Graduate Students in American Studies
Dan Biegelson
Eli Bromberg
Deborah Collins
Rachel Daniel
Isabel Espinal
I am in the American Studies PhD program and I am also a full time librarian in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library here at UMass. My interests are Latino studies, Dominican writers, healing in literature of people of color, and participatory action research. I have an approved prospectus titled “USING PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH TO STUDY DOMINICAN WOMEN WRITERS IN THE UNITED STATES.” An early paper I wrote for a class in the program, "A Bridge to Brown: The Politics of Latin@ Reading," was published in the book Technofuturos: Critical Interventions in Latina/o Studies. I hope to finish my dissertation in the coming year. But I will also be busy as Vice President/ President Elect of REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. I am also Co-Chair of the Latino Caucus of the Green Party of the United States. I have three teenage children.
iespinal@library.umass.edu
Eric Fortier
Sean Gordon
This fall (2012) I'll be entering my second year of coursework in the MA/PhD program. My areas of interest are nineteenth and early twentieth century American literature, American studies, literature of the Americas, and transatlantic modernism. In terms of methodology, I'm interested in historicism and transnationalism as well as critical theory, and I have a growing interest in democracy studies. Current research projects concern American studies methodology, Poe and empire, and a critical re-evaluation of antebellum author Joseph Holt Ingraham.
sagordon@english.umass.edu
Marylou Graulau
Rachel Griffin
Elizabeth Hanssen
Casey Hayman
Darren Edward Lone Fight
I am interested in the connection between space/place and movement/identity. I am currently beginning work on my dissertation. I am interested in the connection between space/place and movement/identity. I am currently beginning work on my dissertation.
darrenlonefight@gmail.com
Celine Nader
I'm an incoming PhD student with a background in American Studies, Spanish Language & Lit., International Development and teaching. I am particularly interested in exploring interdisciplinary American Studies methodologies in relation to the study of American literature, and further understanding the reciprocal relationships and links between national and personal identities and literature with an eye to the international.
cnader@english.umass.edu
Heather Nielson
Gina Marie Occasion
I am an American Studies PhD candidate, currently working on my dissertation prospectus. My interests are nineteenth century American children's literature and culture, early American history and culture, psychoanalytic theory, race theory, and gender studies. This year I will TA for two courses in the English department, ENG 131 Society & Literature and ENG 132 Gender, Sexuality, Literature, & Culture. I am a member of the English Graduate Organization, on the committee for the annual EGO Interdisciplinary conference, and an English department representative in the Graduate Student Senate. Outside of academic research, I enjoy Mad Men, quality time with my dog, and movies.
gocasion@english.umass.edu
Priscila Page
Tom Poehnelt
Nicole Reynolds
Lauren Silber
Lauren Silber is in her third year in the MA/Ph.D program working in the field of American Studies. She focuses on early twentieth century immigrant cultural production, specifically Jewish American texts. Her interests include psychoanalytic theory, historical and sociological writings on race and ethnicity, and the language of difference emerging during this period in the United States and abroad.
lsilber@english.umass.edu
Marilyn Squier
Damien Weaver
Pam Lagergren Williams
I earned a Ph.D in English with a concentration in American Studies. I am in the process of looking for a faculty position.
plw@english.umass.edu