Julia Hess
Lecturer and Assistant Director, Writing Center
College of Arts and Letters
Rhetoric and Writing Studies
SDSU
Bio
Julia Hess is a lecturer in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies at San Diego State University, where she has taught since Fall 2023. She also serves as an Assistant Director in the SDSU Writing Center. Julia primarily teaches RWS 305W in both in-person and online formats and also teaches RWS 100 and 200.
Originally from Orange County, California, Julia earned both her B.A. and M.A. in English, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics from California State University, Fullerton. While at CSUF, she worked in the writing center and gained experience teaching and assisting in first-year writing classrooms. After graduation, she moved to Seattle and taught English at Shoreline Community College. She then explored roles in the private sector for two years, working in freelance writing and editing, copywriting, social media management, content marketing, and technical editing. Even in those roles, she found herself applying pedagogical methods—favoring non-directive feedback over simple correction—and ultimately realized her passion remained in the writing classroom. She returned to teaching at Shoreline before relocating to San Diego to join SDSU.
With over a decade of experience in teaching and tutoring writing, Julia is continually energized by conversations about writing and critical pedagogy.
Outside the classroom, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, cooking and baking new recipes, practicing yoga and Pilates, and tackling the New York Times crossword. She's also a stationery and pen enthusiast and can often be found browsing bookstores—or chasing after her two young children, sometimes doing both at once.