Joseph J. Williams, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Bio

I am an Associate Professor in the department of Rhetoric and Writing. During my 22 years at UA Little Rock, I’ve taught courses in game, web, and document design; usability and user experience; digital and multimodal narrative; composition and rhetorical theory; organizational communication; civic and persuasive communication; composition; and technical communication. I’ve taught face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses. I’ve presented and published research on topics such as user experience in learning management systems, learning in online simulations, the use of game software in writing classes, and digital storytelling and literacy.

I’m also a game designer who develops learning and storytelling games. I’ve developed a game to help student writers improve their use of research sources, one which teaches students how to conduct community health interventions, a tabletop space-western storytelling game, a dog shelter simulator, and a role-playing video game which teaches tweens about prescription drug misuse.

Education

Ph.D. in Composition and Cultural Rhetoric, Syracuse University
M.A. in English, West Chester University
B.A. in English/Theatre, Lehigh University

Research

Game Design; Web, Experience, and Interaction Design; Publics/Public Sphere Theories; Philosophy of Technology

Publications

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Oliveto, A., Wright, P., Kumar, N., Gokarakonda, S., Fischer-Laycock, I., Williams, J. J., Thompson, R. (2022). Acceptability of a Game-based Intervention to Prevent Adolescent Prescription Opioid Misuse. Games for Health Journal.
Fisher, D., Williams, J. (2013). Students Playing as Scholars and Selves: Academic Synthesis as Conversation Game. Designing Web-Based Applications for 21st Century Writing Classrooms (pp. 104-121). Amityville, NY: Baywood.
Crisp, H., Crisp, S., Fisher, D., Graham, G., Williams, J. J. (2012). Scaffolding Stories. Stories that Speak to Us: Exhibits from the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives. Logan, UT: Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State UP. https://ccdigitalpress.org/book/stories/crisp.html
Fisher, D., Russell, D., Williams, J., Fisher, D. (2008). Space, Time, and Transfer in Virtual Case Environments. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 12(2). https://www.technorhetoric.net/12.2/topoi/fisher-etal/articleIntro.html
Reilly, C. A., Williams, J. J. (2006). The price of free software: Labor, ethics, and context in distance education. Computers and Composition, 23(1), 68-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2005.12.001

Games and Other Publications

Williams, J. J. (2026). GUARD-T. UAMS/Google Play Store. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.LittleRockGames.ACRI_TestC&hl=en_US&pli=1
Williams, J. J. (2021). To The Rescue!. Birmingham, AL: Freedom Games.
Williams, J. J. (2021). To The Rescue! Soundtrack. Birmingham, AL: Freedom Games.
Williams, J. J. (2019). Galactic Scoundrels. Ajax, Ontario: Mercury Games.
Williams, J. J. (2019). UAMS Safe Use. UAMS/Apple App Store. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/uams-safe-use/id1470463625
Williams, J. J. (2019). Like It’s 1999: American Popular Culture in the 1990s. Little Rock, AR: William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum.
Williams, J. J. (2018). White House Green Building. Little Rock, AR: William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum.
Williams, J. J., Fisher, D. (2010). Article – The Game. https://github.com/joeykid6/article–the-game

Teaching

Current Courses