Courtney Hughes
Courtney Hughes, a student in Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Composition and Applied Linguistics doctoral program, is part of a team at California State University, Fresno that won a $30,000 grant from Adobe.
Hughes has been a faculty member at California State University, Fresno since 2012 and is the co-assistant director of the writing center there.
Hughes’s dissertation topic at IUP for her doctoral studies is “Using the Writing Center to Foster a Culture of Writing Across Campus.”
The grant will be used to support multimodal student writing and AI Critical Ethical Literacy. Specifically, it will support faculty in guiding students to use AI critically and ethically in their writing, and support students to develop their writing with multimodal elements, including images, video, or sound, using Adobe Express.
“I’m excited to work with Adobe to empower students to use AI tools critically and increase their comfort producing multimodal texts,” Hughes said. “Fluency with these tools will help them better represent their learning and prepare them to compete in job markets which increasingly rely on them.”
Hughes earned two degrees from California State University, Fresno. She began her studies at IUP in 2025.
“Courtney is an outstanding student in IUP’s Composition and Applied Linguistics doctoral program,” IUP Distinguished University Professor Gian Pagnucci, chair of the IUP Department of Language, Literature, and Writing, said. “The program has a long history of producing great writing center scholars, and Courtney’s major grant award shows that she is doing cutting-edge research to find ways to engage people in the many joys of the writing process.”
Since its founding in 1875, IUP has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. IUP’s Impact 150 comprehensive campaign is designed to honor a legacy of educational excellence while looking toward a future of innovation, public service, and leadership in healthcare education, including the first college of osteopathic medicine at a public university in the commonwealth.