional leaders to develop reflective learning spaces, strengthen youth-worker development, and build sustainable models for community-based education.

Dr. Scott has served as a consultant and facilitator for organizations including the University of Pittsburgh’s Education Outreach Center, Bible Center Church’s Maker’s Clubhouse, the Modern Language Association (MLA), Bedford/St. Martin’s (Macmillan Learning), the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the Association for Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW), Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education (ARYSE), and Shiftworks Community + Public Arts.

Her work can be found on her YouTube Channel, in the Journal of Information Literacy, Los Angeles Review of Books, Kairos, Prose Studies, the Routledge Reader of African American Rhetoric, Mobility in Work in Composition, Bridging the Gap: Multimodality in Theory, and Practiceand Kentucky Teacher Education Journal.

Access CV here.