An active writer and artist, Dr. Kali Jo Wacker teaches courses in writing, communications, literature and design. She is passionate about the intersection of multimedia and pop culture, especially if her research can be applied to the stories and characters of Walt Disney.
Raider alum
Dr. Wacker graduated from Northwestern in 2016 with degrees in journalism and graphic design. A regular contributor to art shows on campus and in the community, she enjoyed combining her passions for art and writing whenever she could—writing stories about art and making art about stories. In addition to writing art gallery and movie reviews for the Beacon student newspaper, Dr. Wacker edited the opinions and arts and culture sections. She also served as a tutor in art, communications, English, philosophy, religion, history and writing.
Gallery geek
As much as Dr. Wacker enjoys creating art, she is especially interested in how art galleries display individual art pieces, helping the viewer admire each work alongside the others. She also appreciates how a gallery’s layout encourages visitors to move in a certain direction, causing them to view the artwork in a certain order. This is part of her research in multimodal composition, and it’s at the heart of her scholarship.
Collector of things
Dr. Wacker’s office space is a vibrant reflection of her passion for multimedia. Bright colors, graphic wallpapers and murals adorn the walls, while babushka dolls and McDonald’s Happy Meal toys are dotted between the color-coded books on their shelves. Poor eyesight is partly the culprit of her eclectic tastes—the more vivid her environment is, the more she appreciates the beauty that surrounds her.
More than a writer
Collectively, Dr. Wacker’s research is multimodal composition, or the study of creating messages using intentional combinations of words, visuals, sounds, space and objects. She says that writing is “more than pen to paper or fingers to a keyboard”; it’s also how the page is formatted, the use of images, the music that the writer listens to, how the material is presented to an audience, and the many other factors that contribute to a communication scenario.
