Congratulations to our graduates!
Shyamala Engelhart graduated with her MA in Women’s Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Gerontology in spring 2020. In March, she successfully defended her MA project titled, “Feminist Gerontology: A Course Syllabus on Older Women, Ageism and Activism,” with the supervision of Dr. Connie Shehan. Shyamala will continue advocating for older women’s rights both professionally and personally. She hopes to teach on the subject one day.
Andreina Fernandez graduated with an MA in Women’s Studies in spring 2020 and a Graduate Certificate in Latin American Studies in fall 2019. In March, thanks to the mentorship of Dr. Jillian Hernandez and Dr. Manoucheka Celeste, she successfully defended her thesis titled ““See What My Truth Has Allowed Me To Create”: The Self-Making Potential of Memory in Daisy Hernández’s A Cup of Water Under My Bed: A Memoir and Roxane Gay’s Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body” with a well-attended public presentation in Ustler Hall. Andreina also spent the semester working as an Acquisitions Intern at the University Press of Florida.
Kaylee Kagiavas graduated with her M.A. in Women’s Studies in spring 2020. She successfully defended her thesis project, titled “The University Industrial Complex, Mentoring, and You” in March, with the supervision of Dr. Connie Shehan. In the fall, Kaylee will continue her education at University at Buffalo as she works toward her Ph.D. in Global Gender and Sexuality Studies. Kaylee extends extra thanks to all of her cohort members, Dr. Shehan, Dr. Broad, Dr. Hernandez, and Donna Tuckey for their continued support throughout her time in the Center.
Logan Neser graduated with his MA in Women’s Studies in spring 2020. In March, he successfully defended his thesis, titled “Saving Lives, Making Legacy: Trans Cultural Production and Alternate Circuits of Visibility,” with the supervision of Dr. Jillian Hernandez and Dr. K.L. Broad. Logan plans to take a gap year to recenter, work towards his first academic publication, and apply for PhD programs in gender studies. Logan wishes to extend immense gratitude and congratulations to his fellow graduate students for the invaluable support, laughs, and friendship they provided to him during his time at the Center. He looks forward to keeping in touch with everyone on his year off.
Melissa Powers graduated with her MA in Women’s Studies in spring 2020. In March, she successfully defended her thesis titled “Alien Assemblages and Anthropocene Kinships: Toward a Posthuman Queer Utopia.” She traveled to Portland, Oregon to give a panel presentation on the first chapter of her thesis at the Annual Gender Studies Symposium at Lewis & Clark College. Over the next year, she hopes to do a Ph.D. preparation program, work on her applications, and travel again once it is safe. She is excited to continue her research in feminist and queer theory with a posthuman and Anthropocene studies focus. She is grateful for her experiences and support throughout her MA.
News and updates from our continuing graduate students
Sunshine Adam will spend the summer diving into research. They will continue to work on their Master’s project, which investigates the ways in which Black communities have healed from collective trauma. They will also be working with the WELLS Healing and Research Collective on multiple studies about the wellness needs of Black and Black queer communities. Particularly, they are looking forward to presenting at the American Psychological Association (APA) Convention 2020 in August. Despite their summer plans having changed due to the pandemic, they have found ways to be well during this time through virtual game nights and paint parties with their friends.
Chelsea Gifford will continue research on her MA thesis, taking a deeper look into queer book histories. Her MA project will center the impulses and motives of diary writing for the queer subject as it relates to larger engagement with queer discourse in both literature and history. Chelsea plans to spend the summer reading and writing about her interests regarding the production of queer histories via the diary. Chelsea is looking forward to being a teaching assistant for Good Life in the fall.
Sky Martin will continue her work on her MA thesis, which will focus on Black women’s body image and college peer groups. Over the summer, she will be the teaching assistant for Dr. Guyer’s Introduction to Health disparities course and looks forward to working with undergraduate Health Disparity students through this work.
Justine Veras will continue to work on her MA thesis, centering on Afrospirituality in popular culture. This summer, she will be the teaching assistant for Women, Leadership, and Diversity in the Global Environment with Dr. Anantharam. Justine will be spending time with her family for the summer, staying safe during this pandemic and hoping for the safety and wellness of others.
Alexandria Wilson McDonald continues her research on gender-based violence in Central Eastern Europe. This summer, she looks forward to teaching the course Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Women’s Studies and working on her MA article, in which she examines how women’s organizations in Central Eastern Europe are resisting the recent backlash against feminist NGOs in the region.