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Gabrielle Johnson

Students Teaching Students

In coordination with an undergraduate-run organization called Students Teaching Students, CAS department faculty members mentor exemplary students who develop and teach 1-credit courses on a variety of subjects that advance expertise in communication and its role in public life. This semester, Associate Teaching Professor Lori Bedell is supporting undergraduates Kara Miller (who was in Lori’s RCL course a few years back) and Jess Strait as they teach a course titled “Period Talk: The Impact of Stigma on the Menstrual Equity Movement.”
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Gabrielle Johnson

Graduate Assistant in Communication Arts and Sciences
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
grj5083@psu.edu
316 Sparks Building University Park, PA 16802
Photo of Gabrielle Johnson. She wears a white top with gray stripes and a Penn State Nittany Lion logo on the left lapel. In the background are various trees and bushes.

Education

B.A., English, East Tennessee State University, 2020
B.A., Philosophy, East Tennessee State University, 2020
Certified Appreciative Advisor, Florida Atlantic University, 2024
M.S., Educational Psychology, The University of Tennessee, 2025

Professional Bio

Gabrielle Johnson is a rhetorician whose research examines Evangelical Christianity, with particular attention to purity culture and how it integrates narratives from the Hebrew Bible in messaging directed toward women. Her work analyzes how Evangelical rhetorical practices shape belief, gendered identity, and moral formation, especially among women navigating their notions of self through memoir, autobiography, and self-reflection. Drawing on communication and rhetorical approaches, Gabrielle explores how stories of femininity, sexuality, obedience, and belonging are constructed, circulated, and contested within Evangelical contexts. Informed by her previous roles as an Assistant Director of Student Services and a Student Success Advisor, Gabrielle brings a data-informed yet student-centered perspective to her scholarship and pedagogy. She is committed to advancing research that critically engages religion, gender, and power while contributing to inclusive and reflective academic communities.