Faculty Profile
Jacob Gedetsis
Instructor
Writing Program
Jacob Gedetsis
Email: [email protected]
About
Jacob Gedetsis (He/Him) is the Director of SUNY ESF’s Writing, Rhetoric, and Communications Program.
His scholarly work centers on community-engaged scholarship and creative work that uses participatory, action-based methodologies for humanities research, coalition building, and collective action. He is particularly interested in how public arts and humanities projects generate a more inclusive and connected community through creative expression.
Gedetsis is the founder and director of Write Out Syracuse, a local nonprofit that partners local writers, artists, and university students with youth-focused after-school programs in Syracuse. Since its 2020 founding, Write Out has worked with more than 800 local youth from K-12 through year-round, weekly community writing workshops. He has facilitated the publication and display of student work through print publications, creative performances, and museum installations.
In support of this work, Write Out has received funding from the Central New York Community Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, Humanities New York, Syracuse University’s Humanities Center, SU’s Engaged Humanities Network, and Poets & Writers. Community partners include The North Side Learning Center, YWCA Girls inc., La Casita, The Salt City Market, and the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology.
Additionally, he is co-director of the Environmental Storytelling Series of Central New York. The annual Environmental Storytelling Series (ESS) of Central New York foregrounds artistic expression and humanistic interpretation in pursuit of mutual understanding and collective action around ecological crisis. Through the series, interconnected performances, presentations, workshops, programs and courses are oriented toward three overarching goals: 1.) to demonstrate how environmental issues are always intertwined with social, economic, and cultural issues 2.) to show how storytelling across media can help us pursue environmental justice in ways that facts and figures alone cannot; and 3.) to use storytelling as a way to encourage interaction and collective action across communities in Syracuse and CNY. Visit our Learning Guides for materials created for and generated in response to events in the series.
Gedetsis is also the Coordinator for the Environmental Writing and Rhetoric Minor, and the advisor for the Poetry Club.
His own creative nonfiction and poetry has been published or is forthcoming in Brink, Inkwell, and Stone Canoe, among others. His journalism work has appeared in numerous regional and national publications, including The Kansas City Star, Business Insider, and The Plain Dealer. Additionally, he has worked as a content marketing freelancer and SEO specialist for international companies, including Bose, Nutanix, and Zillow.
Jacob Gedetsis graduated from Syracuse University with dual degrees in English and Newspaper Journalism, before completing his MFA in Creative Writing.
Current Courses
EWP 190 Writing and the Environment
EWP 290 Research, Writing and the Humanities
EWP 293 The Art of Poetry (This is the first course designed by me, please consider taking it!)
Course Description: In this course, we will study the building blocks of poetry in an attempt to create our own poetic responses to the world around us. Each week we will try to understand how poets do this—one, by reading established poets and two, by writing our own beautiful, meaningful, and pleasure-giving poems. You will compose, revise, and reimagine your own poems while providing thoughtful feedback to your peers. Through reading and writing we will explore and practice the technical aspects of form, process, and subject while also trying to get to the mysterious creation of art. Contemporary poetry will be emphasized with a particular focus on ecopoetics. 3 credits. Applies to Environmental Writing & Rhetoric Minor.
Selected Publications
- Gedetsis, Jacob. “Blue Light and Moon” and “This Time Last Year.” Stone Canoe, no. 20, forthcoming. Poems.
- Gedetsis, Jacob. “Calling the City of Pink Flamingos.” Brink Literary, vol. 11, theme issue Obsession, May 2026. Hybrid Creative Nonfiction.
- Gedetsis, Jacob. “Water Growing.” Inkwell” forthcoming, 2026. Poem.
News
Fostering Grassroots Change through The Leadership Classroom
Uniting the Community in the Pursuit of Environmental Justice
Tutoring in a Time of Need
Current & Previous Engaged Communities Projects
Humanities NY Graduate Projects