Dr. Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi, Diné, is a full-time instructor in the Writers' Studio in the School of Applied Sciences and Arts at ASU. She is from the community of Goat Springs, Arizona, within the town of Teec Nos Pos on the Navajo Nation. She holds a Ph.D., in Rhetoric & Writing from the University of New Mexico (UNM); an M.A. in Rhetoric, Writing, & Digital Media Studies from Northern Arizona University; and a B.A. in Print Journalism from UNM. Dr. Clahchischiligi is a recipient of the 2026 University of New Mexico Alumni Association Zia Award and was inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame for sports writing in 2022.
She co-authored the award-winning article "This is a Viral Story about Viral Stories: Image and Graphical Power in COVID Communication in the Navajo Nation" with Julianne Newmark and Joseph Bartolotta which published in the Global Rhetorics of Science edited by Lynda C. Olman (published September 2023). Dr. Clahchischiligi is a multi award-winning journalist and president of the board of directors for the Indigenous Journalist Association. Her areas of research include: storytelling as pedagogy, multimodal composition, online composition, Diné Rhetoric, Indigenous Rhetoric, Indigenous education, Indigenous languages in media, sports media, Indigenous sports media representation, digital storytelling in composition and journalism, Rhetoric and Media Studies and Indigenous Journalism.