Dr. Pihlaja studies global technical communication and is interested in the ways communication technologies impact intercultural encounters, e.g., in day-to-day interactions via WhatsApp at a multinational company or a digitally connected classroom. Dr. Pihlaja analyzes the impact of digital tools on intercultural collaborations using a variety of research methodologies, including activity theory and actor-network theory, as well as qualitative research methods, e.g., on-site observations and interviews. Dr. Pihlaja received his PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from the Department of English, University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He has experience teaching online in hybrid, synchronous, and asynchronous environments as well as teaching and presenting in international contexts, most extensively in south Asia. 

Website: www.beaupihlaja.com

Publications

Pihlaja, B. (2022). Everyday Ethics at the Border: Normative Ethics for the 21st Century. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 36(3), 296–325. 
 
Pihlaja, B. (2022). “A Nice Change of Pace”: Involving Students-as-Course-Users Early and Often. In K. Crane & K. Cargile Cook (Eds.), User Experience as Innovative Academic Practice (pp. 109–136). The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado. 
  
Pihlaja, B. (2021). Rhetoric. In Stephen Pihlaja (Ed.), Analysing Religious Discourse. Cambridge University Press. 
 
Pihlaja, B. (2020). Inventing others in digital written communication: Intercultural encounters on the U.S.-Mexico border. Written Communication, 37(2), 245–280.  
 
Pihlaja, B., & Durá, L. (2020). Navigating messy research methods and mentoring practices at a bilingual research site on the Mexico-U.S. border. Technical Communication Quarterly, 29(4), 358–375.  
 
Pihlaja, B. (2018). Activity theory, actor-network theory, and culture in the 21st century. In Rich Rice and Kirk St. Amant (Eds.) Thinking globally, composing locally: Rethinking online writing in the age of the global internet. Louisville, CO: Utah State University Press. 

Associate Professor
Technical Communication & Rhetoric

Email: beau.pihlaja@ttu.edu
Phone: (806) 834-3129