Ibrahim Luberenga, M.A.

Doctoral Student - Human Development & Family Studies

Couple and Family Therapy Specialization

Ibrahim Luberenga is a doctoral student in the Human Development and Family Studies program at Michigan State University, specializing in Couple and Family Therapy. He holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology and has extensive training and clinical experience working with individuals, couples, and families across diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. His academic and professional journey reflects a strong commitment to addressing mental health disparities in vulnerable populations, particularly refugees and displaced communities.

Currently, Ibrahim’s research focuses on refugee mental health, with an emphasis on adapting and implementing systemic interventions that integrate family- and community-based approaches. He is particularly interested in understanding how culturally grounded practices can be applied in both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as well as high-income countries (HICs) to strengthen resilience, enhance relational wellbeing, and improve mental health outcomes. His work bridges clinical practice and research, aiming to develop scalable interventions that are both evidence- based and contextually responsive.

Beyond his academic work, Ibrahim is passionate about global mental health, training mental health practitioners, and contributing to policy and program development that expands access to family-centered care. He has ongoing projects exploring the drivers of refugee mental health interventions, as well as pilot programs designed to integrate family-based mental health support within humanitarian contexts.

Through his research, teaching, and clinical practice, Ibrahim seeks to contribute to a more equitable and inclusive mental health landscape by amplifying the voices of marginalized communities and advancing systemic interventions that promote healing, resilience, and wellbeing for refugees and their families worldwide.

Yetunde Alabede

Doctoral Candidate - Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education (CITE)

Yetunde S. Alabede (Yétúndé Alábẹdé), is doctoral candidate in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education (CITE) here at Michigan State University. She is a teacher, teacher-educator, researcher, and cultural advocate whose work bridges multilingualism, heritage language education, and African epistemologies. 

Yetunde's interdisciplinary scholarship explores how African and African diasporic families use language as a praxis of resistance, belonging, and care. With a focus on Yorùbá as a heritage and community language, her research encompasses family language policy, multilingual childhoods, heritage literacy, and digital multilingualism. Meanwhile, her teaching emphasizes social justice, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and preparing educators to serve diverse learners. 

Alongside her academic work, Yetunde founded Ebunoluwa Children School in Nigeria, a grassroots initiative that integrates global and local curricula to foster holistic child development. It is her way of bridging the research-practitioner gap by applying what she has been learning as an education major since 2010, when she completed her associate degree in education. 

Yetunde also designs and leads online Yorùbá programs that connect children in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Nigeria, and beyond to their cultural and linguistic roots. Her community-based approach informs her broader vision, which she calls ẹ̀bùnlingualism (language as gift) and ẹ̀bùngogy (teaching as gifting), to sustain identity and creativity across generations. 

Across classrooms, communities, and research projects, Yetunde strives to create spaces where children, families, and teachers see their languages and identities not as barriers but as resources that open pathways to equity, imagination, and global connection. At leisure, I enjoy cooking, listening to folk music, and connecting with loved ones transnationally. Learn more about Yetunde and her work.

Sepehr Dehdashtian

Doctoral Student - Computer Science

Sepehr is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Michigan State University, with a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology.

His work centers on reliability and representation learning in multimodal and generative models, as well as on understanding and mitigating bias and fairness issues in generative AI systems. He has investigated stereotype detection and steerability in diffusion and flow-matching text-to-image models and is currently exploring post-training policy enforcement for foundation models, applying both RL-based (e.g., RLHF) and non-RL (e.g., DPO) methods. 

Through these efforts, Sepehr aims to identify and address failure modes where models deviate from safety and alignment policies, ultimately contributing to more equitable and trustworthy AI systems.

If you’re interested in discussing his research, feel free to reach out via email or connect with him on social media. Learn more about his work here.

Prince Gyebi Owusu

Doctoral Candidate - Human Development & Family Studies

Child Development Specialization

Prince Gyebi Owusu is a doctoral candidate in Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University, specializing in Child Development. His research centers on the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of developmental screening tools, alongside the design of culturally responsive interventions for children with disabilities and their families in low-resource settings.

He is the co-founder and Director of Organizational Development at the Center for Learning and Childhood Development–Ghana (CLCD), a research-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to improving early childhood outcomes through community-based programming, policy advocacy, and multisectoral collaboration. Through CLCD, Prince partners with government agencies, NGOs, and academic institutions to strengthen national strategies addressing children’s developmental needs.

At MSU, Prince has combined research and teaching with global engagement. He initiated a Study Abroad program to Ghana that immerses U.S. university students, including those from MSU, in hands-on learning about child development and global health in African hospitals, schools, and communities. These experiences foster cross-cultural understanding while deepening inquiry into the influence of culture and policy on human development.

Prince also brings significant teaching experience to his scholarship. He has served as Instructor of Record for seven courses both in-person and online and as a Teaching Assistant for two others. His teaching portfolio spans Child Development, Parenting, Personal Finance, Applied Resource Management, and the Management of Human Services, among other courses.

Through his research, nonprofit leadership, teaching, and global engagement initiatives, Prince seeks to advance inclusive, interdisciplinary approaches to addressing social issues that shape child and family well-being.

Prawita Simanjuntak

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education

Prawita is a doctoral student from Indonesia majoring in Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education. Before beginning her doctoral journey, Prawita worked as an early childhood and elementary education teacher, where she had the opportunity to teach and learn alongside multilingual students. 

Those experiences shaped her passion for literacy among multilingual students and inspired her research focus on supporting bi/multilingual learners in developing early literacy skills. Prawita is deeply committed to creating equitable learning opportunities for all students, and in the future, she hopes to work with an international organization such as UNICEF to broaden the impact of this work. 

Outside of my academic life, she enjoys cooking and finds joy in exploring and sharing food from different cultures.

Graham Gardner

Doctoral Student - Economics

Graham Gardner (he/him) is a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Economics. His research focuses on reproductive health, with an emphasis on the lifetime health effects of restricted access to reproductive freedoms.

Since beginning his Ph.D., Graham has been a graduate teaching assistant and lead instructor for multiple sections of introductory macroeconomics and microeconomics. It was during these classes that he realized a passion for teaching undergraduate students and thinking about ways in which introductory economics education can be improved to better serve the wide variety of students who engage with the material.

Blake Ginsburg

Doctoral Student - Philosophy

Animal Studies Specialization, Women's and Gender Studies Specialization

Blake Ginsburg is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Philosophy and is pursuing specializations in Animal Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies. His research interests include animal and environmental philosophy, critical animal studies, ecofeminism, ethology, philosophy of science, and philosophy of technology. Blake holds a BA in Philosophy and a BS in Biological Science (concentration in Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation) from California State University, Fullerton. 

He also holds a Graduate Certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality studies and a MA degree in Environmental Philosophy from the University of Montana. While at the University of Montana, Blake wrote a thesis that attempted to disclose the ethical dimensions and transformative significance of Timothy Treadwell’s relationships with brown bears and red foxes in Katmai National Park and Preserve before he and his partner, Amy Huguenard, were killed and eaten by a bear in 2003.

Blake is currently working on philosophical issues that emerge at the intersection of environmental philosophy and animal philosophy. He is particularly interested in the value of philosophical ethology and ethological philosophy (or ethosophy) as disclosive and generative mediums with great promise for drawing attention to and enacting alternative human-animal relational possibilities. 

He considers these projects to be significant insomuch as they have the potential to inspire the transformation of our personal and collective worlds in view of the large-scale anthropogenic violence that is routinely enacted against other animals and the rest of the more-than-human world.

Stephie Minjung Kang

Doctoral Student - Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures

Stephie Minjung Kang (she/her/hers) is a doctoral student in the department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures. Originally from Seoul, South Korea, her research interests encompass transnational and multilingual writing instructors’ identity and pedagogy, translingual approach to writing and literacy education, and decolonial approach against standard language ideologies. 

She earned her master’s degree in writing and Rhetoric from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM. She has taught various writing and communication courses including first year writing, stretch and studio composition, professional writing, communication for teachers, and public speaking. 

At MSU, she has taught WRA 101: Writing as Inquiry and WRA 1040: Preparation for College Writing while also working as a consultant at the Writing Center. Besides teaching and research, she serves as the chair of the International Graduate Student Committee at the Graduate Employees Union, advocating for international workers’ rights.

Abhinav Kapoor

Doctoral Candidate - School of Planning, Design, and Construction

Urban and Regional Planning Concentration

Abhinav Kapoor is a doctoral candidate at the School of Planning Design and Construction, with a concentration in Urban and Regional Planning and has a doctoral fellowship at the Environmental Science and Policy Program at MSU. 

His research explores how urbanization affects the socio-economic conditions of small and marginal farmers in the villages surrounding expanding cities in South and Southeast Asia. By making use of spatial and qualitative socioeconomic data, his research takes a critical look at the present trends of urbanization and explores how we can move towards a more sustainable urban policy with the interests of all stakeholders in mind—especially the more vulnerable groups living within and around the expanding cities. 

Before coming to MSU, Abhinav has been part of several research projects which study the changing agrarian livelihoods in India. His research focused on collecting and analyzing village level socio-economic data to understand the contemporary rural economy.

On days when academic work seems overwhelming, Abhinav likes to drift into cooking elaborate meals for himself. Apart from that, he also likes to go on long runs and taking care of his plants at home.

Victoria Nelson

Doctoral Student - Information and Media

Victoria Nelson is a doctoral student in the Information and Media program housed within the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. She is interested in the intersection of health, emerging technology, and the law. Specifically, she is interested in blockchain and artificial intelligence in healthcare settings especially when applied to those with chronic illness. 

Her work is at the intersection of science and technology studies, health communication, legal scholarship, sociology, and public policy. Victoria received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Michigan State University College of Law (2020) and her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Supply Chain Management and Political Science from The University of Tennessee (2017).

Gulraiz Sufyan

Doctoral Student - Planning, Design, and Construction

Transportation System Planning Concentration

Gulraiz Sufyan is a third-year doctoral student in the School of Planning, Design and Construction with a concentration in Transportation System Planning. Her study focuses on implications and perceptions of Autonomous Vehicles and is highly interested in studying policy implications and implementation challenges of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs). 

She is interested in teaching the impact of future mobility technologies on society. Her interests involve learning, assessing and comparing similarities and differences in the legislative frameworks as well as the impact and insinuation of autonomous vehicles in transport planning. Gulraiz has earned her master's degree in Spatial Planning at Technical University of Dortmund, Germany. 

Her research mainly dealt with characterizing and comparing smart mobility management policies and strategies in various European cities including Aachen (Germany), Maastricht and Heerlen (Netherlands), and Hasselt (Belgium). 

Christine Bennett

Doctoral Candidate - English

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

Doctoral Student - Community Sustainability

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

Doctoral Student - German Studies

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

Doctoral Candidate - Community Sustainability

Gender, Justice, & Environmental Change Specialization

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's 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

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education

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

Doctoral Student - Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures

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.

Caitlin Cornell

Doctoral Student - Second Language Studies

Caitlin Cornell is a Ph.D. student in Second Language Studies. She earned her M.A. in Linguistics and TESOL from the University of Illinois at Chicago and she has taught English and trained English teachers since 2005. In 2018, she interned with the English Learning and Accessibility Specialist in the Michigan Department of Education’s Accountability Office. 

She co-chairs the 2019 Second Language Research Forum’s organizing body and serves the 2019 Accessible Learning Conference as the outreach chairperson. Her second language research interests include the experiences of language learners with disabilities, strategies for accessible learning, computer-assisted language learning, online and hybrid learning, and U.S. language policy in the K-12 context.

Rebekah Gordon

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education

Rebekah Gordon is a third-year doctoral student in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education. She received her master's degree in teaching English as a second language (TESL) from St. Cloud State University and her bachelor's degree in special education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

She has taught for ten years, including English language teaching positions in South Korea, Ethiopia, and China as well as an ESL methodology course here at MSU. Her scholarly interests revolve around the lived experiences of transnational language teachers. 

Her current work explores the pedagogical, cultural, and linguistic identity negotiations of transnational Chinese language teachers in the U.S. Outside of academia, Rebekah enjoys spending time outdoors while trying to keep up with her one-year-old daughter.

Mel Medeiros

Doctoral Student - Department of Advertising and Public Relations

Mel Medeiros is a PhD student in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations. Her research interests include political communication, digital politics, social media, and the platformization of politics. 

Her current projects use mixed-methods approaches to study the practices strategists (e.g., politicians) and individuals use to make politics visible to themselves or the public on social media. 

Before coming to MSU, Mel received her M.S. in communication studies at Boston University and a B.A. in linguistics and Portuguese and Brazilian studies at Smith College.

Marie Schaefer

Doctoral Candidate - Community Sustainability

Marie Schaefer is a PhD candidate in Community Sustainability at Michigan State University, a founding member of the MSU Indigenous Graduate Student Collective and a Graduate Fellow of the USGS Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center. 

She received her Bachelor of Science in Anthropology from Eastern Michigan University, a Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology from Northern Arizona University. Marie has had the honor of working with Tribes across the United States. 

Her work focuses on traditional or indigenous knowledges revitalization especially manoomin (wild rice) revitalization as well as braiding indigenous knowledges and scientific knowledge using community-based participatory approaches. She works to bridge knowledge systems and understand how collaborations between knowledge systems can contribute to sustainable futures.

Amit Sharma

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education

Amit Sharma is pursuing his Ph.D. in Curriculum, Instruction and Teacher Education from MSU. His research focuses on the 'joy of learning'. He is interested in contrasting the experiences of students across different learning contexts including in Montessori, Reggio Emelia, Waldorf classrooms and also non-formal learning contexts.

Amit completed his undergraduate in mathematics, statistics, and economics and a master’s degree in human resources management from India. He was working with leading corporate organizations before switching to the development sector. He has over 8 years of experience in the education sector- as an elementary teacher, curriculum maker, professional development facilitator, and founder of an educational not-for-profit. 

At MSU, he is involved with Connected Mathematics Project as a research assistant and also teaches the elementary math methods courses to pre-service teachers.

Jon Spiegler

Doctoral Student - Political Science

Jon Spiegler is a PhD student in political science at Michigan State University. Originally from the Cleveland, Ohio area, he earned his BA in political science and economics from Kenyon College. He went on to earn a Master of Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. 

During this time, he worked in the Twin Cities area on tobacco control policy, government data privacy, and homelessness policy. Jon's scholarly interests center on political philosophy and public policy. He is interested in the idea that the type of political order or regime fundamentally shapes the character of the people who live under it. 

In particular, his dissertation research applies the idea of the regime to the United States through an examination of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. In public policy, he is currently working on research comparing the effects of minimum wages versus unionization rates on economic inequality and the size of the middle class in the United States.

Karolina Achirri

Doctoral Student - Second Language Studies

Karolina Achirri holds an MA in English Philology. She taught English in Poland and China for over 12 years. She has been an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Speaking and Writing Examiner for over four years, certified by the British Council. She published two books on IELTS Speaking and Writing in 2015 and a cultural memoir on her life in China in 2017. 

Karolina is currently in her third year of a PhD program in Second Language Studies, working as a teaching assistant for Language Learning and Teaching (LLT) courses. Her research interests include intercultural language learning and teaching, teacher identity, Chinese students’ academic adaptation in the United States, sociocultural approaches to second language acquisition, linguistic anthropology and qualitative research methods.

Kayon Hall

Doctoral Student - Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education

Kayon Hall is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education (HALE) program within the Department of Educational Administration. Through the use of critical and cultural theories and methodologies, Kayon’s research focuses on Black immigrants, popular culture, and race. 

Her current work examines the intersection of race and immigration status and how these overlapping identities shape the experience of Black undocumented students in higher education. Prior to MSU, Kayon worked as an administrator in student affairs for eight years. She holds BBA in Marketing and an MBA.

Alyssa Lopez

Doctoral Candidate - Department of History

Alyssa Lopez is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the Department of History, focusing on African American history, U.S. history, and film studies. She is currently writing her dissertation, entitled “Screens, Seats, and Picket Signs: Black Film Culture in New York City, 1896-1945,” on the various ways that New York City’s black working class interacted with motion pictures as cultural producers, consumers, and workers. 

As an educator, Alyssa is interested in the ways that film and digital humanities can be worked into undergraduate history classrooms to increase critical thinking and engagement. Outside of MSU, you can find her gardening, catching up on the latest true crime series, or obsessing over her two cats. 

Inna Mirzoyan

Doctoral Student - Sociology

Inna Mirzoyan is a second-year doctoral student in the Sociology department. Her interests include immigration, social movements, intersectionality, and public attitudes. Inna is a first-generation immigrant and is particularly interested in a pedagogy that elevates the voices of students who may not always have a space to be heard. 

During the 2018 spring semester, Inna participated in MSU's first ever Intercultural Dialogues and became a certified facilitator. She is currently pursuing a graduate specialization in Women's and Gender Studies and her Certification in College Teaching through the Graduate School. Outside of the university, Inna enjoys exploring new coffee shops, seeing films, going to music shows, and finding new exhibits at local museums. 

Molade Osibodu

Doctoral Student - Mathematics Education

Molade Osibodu is a fourth-year doctoral student in Mathematics Education. Molade taught mathematics for five years at a school in South Africa committed to developing the future generation of African leaders. Teaching at this pan-African institution inspired her research agenda where she studies how mathematics can be used as a tool to allow youth (in particular African youth) approach social issues with a critical lens. 

Molade is driven by a desire to cultivate a generation of African youth who challenge the status quo in their communities and broadly across the continent. She takes a humanities-oriented lens to her work and is intentional in elevating voices not traditionally valued in education research. Outside of school, Molade is an avid podcast addict, a huge fam of Hamilton musical, loves cooking, and exploring new places.

Mary Neville

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education

Mary Neville is a doctoral student in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education. Her scholarly interests include the use of literature in secondary English classrooms to deconstruct race, power, and oppression. Her current work explores the roles of emotion in literacy classrooms, particularly the ways that emotional rules construct norms of literary response and the ways emotions can serve as a form of resistance. 

She is also interested in using interdisciplinary pedagogies across film, visual art, music, and poetry in pre-service English teacher education courses. She received her master's degree in education from the University of Notre Dame and her bachelor's degree in English from Michigan State. 

As a former high school English teacher, Mary is committed to supporting secondary English teachers and students in constructing English classrooms that respond to and sustain students' identities and literacies through texts.

Tashal Brown

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education

Tashal Brown is a third-year doctoral student in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education. As a teacher educator and former NYC public school teacher, Tashal is committed to exploring the role of power, identity and privilege in social institutions as well as fostering the development of educational spaces with an increased capacity for innovative, critical and collaborative teaching and learning. 

Her research examines epistemic and ontological concerns regarding what knowledge(s) and ways of being are valued and embodied in the culture, curriculum and instructional practices within urban schools as well as predominately white educational institutions. 

More specifically, Tashal seeks to center the narratives of teachers and students of color by illuminating how personal and external perceptions of their ways of being and knowing impact their experiences within educational institutions.

Annabelle Estera

Doctoral Student - Higher, Adult, & Lifelong Education

Annabelle Estera is a third-year doctoral student in the Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education program within the Department of Educational Administration. Her interests include understanding discourses of diversity and multiculturalism, and teaching and learning particularly in regard to women of color. She also interested in curriculum issues and critical pedagogy within interdisciplinary spaces. 

She received her master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Ohio State University and her bachelor’s degree in music in contemporary American society from the University of Rochester. Outside of the university, Annabelle enjoys playing music, going to arts performances, and spending time with family.\

Tara Mock

Doctoral Candidate - African American & African Studies

Tara Mock is a fourth year doctoral candidate in African American and African Studies at Michigan State University (MSU). Her dissertation, entitled "Manufacturing Sameness: Continuities and Expansions of Community Identity in Afro-Chinese Relations", explores cultural identity and community formation through the lens of Chinese nation branding in Africa. 

Prior to MSU, Tara received a MALD in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and studied International Business at the HEC School of Management in Jouy-en-Josas, France. Her areas of research interest include Afro-Chinese relations, cultural political economy, and globalization in Africa.

Sudha Sankar

Doctoral Candidate - Human Development & Family Studies

Couple and Family Therapy Specialization

Sudha Sankar is a doctoral candidate in the department of Human Development and Family Studies, specializing in Couple and Family Therapy (CFT). Her academic interests are in the prevention of relationship and sexual violence in South Asian communities and in mental health services for those who have experienced intimate partner or sexual violence. 

Her dissertation work is focused on maternal socialization of South Asian women around relationship and sexual health. Sudha has set up and served as the Coordinator for the Interpersonal Conflict and Violence Initiative housed within the CFT Clinic at MSU.

As an educator, Sudha is interested in exploring the application of concepts and approaches of translational science with classroom as community, classroom technology and peer supported learning, towards propelling shifts in the culture of violence, particularly on college campuses. 

For her fellowship, Sudha is conducting a two-phase project aimed at developing guidelines for teaching courses on relationship and sexual violence on college campuses. Sudha holds a master’s degree in psychology from Pittsburg State University in Kansas and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Madras in India.

Erin Schaefer

Doctoral Student - Writing, Rhetoric, & American Cultures

Erin Schaefer is a third-year doctoral student in the Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures department. She is interested in studying narratives about emotions and the mind, both in popular culture and in the fields of psychology and neuroscience. Through interdisciplinary work, she seeks to dissolve several binaries, including mind-body, brain-culture, and emotion-logic. 

Erin has challenged these binaries in her teaching by integrating discussions of the brain’s plasticity along and mindfulness practices as a way of shifting students’ understanding of their own agency as writers, learners, and citizens. In addition to examining problems of agency, she is interested in exploring what these interdisciplinary conversations might mean in terms of problems of prejudice. 

With an emphasis in digital rhetoric and professional writing, she examines how digital tools, including neurofeedback, can support students’ examination of prejudicial narratives. In her spare time, Erin enjoys being in nature, exploring music, watching movies, playing sports (e.g., volleyball, tennis, bowling, softball, and ping-pong), playing games (board and "classic" Nintendo systems), and taking too many pictures of her cats.

Heather Noel Turner

Doctoral Candidate - Writing, Rhetoric, & American Cultures

Heather Noel Turner is a PhD candidate in the Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures department. Her research interests include visual/digital rhetoric, social justice, and pedagogy. 

Her current research focuses on culturally inclusive technology practices in design, communication, and pedagogy. Outside of the university, you can find her staring at one screen or another. 

She likes tweeting the gifs she makes, obsessively following pop culture, and watching Netflix with her cats.

Vivek Vellanki

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education

Vivek Vellanki is a doctoral student in the Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education program, Michigan State University. His research interests revolve around transnational identities, South Asian diaspora, and cultural studies. 

His current work considers the affective and creative affordances of photography in exploring youth identity, culture, and experiences. In his research and teaching, Vivek is driven by a desire to explore diverse forms of writing, reading, and experiencing. 

He is currently involved in producing two podcasts that aim to make educational research conversational and accessible. Twitter: @vellankiv | Email: vellank1@msu.edu

Carrie Li

Doctoral Student - Criminal Justice

Carrie Li is a fourth year doctoral student in Criminal Justice. Her areas of research broadly include intimate partner violence, fear of crime, juvenile delinquency, and cybercrime. She holds a BSc. in Experimental Psychology from University of Bristol and MSc. in Crime Science from University College London in the United Kingdom. 

Having a multidisciplinary and multicultural background, she is also passionate about rethinking pedagogies and integrating cultural awareness approach for interdisciplinary teaching and learning. She has received International Peace Scholarship from the Philanthropic Education Organization and a Graduate Student Paper Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Samuel Mindes

Doctoral Student - Sociology

Samuel Mindes is a fourth-year doctoral student in the department of Sociology, having received his master’s in the department in 2015. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Calvin College, he worked as an English teacher in the Marshall Islands and American Samoa as a volunteer for WorldTeach, a non-profit based in Cambridge, MA. 

Sam’s interests in sociology include international migration, international development, and social research methods. His dissertation research focuses on emigration from the United States to Canada and Mexico in an attempt to add to the understanding of migration in the North American Migration System. Outside of academia, Sam likes to play tennis and ultimate frisbee. 

He also enjoys camping, hiking, and geocaching with his (soon to be) wife, Katie, a fellow graduate student in the Sociology department. Sam is excited to be an IIT Fellow and thrilled to have to opportunity to work in collaboration with the other fellows and the students and faculty at James Madison College.

Sudha Sankar

Doctoral Student - Human Development & Family Studies

Couple and Family Therapy Specialization

Sudha Sankar is currently pursuing a PhD in the department of Human Development and Family Studies, specializing in Couple and Family Therapy (CFT). Her academic interests include mental health services for couples experiencing intimate partner violence, mental health services for survivors of sexual assault and identity negotiations in non-traditional families. 

Her specific clinical and research interest are in the differential assessment of couple interpersonal violence patterns and the subsequent matching of couples to appropriate treatment and referral strategies. Sudha has set up and served as the Coordinator for the Interpersonal Conflict and Violence Initiative housed within the CFT Clinic at MSU. She is currently the Community Relations Coordinator for the Couple and Family Therapy Clinic.

As an educator, Sudha is interested in exploring the application of concepts and approaches of translational science with community engagement, classroom technology and peer supported learning, towards propelling shifts in the culture of violence, particularly on college campuses. Sudha holds a master’s degree in psychology from Pittsburg State University in Kansas and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Madras in India.

Erin Schaefer

Doctoral Student - Writing, Rhetoric, & American Cultures

Erin Schaefer is a third-year doctoral student in the Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures department. She is interested in studying narratives about emotions and the mind, both in popular culture and in the fields of psychology and neuroscience. Through interdisciplinary work, she seeks to dissolve several binaries, including mind-body, brain-culture, and emotion-logic. 

Erin has challenged these binaries in her teaching by integrating discussions of the brain’s plasticity along and mindfulness practices as a way of shifting students’ understanding of their own agency as writers, learners, and citizens. In addition to examining problems of agency, she is interested in exploring what these interdisciplinary conversations might mean in terms of problems of prejudice. 

With an emphasis in digital rhetoric and professional writing, she examines how digital tools, including neurofeedback, can support students’ examination of prejudicial narratives. In her spare time, Erin enjoys being in nature, exploring music, watching movies, playing sports (e.g., volleyball, tennis, bowling, softball, and ping-pong), playing games (board and "classic" Nintendo systems), and taking too many pictures of her cats.

Heather Noel Turner

Doctoral Candidate - Writing, Rhetoric, & American Cultures

Heather Noel Turner is a PhD candidate in the Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures department. Her research interests include visual/digital rhetoric, social justice, and pedagogy. 

Her current research focuses on culturally inclusive technology practices in design, communication, and pedagogy. Outside of the university, you can find her staring at one screen or another. 

She likes tweeting the gifs she makes, obsessively following pop culture, and watching Netflix with her cats.

Adrienne Tyrey

Doctoral Candidate - History

Modern Europe, Africa, and Migration Studies

Adrienne Tyrey is a sixth-year PhD candidate in the Department of History in the areas of Modern Europe, Africa, and Migration Studies. After a year of research in Morocco and France on a Fulbright-Hays DDRA Fellowship, she is currently writing her dissertation on the Amazigh (Berber) language and culture during the French Protectorate of Morocco (1912-1956). 

Additionally, Adrienne is the coordinator of the annual conference "Migration With(out) Boundaries" at Michigan State University and has served as a discussion leader in the "Muslim Journeys" book series at the MSU library. 

As a teaching assistant, Adrienne has instructed courses in History and the Integrated Arts and Humanities on Europe, the United States, and Latin America. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Adrienne graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in History and French. In addition to her research and teaching, Adrienne enjoys cooking, cycling, swimming, and travel.

Alison Chrisler

Doctoral Student - Human Development & Family Studies

Alison Chrisler is a second-year doctoral student in the Human Development and Family Studies department at Michigan State University where she teaches a parenting course to undergraduate juniors and seniors. After obtaining her undergraduate degree in Child Life and Studies in Education from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, she worked in hospitals where she prepared and supported hospitalized children and their family members in coping with medical stressors. 

She later obtained a master’s degree in Youth Development at Michigan State University in Human Development and Family studies and most recently worked at Child Trends, a non-profit research center in Washington, DC, as a Research Analyst in the Early Childhood Development area. 

Ali’s research interests focus on identifying ways families can support their youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender during the “coming out” process. Ali is eager to begin the IIT Fellowship and work in collaboration with the other fellows and faculty and students in the James Madison college.

Lami Fofana-Kamara

Doctoral Student - Writing, Rhetoric, & American Cultures

Lami Fofana-Kamara is a third year PhD student in the department of Writing, Rhetoric and American Cultures. As a researcher, Lami’s interests include cultural rhetorics and community and civic engagement. Her dissertation project aims to explore relationships of blackness and national identity, language ideologies, and cultural perseverance in academic communities. 

As a graduate fellow, Lami is excited to be in conversations with IIT faculty and fellows about the nature of interdisciplinary learning and the teaching of critical race theory in the composition classrooms. She holds a master’s degree in rhetoric and writing from Virginia Community University, Richmond, VA. In her free time, she enjoys photography and cooking.

Michael Macaluso

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education

Michael Macaluso is a third-year doctoral student in the Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education program of the College of Education at Michigan State University where teaches courses on Secondary English Methods and Issues of Diversity in Young Adult Literature. 

After earning undergraduate majors in both English and Political Science, Michael earned a master's in education from the University of Notre Dame through the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program and subsequently taught high school English and World History in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and suburban Chicago. 

Michael’s research interests focus on the literary canon, its formation, and teachers’ perceptions of it. He lives in the Lansing area with his wife, Kati, who is also a graduate student in the College of Education, and their son, Matthew. Michael is excited to be working with James Madison faculty through the IIT Fellowship.

Hannah Miller

Doctoral Student - College of Education

Hannah Miller is a third-year doctoral student in the College of Education where she participates in Environmental Literacy research and teaches secondary science methods courses. Her research interests are in how students construct knowledge about climate change in science classrooms and in broader social contexts. 

Before coming to MSU, Hannah received her BA in biology (Rhodes College) and then lived in China from 2001-2009 where she studied Mandarin and taught English and Science. During her time China, Hannah worked with the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots & Shoots Program integrating environmental education into her school’s science curriculum in Shanghai. 

Since returning to the US, Hannah has earned an MA in Environmental Education (Goshen College), an EdS in Curriculum and Instruction (University of Florida), and is currently working on a PhD in science education with a specialization in Environmental Science and Policy. Hannah loves teaching, birding, biking, photography, and making lists.

John Somerville

Doctoral Student - Department of History

After obtaining his B.A. in English literature from Hiram College, John Somerville began his doctorate at Michigan State in the department of History. He is currently a fifth year PhD candidate, focusing on modern Chinese history, Japanese and Southeast Asian histories, as well as comparative urban studies. 

During the 2012-2013 academic year, John worked on completing research for his dissertation titled “Fragmented Modernity: Urban Migration, Peasant Identity, and Poverty Relief in Tianjin, 1911-1949” while under a Fulbright Fellowship. This year, John will begin his third year as a teaching assistant for Integrated Arts and Humanities with experience in Asian, American, and European histories. 

In his first year as a doctoral student, John served as an elected representative on the MSU Asian Studies Council. In his free time he enjoys world travel, long distance cycling, and Chinese cooking. He lives with his wife Xiaoqing, also an MSU alumni, just outside of Detroit.

Matthew Yalch

Doctoral Student - Clinical Psychology

Matthew Yalch is a fourth year PhD student in the Clinical Psychology program of the College of Social Sciences, where he has taught both abnormal and social psychology courses, and practices as a training psychotherapist. 

After earning his bachelor’s degree in psychology and religious studies and master’s degree in industrial labor relations at Cornell University, Matt spent six years in the U.S. Army, serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Korea. His current research and clinical interests include psychological trauma and the structure and pathology of personality. 

In his spare time, Matt enjoys sports, cooking, and reading philosophy. He is excited to work with the faculty and students at James Madison through the IIT fellowship.

Ann Chrapkiewicz

Doctoral Student - Anthropology

Ann Chrapkiewicz is a fourth-year graduate student in Anthropology; her previous degrees are in Literature and Media Studies (B.A., Duke University) and in Japanese Studies (M.A., University of Michigan). She has been teaching Bikram method hatha yoga since 2004 and participates in continuing education and recertification on a regular basis. 

Her approach to inquiry combines a focus on embodied experience and personal reflection--which is cultivated in many contemporary yoga practices, with anthropological attention to power, gender, access to resources, and cultural systems. Ann's dissertation research will focus on the ways in which hatha yoga practice affects perception of the body, concepts of health, and the locations of knowledge and authority about the body. 

She really enjoys discussions about health and healing which can incorporate perspectives from physiology, political economy, religion, genetics, and media/discourse analysis, and she would love to design and someday teach a class which can do the same.

Lami Fofana-Kamara

Doctoral Student - Writing, Rhetoric, & American Cultures

Lami Fofana-Kamara is a third year PhD student in the department of Writing, Rhetoric and American Cultures. As a researcher, Lami’s interests include cultural rhetorics and community and civic engagement. Her dissertation project aims to explore relationships of blackness and national identity, language ideologies, and cultural perseverance in academic communities. 

As a graduate fellow, Lami is excited to be in conversations with IIT faculty and fellows about the nature of interdisciplinary learning and the teaching of critical race theory in the composition classrooms. She holds a master’s degree in rhetoric and writing from Virginia Community University, Richmond, VA. In her free time, she enjoys photography and cooking.

Michael Macaluso

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education

Michael Macaluso is a third-year doctoral student in the Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education program of the College of Education at Michigan State University where teaches courses on Secondary English Methods and Issues of Diversity in Young Adult Literature. 

After earning undergraduate majors in both English and Political Science, Michael earned a master's in education from the University of Notre Dame through the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program and subsequently taught high school English and World History in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and suburban Chicago. 

Michael’s research interests focus on the literary canon, its formation, and teachers’ perceptions of it. He lives in the Lansing area with his wife, Kati, who is also a graduate student in the College of Education, and their son, Matthew. Michael is excited to be working with James Madison faculty through the IIT Fellowship.

Samantha Noll

Doctoral Student - Philosophy

Environmental Philosophy, Philosophy of Agriculture, & Social/Political Philosophy Focus

Samantha Noll is a doctoral student in philosophy with a focus in environmental philosophy, philosophy of agriculture, and social/political philosophy. She is also pursuing the gender, justice, and environmental change (GJEC) specialization and the ethics and development specialization. 

She received her bachelor's degree from West Chester University in philosophy with minors in anthropology and ethnic studies. Her research interests include better understanding how we come to know nonhuman others and how nonhuman others are knowers in an attempt to undermine logics of domination used to justify their inhumane use. 

Her work also focuses on the ethics of agriculture and food systems. She was active in community supported agriculture projects in Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. Samantha dislikes writing in the third person but makes sacrifices for academia.

Emily Riley

Doctoral Student - Socio-Cultural Anthropology

Emily Riley is a fourth-year graduate student in socio-cultural Anthropology. She specializes in African Studies, specifically on Senegal. Her research and area focus include legal and political anthropology, social change, and economic development, and women's studies. 

Her undergraduate degree was obtained at Oregon State University where she received several degrees in French, Anthropology, and International Relations. Her teaching experiences comprise teaching English in France, writing curriculum and training English language volunteers for a Head Start English as a Second Language program, and an adjunct faculty position at Southern Oregon University. 

Emily is also currently part of the Foreign Language and Area Studies program studying Wolof, a language of Senegal. She is fluent in French and Wolof Teaching and advising students has always been a passion and goal for Emily and she looks forward to developing deeper knowledge and skills regarding pedagogy and the transmission of ideas and research into the classroom.

Dominik Wolff

Doctoral Student - Second Language Studies

Almost a decade ago, Dominik left his native Germany to live and teach English in Japan and Spain before earning an MA in Linguistics from Syracuse University. After another stop at Central Michigan University, where he taught German, he is about to begin my third year as a PhD student in the Second Language Studies program. 

Dominik's research on cultural and affective factors in second language learning and the development of a teacher identity in novice teachers has been greatly influenced by my experiences as well as other disciplines (particularly, psychology and sociology). 

He believes that increasing efforts to move academic fields toward more interdisciplinarity is a vital step in addressing a major challenge teachers and professors face nowadays: to find a way to successfully prepare students for a future in which it is simply expected that one’s expertise goes beyond the traditional boundaries of a certain discipline.

David Baylis

Doctoral Student - Geography

David Baylis My educational pursuits have always been interdisciplinary. During high school and college I entertained a wide array of potential career paths, from meteorologist to political scientist… and finally settled on a field that encompassed all of my favorite topics: geography. 

As I start my 3rd year of the Geography PhD program at Michigan State University, I have added about 12 courses to my teaching repertoire, from world regional geography to the geography of food and agriculture and from geopolitics to cartographic design. My primary pedagogical interest centers on the development of infographics and visual aids for classroom and multimedia settings (focusing on maps of course!). 

My academic interests concern the geographies of waste and refuse; for my dissertation, I am looking into the historical geography of Ankara’s human waste landscape in order to question narratives of modernity, nationality, and identity using society’s discards and immaculate ideals as my analytical lens.

Ann Chrapkiewicz

Doctoral Student - Anthropology

Ann Chrapkiewicz is a fourth-year graduate student in Anthropology; her previous degrees are in Literature and Media Studies (B.A., Duke University) and in Japanese Studies (M.A., University of Michigan). She has been teaching Bikram method hatha yoga since 2004 and participates in continuing education and recertification on a regular basis. 

Her approach to inquiry combines a focus on embodied experience and personal reflection--which is cultivated in many contemporary yoga practices, with anthropological attention to power, gender, access to resources, and cultural systems. Ann's dissertation research will focus on the ways in which hatha yoga practice affects perception of the body, concepts of health, and the locations of knowledge and authority about the body. 

She really enjoys discussions about health and healing which can incorporate perspectives from physiology, political economy, religion, genetics, and media/discourse analysis, and she would love to design and someday teach a class which can do the same.

Betsy Ferrer

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education Program

Betsy Ferrer is a third-year graduate student in the Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education program at Michigan State University. As an undergraduate, Betsy spent time in Kisumu, Kenya, where she became interested in human rights and social justice issues. 

She subsequently completed a Master of Arts in Social Science (MAPSS) at the University of Chicago, where her studies focused on ways of promoting human rights in Kenya at the grassroots level. Betsy also earned a master's in education from the University of Notre Dame through the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program. 

She has taught middle school English and social studies in Atlanta; has served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines, where she trained teachers; and, most recently, has taught middle school English in Seattle, and high school English in Tucson. 

Betsy’s research interest centers on arts integration into English classrooms, with a focus on drama. Betsy spent the summer doing collaborative playwriting with art students in Kenya. She is excited to be in sustained conversations with others about the nature of interdisciplinary learning and teaching through the IIT Fellowship.

Hannah Kautke

Doctoral Student - Communication and Educational Psychology & Educational Technology

I am a dual-major Ph.D. student in Communication and Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at Michigan State University. After pursuing a B.A. in Psychology at the University of Bonn in my native Germany, I moved to the United States where I earned the M.A. in Communication from the University of Missouri - Saint Louis and am now pursuing both communication and educational psychology/technology at the doctoral level. 

This unique program allows me to combine my interest in communication in both interpersonal and organizational contexts with my interest in how learning can be enhanced through interaction and collaboration in educational settings. With ever increasing portions of interpersonal and organizational communication and learning occurring online, I am particularly interested the constraints and affordances created by new forms of teaching and communicating virtually.

Emma Trentman

Doctoral Candidate - Second Language Studies

Emma Trentman is a doctoral candidate in the Second Language Studies program at Michigan State University. 

She received a BS in Linguistics and an MS in Sociolinguistics from Georgetown University. Emma's dissertation research focuses on Arabic language use during study abroad in Egypt, and she is also involved in research projects focusing on Arabic dialect acquisition and word processing in Arabic as a second language. 

She has taught Arabic at Michigan State University, the Middlebury Arabic Summer School, the University of Texas at Austin Summer Institute, and Concordia Arabic Language Village. She is particularly interested in integrating her language teaching with her dissertation research in order to better prepare students linguistically and culturally for study abroad.

Baburhan Uzum

Doctoral Student - Second Language Studies

Baburhan Uzum is a PhD student in the Second Language Studies program at Michigan State University. He received BA and MA degrees in English Language Teaching from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey. His dissertation research focuses on Fulbright Language Teaching Assistants: their socialization to the American educational context and their professional identity development. 

His research interests also include second language acquisition, language and identity, intercultural communication, language socialization, second language teacher education and scholarship of teaching and learning. 

Baburhan believes in the integration and cooperation of disciplines in order to establish an ideal context for teaching and learning and seeks to incorporate interdisciplinarity in his research and teaching.

Antonio Vasquez

Doctoral Student - American Studies & Chicano Latino Studies

Antonio Vasquez I am a first-generation college student and am now entering my fourth year of doctoral studies in American Studies and Chicano Latino Studies at Michigan State University. I attained my B.A. in Political Science and International Studies at Texas Lutheran University in Seguín and my M.A. in International Relations at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. 

I am interested in utilizing this experience as a critical space to reflect upon and refine my approach and philosophy to teaching and learning at both the personal and professional level in an undergraduate environment, and the varied expressions of interdisciplinarity in this process. 

I am also interested in exploring ways to integrate the principles and practices of community engagement in my teaching and scholarship as a means to connect the classroom setting with issues of inequality confronting communities within and beyond the halls of academia.

David DeAndrea

Doctoral Candidate - Department of Communication

David C. DeAndrea is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. David earned a BA in Communications at Rutgers University, and a MA in Communication at the University of Delaware. In his most recent work at MSU, David is exploring interpersonal processes and the usage of new media technology. 

In particular, his recent research studies have examined attributions of online behavior and their impact on impressions. Currently, David is working with the Social Media Research Lab and Residential and Hospitality Services to develop and evaluate a student-focused website aimed to help incoming students at Michigan State University.

Erin Dolgoy

Doctoral Candidate - Department of Political Science

Erin Dolgoy is a fifth year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at Michigan State University. Her dissertation, Propaganda of Progress: Francis Bacon's Essays as Popular Enlightenment, is an analysis of the religious, political, and psychological considerations that made possible the modern scientific project.

 Erin has an interest in teaching: she has been involved with the Teaching Apprenticeship Program at MSU and is currently completing her Certification in College Teaching; moreover, she has had the opportunity to teach a number of her own classes, both online and in traditional learning environments. 

For the first three years of her Ph.D., Erin's research was funded by the H.B. Earhart Foundation. Prior to arriving at MSU, Erin studied at the University of Toronto (HBA) and the University of Alberta (MA).

Betsy Ferrer

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education Program

Betsy Ferrer is a third-year graduate student in the Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education program at Michigan State University. As an undergraduate, Betsy spent time in Kisumu, Kenya, where she became interested in human rights and social justice issues. 

She subsequently completed a Master of Arts in Social Science (MAPSS) at the University of Chicago, where her studies focused on ways of promoting human rights in Kenya at the grassroots level. Betsy also earned a master's in education from the University of Notre Dame through the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program. 

She has taught middle school English and social studies in Atlanta; has served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines, where she trained teachers; and, most recently, has taught middle school English in Seattle, and high school English in Tucson. 

Betsy’s research interest centers on arts integration into English classrooms, with a focus on drama. Betsy spent the summer doing collaborative playwriting with art students in Kenya. She is excited to be in sustained conversations with others about the nature of interdisciplinary learning and teaching through the IIT Fellowship.

Emily Riley

Doctoral Student - Socio-Cultural Anthropology

Emily Riley is a fourth-year graduate student in socio-cultural Anthropology. She specializes in African Studies, specifically on Senegal. Her research and area focus include legal and political anthropology, social change, and economic development, and women's studies. 

Her undergraduate degree was obtained at Oregon State University where she received several degrees in French, Anthropology, and International Relations. Her teaching experiences comprise teaching English in France, writing curriculum and training English language volunteers for a Head Start English as a Second Language program, and an adjunct faculty position at Southern Oregon University. 

Emily is also currently part of the Foreign Language and Area Studies program studying Wolof, a language of Senegal. She is fluent in French and Wolof Teaching and advising students has always been a passion and goal for Emily and she looks forward to developing deeper knowledge and skills regarding pedagogy and the transmission of ideas and research into the classroom.

Maren Schierloh

Doctoral Student - Second Language Studies

Maren Schierloh received her B.A. in Literary Studies and Linguistics from Kiel University, Germany, in 2004, and a Master’s degree in Language Pedagogy from the University of Utah in 2006. Since 2007, she has been a student in the Second Language Studies Ph.D. program at Michigan State University. 

Maren has taught a variety of courses including German as a foreign language (all levels), second language (L2) teaching methodology, pedagogical grammar, introduction to linguistics, and advanced ESL. Her research interests range from second language speech perception and production to second language socialization during study abroad; her current work focuses on attentional processes during second language acquisition (SLA). 

At MSU, Maren served as Conference Co-Chair of the 2009 Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) and currently serves as co-editor of the Selected Proceedings of the 2009 SLRF. Maren hopes to be involved in L2 teacher education and training and to provide leadership and support for quality teaching and language learning.

Baburhan Uzum

Doctoral Student - Second Langauge Studies

Baburhan Uzum received his BA and MA degrees in English Language Teaching from Middle East Technical University in Turkey. He is currently a doctoral student in Second Language Studies at Michigan State University. Baburhan’s research interests include second language acquisition, language socialization, discourse analysis, sociocultural theories on learning, second language teacher education and interdisciplinary approaches to learning and teaching. 

He has taught several semesters in the Intensive English Program at MSU's English Language Center, and coauthored many projects on second language acquisition and teacher education. His current research is on foreign language teachers' socialization into the American academic context. Baburhan believes in the integration of disciplines and cooperation of faculty/teachers and learners. In the IIT Fellowship program, he is exploring ways to promote interdisciplinarity in his teaching and research

Stefanie Kendall

Doctoral Student - College of Education

Stefanie Kendall After teaching for twelve years, Stefanie came to Michigan State University’s College of Education to study the effect of violent protracted conflict on teaching and learning. She taught special education and high school English in Maine, and then moved to Kuwait to teach high school English and Social Studies in August of 2001. 

The beginning of the war in Iraq motivated her to look at how instability resulting from international politics affects teacher practice. Stefanie arrived in Lansing in August of 2005. She is delighted and honored to be a Fellow with James Madison College, and is looking forward to visiting classes and sharing ideas with colleagues and faculty.

Cristian Dona-Reveco

Doctoral Candidate - Sociology and History

Cristian Doña-Reveco is a Chilean doctoral candidate pursuing a dual degree in Sociology and History with a Fulbright-CONICYT Fellowship. He has a Professional degree in Sociology from the Universidad de Chile; a master's in political sciences and international relations from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; and a Master of Arts in Sociology from Michigan State University. 

His current research involves the intersection of history and biography in the migration process from the Southern Cone of America to the United States. He has been a research assistant for the International Organization for Migration in Chile and for the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Center (CELADE) of Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (United Nations). 

At MSU he has been involved with research on topics of globalization, demography and international migration and on topics of contemporary urban history in Chile. Cristián has presented his research at a variety of national and international conferences; has taught sociology related courses on topics of international migration in universities in Chile and at MSU. Cristián has been living in the United States since August of 2005 with his wife and two daughters.

Lindsay Neuberger

Doctoral Student - Department of Communication

Lindsay Neuberger received her bachelors and masters degrees from Wake Forest University and is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at Michigan State. Her primary area of research is persuasion in the contexts of health and political campaigns. 

Specifically, Lindsay’s research has approached issue framing, health messaging, environmental policy, and political attitude formation. While at MSU, Lindsay has taught a variety of courses at the undergraduate level, supervised numerous independent studies, and advised McNair scholars as well as participants in the University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum. 

Lindsay is a two time recipient of the Communication Arts & Sciences Summer Research Excellence Fellowship, and eagerly looks forward to enhancing her teaching knowledge and expertise through the IIT Fellowship.

Robin Blom

Doctoral Student - Media & Information Studies

Robin Blom is a doctoral student in the Media & Information Studies program within the College of Communication Arts & Sciences and serves as a research and teaching assistant for the School of Journalism. 

He earned his bachelor’s degree at the Hogeschool van Utrecht, The Netherlands (Journalism, 2004) and a master’s degree at Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA (Journalism & Mass Communication, 2007). 

During the 2006-2007 school year, Robin served as an editorial assistant for the Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, a quarterly journal published by the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication (AEJMC). 

In the past eight years, he also has been a reporter for a national and several regional newspapers in The Netherlands. Robin’s research areas include hostile media perception, agenda-setting theory, and the influence of news media on political involvement and the marketplace of ideas.

Sara Hillman

Doctoral Student - Second Language Studies

Sara Hillman has an MA degree in TESOL from MSU and is currently a 4th year doctoral student in Second Language Studies. Her research and teaching interests include sociocultural approaches to second language acquisition (SLA), language socialization, discourse analysis, heritage language speakers, language teaching methods, and Arabic curriculum and materials development. 

Her dissertation is an ethnographic study of the Arabic Language Instruction Flagship (ALIF) courses at Michigan State University. She is currently teaching LLT 307 (Methods of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and has taught several semesters in the Intensive English Program at MSU's English Language Center. She has also worked as a research assistant for the Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR) and the ALIF program.

Sarah Reed

Doctoral Student - Ecological-Community Psychology

Sarah Reed attended Miami University’s Western College Program, which was an interdisciplinary living/learning community where students self-designed their own majors. She self-designed major a major focusing on psychology, sociology and women’s studies. Sarah is now a third-year student in the Ecological-Community Psychology doctoral program at MSU; she also pursuing a specialization in gender, justice and environmental change. 

Sarah’s specific research interest is in community-based research and interventions aimed at promoting the sexual and reproductive health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. In this program, interdisciplinary research methodology is valued as a means of understanding and ameliorating social problems, as is evident through our use of participatory action research, mixed methods, feminist methodologies valuing diversity, and frequent collaboration with community-based partners and researchers in other disciplines. 

Sarah notes the importance of being schooled in the practical applications of interdisciplinary thinking as they apply to research in a social context, and she looks forward to learning the practical applications of interdisciplinary inquiry in regard to curricular planning and teaching.

Stefanie Kendall

Doctoral Student - College of Education

Stefanie Kendall After teaching for twelve years, Stefanie came to Michigan State University’s College of Education to study the effect of violent protracted conflict on teaching and learning. She taught special education and high school English in Maine and then moved to Kuwait to teach high school English and Social Studies in August of 2001. 

The beginning of the war in Iraq motivated her to look at how instability resulting from international politics affects teacher practice. Stefanie arrived in Lansing in August of 2005. She is delighted and honored to be a Fellow with James Madison College and is looking forward to visiting classes and sharing ideas with colleagues and faculty.

Jose Moreno

Doctoral Student - Chicano & Latino Studies and American Studies

Jose Moreno is a doctoral student in the Chicano and Latino Studies and American Studies PhD Programs at Michigan State University. During the 2007-2008 academic year Jose was a Research Assistant for Julian Somora Research Institute at Michigan State University; this academic year he is a Teaching Assistant for the Chicano and Latino Studies Program. 

Jose earned a BA in History and Chicano Studies from California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and MA degree in Chicano Studies from CSUN. He is the COMPAS caucus chair and is an editorial board member of the National Association of Chicano Studies, and an Editorial Board Member of the Raza Press Association. 

Jose has served on various professional organizations governance boards and academic committees He has published various scholarly and popular articles and book reviews for student, professional, and community publications. He is comminuted for the development of community-based and public scholarship in the field of Chicano Studies and History.

Fredy Rodriguez

Doctoral Student - Department of Anthropology

Fredy Rodriguez was born and raised in western Honduras where he lived until he completed high school. Fredy earned a B.A. in anthropology and Latin American studies at the University of Delaware in 2004, and a master’s degree in applied anthropology at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. 

He is currently a second-year graduate student in the Anthropology Department at MSU. Fredy’s research interests include indigenous movements, ethnic identity, and people/environment interactions among the Maya of Honduras and Guatemala. Additionally, his is working on various projects involving research on Mayan folklore, especially current oral narratives, and ancient Mayan mythology.

Aliah Carolan-Silva

Doctoral Student - Curriculum, Teaching, & Educational Policy

Aliah Carolan-Silva is a doctoral student in Curriculum, Teaching and Educational Policy in the Department of Teacher Education. Her areas of specialization include international and comparative education, international development education and educational anthropology. 

Her work focuses on the relationships between schools, communities and families within different social and cultural contexts. For her dissertation research, Aliah conducted an ethnographic study in a rural community in Paraguay that examined the agendas for education of a diverse set of families and the ways in which they accessed and activated resources in order to enact these agendas.

Ahims Timoteo Bodran

Doctoral Candidate - American Studies

Ahims Timoteo Bodran award-winning creative and critical work appears in over a hundred publications in the Américas, Pacific, and Europe. An activist and community organizer for two decades, he received his B.A. in Women Studies from San Francisco State University and M.F.A. in Poetry from Brooklyn College. 

A Dean’s Recruitment Fellow and Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Teaching Fellow at Michigan State University, he is an American Studies Ph.D. candidate completing two manuscripts, Yerbabuena/Mala yerba, All My Roots Need Rain: mixed blood poetry & prose and Heart of the Nation: Indigenous Womanisms, Queer People of Color, and Native Sovereignties.

Amy Thompson

Amy Thompson (B.A. French Texas Christian University, 2001; M.A. TESOL Michigan State University, 2005; ABD Second Language Studies Michigan State University, projected 2009) is currently researching individual differences related to second language (L2) and third language (L3) learning. 

She recently returned from Fortaleza, Brazil where she carried out her dissertation research with English language students at the Universidade Federal do Ceará and is in the process of creating a language learning model using the variables of multilingualism, language aptitude, and motivation. 

An additional research interest involves the interlanguage of Portuguese speakers learning Spanish. Amy has presented her research at a variety of national and international conferences, and has extensive teaching experience in ESL/EFL settings.