Read about Cultural Studies dynamic group of students, their educational backgrounds, and research interests.
2011 Cohort
Leslie Albrecht
Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington 2007, 2009
Undergraduate Degree: Humanities, English with a minor in Art History
Research Interests: Art, music, literature, history
Snapshot: Leslie is an avid reader, cat lover, and occasional baker with a lifelong love of the arts, writing and editing, and is currently writing and editing at the Washington Poison Center.
Kaelyn Caldwell
Undergraduate Institution: University of Massachusetts, 2008
Undergraduate Degree: Psychology with a Neuroscience concentration
Research Interests: Intersections of racism, sexism, and classism; undoing institutionalized oppression through consciousness raising and community collaboration; combining multicultural understanding with the development of a sense of agency and self-efficacy
Snapshot: Kaelyn is a Graduate Assistant for the Office of Community-Based Learning and Research at UW-Bothell. Her passion for multicultural education was cultivated during her work as a VISTA and GED Instructor at Shoreline CC. She enjoys speculative fiction, soccer, and the great outdoors.
Jamala Henderson
Undergraduate Institution: The Evergreen State College, 1998
Undergraduate Degree: Media Studies, Film Video, and Audio Production
Research Interests: How difference is represented in the media.
Snapshot: Jamala works as an announcer and narrative story producer for 94.9 KUOW Public Radio in Seattle.
Eliseo Juarez
Undergraduate Institution: Saint Martin's University, 2008
Undergraduate Degree: Community Services
Research Interests: Marginalized and minority communities interactions with power and the political process, social movements of the Americas, Cultural Identities, Pop Culture.
Snapshot: EJ is currently the Development Associate for Statewide Poverty Action Network. He also serves on the Board of the Washington Bus, which engages tomorrow's leaders on their terms empowering them through civic and cultural engagement.
Amanda Kercmar
Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington, 2005
Undergraduate Degree: Geography
Research Interests: Travel and Tourism: trends and impacts
Snapshot: Amanda works as a geographer at Expedia, which has increased her desire to travel for leisure as well as to research sustainable travel/tourism trends and traditions.
Amy Patterson
Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington, 1992
Undergraduate Degrees: Communications, History
Research Interests: Institutionalization of children with disabilities internationally.
Snapshot: Since her daughter was born with Down syndrome in 2002, Amy divides her time between parenting and working with disability advocacy organizations. She is a passionate advocate for inclusive education and community living for people with disabilities.
Jody Rauch
Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington, 2004
Undergraduate Degree: Nursing, with a focus on community health
Research Interests: Jody wants to explore the concepts of community and health. Specifically how society defines and values these concepts and where they start to intersect and begin to affect the other.
Snapshot: Jody is an HIV nurse working with folks who are also struggling with mental health issues, addiction, and homelessness. She’d be a tattoo artist if she had any talent. Friends, family, photography and camping help keep her soul happy.
Erin Sanchez
Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington, 2010
Undergraduate Degree: Communication, Minor in Art History
Research Interests: The philosophy of art, mass media effects on societies, symbolism and subliminals in advertising, generational change and influence, immigration issues, documentary film
Snapshot: Erin was raised in a small Eastern Washington town and loves the culture of the PNW. Among her many interests, she enjoys visiting museums, traveling, reading classic literature and experiencing the outdoors with her husband and Jack Russell Terriers.
Katherine Shaw
Undergraduate Institution: Western Washington University, 2011
Undergraduate Degree: Sociology
Research interests: Public health, human rights, non-profit work, domestic violence.
Snapshot: Katherine recently completed a research paper on the Cinderella effect using cases in Whatcom County. She balances stress by reading interesting books, drinking coffee with friends, and searching for new recipes.
Jason Tentor
Undergraduate institution: University of Washington Bothell, 2010
Undergraduate Degree: Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, American Studies
Research Interests: The role urban music plays in social identity and cultural production. Avant-garde practice of relational art within global culture
Snapshot: Jason lives in Seattle and is an active contributor to its relational aesthetic art scene. He enjoys writing short fictional stories.
Cora Thomas
Undergraduate Institution: Western Washington University, 2007
Undergraduate Degree: Communication. Minor in Film Studies
Research Interests: What if students (higher ed) gained more and more power over their own education? How would higher education and the learning environment be transformed and what would that look like?
Snapshot: Cora has a passion for the written word and would like to become a professional writer. Her undergraduate research on The Teaching-Learning Academy at WWU sparked a great interest in improving the learning environment within higher education. She appreciates any medium that tells a story especially film, photography, music, and dance. Cora considers herself to be a poet and is inspired by the natural world.
Rachel Tomczek
Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington Bothell, 2008
Undergraduate Degree: Nursing – concentration in sex trafficking comparing Cambodia with the United States, specifically focusing on sex trafficking in Seattle.
Research Interests: Using farming/gardening programs in immigrant and youth populations to increase self-sufficiency, education and employment. Building a program to assist and provide resources for teenagers with cardiac arrhythmias in the process of transitioning from pediatric care to adult care.
Snapshot: Rachel is a nurse at Seattle Children’s Hospital where she works in the Outpatient Procedure Center. She is passionate about the environment, gardening, cycling, kids (specifically those wonderfully wacky teenagers!), reading and spending time with family and friends.
Brandon Yost
Undergraduate Institution: Gonzaga University, 2010
Undergraduate Degree: English Literature and Philosophy
Research Interests: Transnationalism, Borderlands Theory, Immigration studies, Power and Oppression, Refugeeism, Film and Literary Criticism and Continental Philosophy
Snapshot: Brandon is always up for good discussion about important issues. He is from the Northwest and very much believes in the value of criticism. Brandon hopes to write and perhaps teach one day.
Michelle Zebrowski
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Undergraduate Institution: Ohio University, 2009
Undergraduate Degree: Global Awareness and Accountability with focus on Cultural Anthropology, Communication and Political Science
Research Interests: Corporate Culture; Culture of Learning vs. Culture of Training, Critical Race Theory, comparison of marginalized/disenfranchised populations of Subsaharan Africa and Rural Appalachia.
Snapshot: Michelle is continually energized by working for Apple, exploring the outdoors particularly skiing, kayaking and camping, jam bands and embarking on adventures in the wonderful world of wine and food.
2010 Cohort
Heath Davis
Undergraduate Institution: Bennington College, 2002
Undergraduate Degree: Liberal Arts, concentration in printmaking
Graduate Institution: Pratt Institute, 2006
Graduate Degree: MLIS and Archives and Records Management
Research Interests: Public history, zines, archives, marginalized communities/histories, grassroots/community archives, public art, public space, graffiti
Snapshot: Heath is a librarian at Lake Washington Technical College, where she teaches printmaking and information literacy, and in her free time she volunteers at Zine Archives and Publishing Project (ZAPP) at Richard Hugo House.
Lauren Dun
Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz, 2007
Undergraduate Degree: American Studies, Minor in Literature
Research Interests: Representations of people of color in popular culture
Snapshot: Lauren has worked in Student Affairs at UC Santa Cruz creating programs focused on educating students outside of the classroom. She is interested in the influence of Pop Culture on Asian American women.
Katie Grainger
Undergraduate Institution: Wofford College, 2010
Undergraduate Degree: English, concentration in Latin American & Caribbean Studies
Research Interests: Examining the social and political context of a film, how media reconstitutes or constructs new stories and identities.
Snapshot: Katie is half-Italian and originally from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She danced ballet for 10 years, but now enjoys traveling, mountain climbing, and martial arts.
Shana Hirsch
Undergraduate Institution: The Evergreen State College, 2007
Undergraduate Degree: Emphasis in Cultural Studies and Cultural Geography
Research Interests: Remote and Rural Studies, Scottish Gaelic
and Minority Language Revitalization, Agricultural Change, Environmental History, Food Studies
Snapshot: Born in Scotland, Shana learned Scottish Gaelic while studying in the Scottish Western Isles. She now lives on an island west of Seattle where she raises sheep and poultry.
Ken Matsudaira
Undergraduate Institution: The Evergreen State College, 1994
Undergraduate Degree: Liberal Arts
Research Interests: Japanese-American Diaspora; art in activism, social justice, and memory; documentary film
Snapshot: Ken is the curator of the M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery at Seattle Central Community College. He became passionate about the use of the arts in struggles against oppression after witnessing Chilean activist organizations in action while he was living in Santiago, Chile.
Tiffany Murray
Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington
Undergraduate Degree: Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Culture, Literature, and the Arts, Global Studies
Research Interests: Education among developing world communities, Gypsy/Rom evolving identities in the EU
Ariel Roy
Undergraduate Institution: Western Washington University, Fairhaven, 2008
Undergraduate Degree: American Cultural Studies
Research Interests: LGBTQ Experiences, Queer women in film, Intersections of Identity, Hegemony and privilege.
Snapshot: Ariel loves conversation and debate and hopes to teach at the university level. Star Trek is her fandom, tattoos are her art form of choice, and home is her favorite place.
Nancy Li Will
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Undergraduate Institution: Shanxi University, 2007
Undergraduate Degree: Japanese Language & Literature; English Language & Literature
Research Interests: Multiculturalism, including cultural conflict, identity, and roles in family and society. Sociolinguistics & psycholinguistics - the relationships among language and gender, power, class, race, and the cognitive reasons for the ways that people communicate
Snapshot: Nancy was an assistant Japanese teacher in China before immigrating to the United States. Her latest research topics include Raising Children Bilingually, Syntactic and Pragmatic Perspectives of Code-switching, Sociolinguistic Speech Accommodation in Mandarin, and Utilization of Circumlocution in American Society.
Stephen Will
Undergraduate Institution: Linfield College, 2007
Undergraduate Degree: Japanese, Minor in Asian Studies
Research Interests: The process of immigrating to the United States and the challenges that immigrants face in coming here and living here; immigrant/refugee rights in the United States; the issue of illegal immigration
Snapshot: Steve is the I-BEST Program Manager at Bellevue College. He works with immigrants and refugees on a daily basis, introducing them to new opportunities through higher education.
Continuing Students
Pei-Chia Fan
Undergraduate Institution: National Taiwan University, 2009
Undergraduate Degree: Chinese Literature
Research Interests: Transculture and Global Environment
Snapshot: Pei-Chia lives in Taiwan which has a rich multicultural society. She enjoys observing the interesting cultural phenomenon in her sorroundings, such as cultural diversity and global culture.
Jennifer Lockett
Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington Seattle, 2008
Undergraduate Degrees: Comparative History of Ideas and English
Research Interests: Post-human critical theory, cultural impact of information technology
Snapshot: Jennifer is an avid cyclist and vegan, believing social activism should begin at home because even the little things make a difference.