KEYNOTE TALKS, PODCAST APPEARANCES, AND MORE
Below is a list of my recent and selected keynote talks and workshops I’ve led. I am represented by Brightsight Speakers.
Below is also a selected list of appearances and interviews. I have been interviewed for many podcasts, NPR, and national publications such as The New York Times, Salon, The New Republic, and more.
Keynote Talks and Workshops
UPCOMING
Workshop Leader and Faculty, Into the Springs Writer’s Workshop, Yellow Springs, OH, August 2027.
Keynote on Neurodiversity, Monroe Community College, Rochester, NY, Oct. 2, 2026.
Keynote Talk on Neurodiversity in Higher Education, Johnson County Community College (Kansas), August 20, 2026.
PAST EVENTS
Keynote Talk on Neurodiversity in Higher Education, Rock Valley College (Illinois), April 2, 2026.
Featured Speaker on Anxiety in Higher Education, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, March 11, 2026.
Keynote Talk: “Your Kid Belongs Here,” Orange County (California) Library, March 7, 2026.
Featured Speaker: “Beyond Save the Cat Writes a Novel,” Cape Fear Book Festival, Wilmington, NC, Nov. 15, 2025
Keynote Speaker: DePaul University Teaching and Learning Conference, May 2, 2025.
Keynote Speaker: James Madison University (VA), Faculty Wellness and Well-Being Week, April 7, 2025.
Keynote Speaker: “A New Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education,” St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Jan. 31, 2025.
Keynote Speaker: “A Light in the Tower: A New Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education,” Colorado State University Provost’s Ethics Colloquium, Oct. 29, 2024.
Keynote Speaker: “Embracing Neurodiversity in our Communities,” Easterseals of Southern California, May 15, 2024.
Keynote Speaker: “Neurodiversity and Accessibility in Higher Education,” University of New Mexico College of Population Health, March 22, 2024.
Keynote Speaker: “The Neurodiversity Key: Embracing Neurodiversity in Higher Education Communities,” University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, Feb. 29, 2024
Keynote Speaker: “Neurodiversity and Teaching Writing,” Ivy+ Writing Consortium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, October 6, 2023.
Keynote Speaker: “Abortion Bans Harm Campus Mental Health,” West Chester University, PA, March 1, 2023.
Keynote Speaker: “Systemic Burnout in Higher Education,” Johnson County Community College, Kansas City, PA, Jan. 14, 2023.
Invited Panelist: “Entrepreneurship and Freelancing,” Beyond Academia Conference 2022, University of California at Berkeley, Feb. 25, 2022.
Invited Speaker: “Managing Burnout and Mental Health in Our Ongoing ‘Crisis Mode,’” University of North Carolina Festival of Legal Learning, Chapel Hill, N.C., Feb. 2, 2022.
Keynote Speaker: “Let’s Acknowledge Our Suffering,” Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA), Nov. 30, 2021.
Workshop Leader: “The Public Writing Life for Academics,” Jan Serie Center for Scholarship and Teaching at Macalester College, MN, Feb. 26, 2020.
Keynote Speaker: “Break the Cycle of Mental Health Stigma in Higher Ed,” Macalester College, MN, Feb. 25, 2020.
Invited Speaker: “Mental Health and Collegiality in the Legal Profession,” UNC Law Festival of Legal Learning, Chapel Hill, NC, Feb. 7, 2020.
Keynote Speaker for the Orange County Rape Crisis Center 32nd Annual Holiday Auction, Chapel Hill, NC, Dec. 8, 2019.
Invited Panelist: On Book Publishing, North Carolina Writers’ Network, Chapel Hill, NC, Oct. 7, 2019.
Featured Speaker: Small Press Publishing, The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators of the Carolinas Annual Conference, Charlotte, NC, Sept. 7, 2019.
Invited Speaker: “How to Position Yourself as a Media Expert,” Digital Pedagogy Lab Conference, Mary Washington College, Virginia, Aug. 7, 2019.
Invited Speaker: “Freelancing and Independent Consulting,” Career Spotlight Seminar, Beyond the Professoriate Annual Online Conference, May 6, 2019.
Keynote Speaker: “Disclosure Blues: Transforming Mental Health in Higher Education.” Hope College, Michigan, Feb. 22, 2019.
Invited Panelist: “Religious Studies and to #MeToo Movement: Tips for Sharing Scholarships with the Public,” American Academy of Religion, Feb. 19, 2019.
Invited Panelist: “What’s Next with Alt-Ac Careers?” Future Trends Forum Seminar, Sept. 6, 2018.
Author Panel: “Crazy Love: Writing Love and Mental Illness,” Regulator Bookshop, Durham, NC, Feb. 7, 2018.
Speaker and Panelist: “Disclosure in the Era of the First-Person Industrial Complex,” Creative Writing Studies Association Conference, Asheville, NC, Sept. 24, 2016.
Speaker and Panelist: “Breaking Genre Expectations in Psychiatric Memoirs,” Creative Writing Studies Association Conference, Asheville, NC, Sept. 24, 2016.
Speaker and Panelist: “Writing for Action: A Crash Course in Journalism Genres,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Houston, TX, Apr. 8, 2016.
Virginia Quarterly Review (VQR) Writer’s Conference Nonfiction Scholar Fellowship recipient, August 2015.
Workshop Leader: “Psychiatric Disability: Countering Ableism and Stigma,” University of North Carolina School of Government, Chapel Hill, NC, May 11, 2015.
Speaker and Panel Chair: “Coming ‘into’ Adjacency in Disability Studies,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Tampa, FL, March 19, 2015.
Speaker: “Heller’s Scapegoats: Psychiatric Disability, Gun Control, and Civil Commitment in the Era of Spree Killings,” University of North Carolina Law Review Symposium: Vulnerable Defendants in the Criminal Justice System, Oct. 10, 2014. (Symposium co-organizer with Professor Tamar Birckhead.)
Speaker: “The Genre Discovery Approach: Teaching Law Students How to Write Any Legal Document,” Biennial Conference of the Legal Writing Institute, Philadelphia, PA, June 2014.
Keynote Speaker: “Authority Lost: The DSM-5’s Fall from Legal Grace.” Annual Composing Disability Conference at the George Washington University, Washington, DC, April 2014
Speaker and Panelist: “Bipolar Rhetorics: Using Genre Theory to Reconcile Rhetoric from and Rhetoric About Psychiatric Disability,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Indianapolis, IN, March 2014.
Keynote Speaker: “Polished Writing for Paralegals,” North Carolina Bar Association Paralegal Division Annual Meeting in Greensboro, NC (with Kaci Bishop), May 10, 2013.
Speaker and Panelist: “Making Madness Public: The Genre of Coming Out Stories of the Psychiatrically Disabled,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Las Vegas, NV, March 2013.
Speaker: “Writing Professionally is Writing Ethically,” Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshop, University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, NC, Dec. 2012.
Keynote Speaker: “Core Grammar for Paralegals,” North Carolina Bar Association Paralegal Division Annual Meeting, Greensboro, NC, May 18, 2012.
Speaker and Panelist: “Reframing Sanity: Scapegoating the Mentally Ill in the Case of Jared Loughner,” Rhetoric Society of America Biennial Conference, Philadelphia, PA, May 2012.
Speaker: “The Dangers of Unfair Prejudice: Enargeia, the Rules of Evidence, and Emotional Persuasion in the Courtroom.” Persuasion and Argumentation, Colloque international organisé par le CRAL à l’EHESS (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales), Paris, France, Sept. 2010. Recipient of the UNC Center for Global Initiatives International Conference Travel Grant for travel.
Recipient of the UNC Center for Faculty Excellence/Lenovo Instructional Innovation Grant, co-author Dr. Leslie Frost of UNC English, $10,000.00, Oct. 2010.
Speaker and Panelist: “The Genre of the Mood Memoir and the Romance of Mental Illness,” Rhetoric Society of America Biennial Conference, Minneapolis, MN, May 2010.
Workshop Leader: “The Art and Ethics of Persuasion,” North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys, Kitty Hawk, NC (with Jordynn Jack), Oct. 2008.
Workshop Leader: “Invention and Style: Using Writing Strategies to Develop Ideas and Eloquence in Writing,” UNC Institute of Government, for North Carolina Appellate Defenders (with Jordynn Jack), Oct. 19, 2007.
Speaker and Panelist: “Composing the New Gender Politics: Language as a Pathway to Bodily Freedom,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, IL, March 2006.
Featured Speaker and Panelist: “The Ideology of Terror: Why We Will Never Win the ‘War’.” Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association Conference, San Diego, CA, March 2005. Winner of the Journal of American Culture Award for the Best Graduate Student Paper Presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Culture Association.
Media Appearances and Interviews
Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism, Interview, “Your Kid Belongs Here: Talking with Autistic Parent and Author Katie Rose Guest Pryal,” by Shannon des Roches Rosa, May 9, 2026.
NPR and Kansas Public Radio Conversations Podcast, Interview about Your Kid Belongs Here. March 226, 2026.
The Academic Life Podcast, Interview: “A Light in the Tower: A New Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education,” host Dr. Christina Gessler, Feb. 26, 2026.
Creatively ADHD, Interview: “Like a Formula One Car A Q&A With Author, Advocate, Educator Katie Rose Guest Pryal,” Feb. 23, 2026.
Student Affairs Now Podcast: “Navigating Neurodivergence for Parents, Faculty, and Staff,” Dec. 17, 2025.
The Agile Academic Podcast: “Conversation on Neurodiversity in Education,” Host, Rebecca Pope-Ruark, Sept. 23, 2025.
Publisher’s Weekly, Review, “Your Kid Belongs Here: An Insider’s Guide to Parenting Neurodiverse Children Katie Rose Guest Pryal,” Aug. 26, 2025.
News of Orange County, Interview: “Cutting with Care: Barber Offers Sensory-Friendly Services,” July 17, 2025.
Ride IQ Podcast: “The Neurodivergent Equestrian with Katie Rose Guest Pryal,” July 15, 2025.
State (Colorado State U. Magazine; Feature), “Student Mental Health: Pronounced Problems and Strategies to Help,” Jan. 27, 2025.
Other People’s Parents, Interview: “Embrace the Meltdown: Neurodivergence is a year-round challenge, but the holidays call for extra awareness, empathy, and space to let go, says autistic author Katie Rose Pryal.” Dec. 5, 2024.
Women In Higher Education, “Review of A Light in the Tower: A New Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education,” by Sarah Boon, Sept. 2024.
NPR and Kansas Public Radio, Interview, “Later-in-Life Diagnosis with Autism,” on show “Up to Date” via KCUR Kansas City, May 22, 2024.
Equity Avengers, Featured Guest on EquityChat to discuss mental health in higher education, March 28, 2024.
Writing Your Resilience Podcast: “Understanding Neurodivergence,” Host, Lisa Cooper Ellison, Feb. 26, 2024.
The Agile Academic Podcast, Interview on neurodiversity and higher education. Host, Rebecca Pope-Ruark, ep. 4.6, Aug. 22, 2023
The Law School Lounge Podcast, Interview on neurodiversity and mental health in the legal profession, Aug. 15, 2023.
You Should Write a Book Podcast, “Finding Your Throughline,” on neurodiversity and working as a professional writer. Host, Camille Pagán, ep. 49, May 23, 2023.
The Rumpus, “Accommodations Are not Accessibility: An Interview with Katie Rose Guest Pryal,” Interview by Ayla Samli, September 21st, 2022.
Diversity in Research Podcast, “Roe v. Wade: Katie Pryal on Why Abortion is a Higher-Ed Issue,” August 18, 2022.
GoodRX Health, Profile, “Why I Waited to Disclose My Mental Health Disorder at Work,” Profile by Marcia Frellick, July 26, 2022.
Texas Appellate Law Podcast, “Addressing Burnout in the Legal Profession,” March 17, 2022.
The New York Times, Interview, “How to Disclose a Disability to Your Employer (and Whether You Should),” by Lizz Schumer, July 10, 2019.
USA Today, “Interview: Katie Pryal, Author of Chasing Chaos,” by Joyce Lamb, June 6, 2016.
The New York Times, Interview, “Writers, Teachers and Lawyers React to Harper Lee’s Death,” Feb. 19, 2016.
Salon, Interview, “Atticus Finch was never a hero: ‘This book taught white people how to talk about race, and it did so badly,’” by Scott Timberg, July 15, 2015.
The New Republic, Interview, “Scholars Have Been Pointing Out Atticus Finch’s Racism for Years,” by Laura Marsh, July 14, 2015.
The New Republic, Interview, “The Worst Way to Address Campus Rape,” by Jamil Smith, Feb. 19, 2015.
