Christine Bennett is a doctoral candidate in the Department of English. Her research interests lie at the intersection of ecofeminism and horror fiction, and she is currently working on a dissertation that traces the relationship of post-45 women authors of horror fiction to the burgeoning environmentalist movement of the era. She earned her Master’s degree in English from Gannon University in Erie, PA, where she taught first-year writing courses, served as Assistant Director of the university’s Writing and Research Center, and as a graduate assistant coach of the women’s volleyball team.
She has taught a range of courses at MSU, including WRA 101: Writing as Inquiry, ENG 153: Introduction to Women Authors, and ENG 210: Foundations of Literary Study. She has also worked as an editorial assistant on CR: The New Centennial Review, and is currently serving as the graduate assistant for MSU Commons (formerly Humanities Commons). Her most recent article, “Blood in the Water: Embracing Decolonial Ecologies in the SyFy Channel’s Frankenfish,” is forthcoming in a 2021 edited collection.
Ross Greedy is a doctoral student in the Department of Community Sustainability. Ross grew up in the loess hills of the Missouri River Valley between Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. He has since migrated across the country working in the outdoor industry for the better part of ten years as a raft guide, outdoor educator, outdoor program manager, and outdoor recreation planner.
His research interests are connected to his background in outdoor education, community engagement, and the coordination of outdoor recreation projects and include work that explores relationships between: (1) outdoor education/recreation; (2) environmental stewardship/sustainability; and (3) community access to and investment in nature. Ross is studying the relationships between outdoor education/recreation participation and community-based connections to nature and their respective impacts on environmental stewardship behaviors.
Ross holds a Master’s degree in Education Leadership and his experience has been in developing and managing collegiate outdoor education programs in Minnesota and Michigan. Most recently Ross worked with the City of Winona Minnesota to develop outdoor recreation infrastructure and identify partnership and funding opportunities for the community. In addition, Ross is a Wilderness Medicine Instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS).
When Ross isn’t working or teaching you can find him exploring with his wife Lisa, their two dogs, one cat, five chickens– and as of June 2019 their first child.

Tianyi (Titi) Kou is in her fourth year of the PhD program in German Studies. She completed a BA and MA in German Studies in Beijing, China, with a year of study at Universität Erfurt, Germany. Her research focuses primarily on the ways in which the sociological phenomenon of football influences national and regional identities in Germany. Before she joined the program, she worked as a translator for two publishing houses and also as a part-time interpreter for multiple international football clubs during their summer trips in Beijing. Since her arrival at MSU, she has begun to explore the possibilities of Digital Humanities methods for her research. Titi was a Cultural Heritage Informatics (CHI) Fellow in the academic years 2018/19 and 2019/20. In November 2019, she presented her work Multiculturalism in the German Football World at the Digitalization of Research Conference at Universität Leipzig, Germany. She is currently working on her second digital project “the Fans.” Since 2018 Fall Semester, Titi has taught German language courses, including GRM101 and GRM102. She will be teaching GRM201 and GRM202 in the coming academic year.
Angela Manjichi is a doctoral candidate in the Community Sustainability Program and is pursuing a specialization in Gender, Justice, and Environmental Change. Angela is a Fulbright Scholar, holds a master’s in environmental management from The University of Notre Dame, Australia; and a bachelor degree in Agronomy from Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique. Before joining the Community Sustainability Program, Angela worked in the Higher Polytechnic Institute of Manica, Mozambique as a lecturer in Rural Extension and Participatory Development, as Director of Agricultural Business Incubator, and later as deputy director-general for academic and research affairs.
As an agricultural professional, she was engaged in curriculum development, research, and extension activities. She developed courses on Gender and Agriculture, a specialization program in Supply Chain Management in Agricultural Systems (with NEPAD Business Foundation) and contributed to a specialization in Irrigation Development. She also designed agricultural entrepreneurial programs for undergraduate students and smallholder farmers in Central Mozambique.
As a result of her work with undergraduate students and the outreach activities with rural communities, Angela developed a passion for experiential learning and participatory approaches to teaching, research, and development. Her research interests are on sustainable intensification of agricultural innovation systems, focusing on knowledge management and social learning, gender, and social justice in agricultural and food systems. After her doctoral studies, Angela will return to Mozambique and continue her work in Higher Education and Agriculture Development in Sub Saharan African Countries.
Lee Melvin Peralta is a second-year doctoral student in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education. Prior to coming to MSU, he taught middle school mathematics for five years in New York City. Teaching in a majority APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American) school inspired his interest in decolonizing approaches to education. His current work involves exploring how quantity, number, and data visualization interact with bodies to reproduce hierarchies and power within and outside of schools. He is involved in a youth participatory action research project with Dr. Joanne Marciano and is a volunteer with the Refugee Development Center. He received a MA in Mathematics Education from The City College of New York and a BS/JD from Georgetown University. Outside of MSU, he enjoys cooking, cycling, and reading science fiction.
Nick Sanders (He/Him/His) is a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures. As an interdisciplinary teacher, researcher, and administrator, Nick’s professional interests work to promote equity-driven institutional cultures around teaching and learning that amplify, enrich, and champion students’ diverse learning experiences, needs, and identities. Born and raised in Upstate New York, Nick completed his Masters in English, with a focus in writing studies, at the University of Maine before coming to Michigan State in 2018. He has taught and co-taught undergraduate courses in first-year writing, literature and culture, writing center theory and practice, and antiracist pedagogies. Nick has also worked as a Writing Center Coordinator over the last two years and helped design professional development around the intersections of language, identity, white supremacy, and ideology. Broadly, his research is situated at the intersections of antiracist teacher development, critical whiteness studies, and transformative learning sciences as a way to rethink curriculum, professional development, and assessment. His current research tracks moments of racial learning for white writing teachers to examine and theorize the ways white writing teacher develop orientations and practices around antiracism.