GW English Department Class Notes - Fall 2010
Taylor Kate Brown 08, after spending 10 months in a constant creative panic at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, has moved back to her beloved DC metro area to become the editor of Wheaton Patch, a online local news site covering the town of Wheaton, MD. She recently completed a 20-minute documentary on a high school debate team, Debate Prep, with fellow J-school grad Alex Berg.
Mark DeSimone 08 completed his masters degree at Sacred Heart University in education, and plans to teach middle or high school English. I've spent the last two years interning, student teaching, and coaching swimming in Stamford, Connecticut, he writes.
Lauren Emmett 08 works in New York City at Robinson Lerer & Montgomery, a corporate communications firm. I was promoted near the beginning of 2010 from communications assistant to associate. I've been living in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn for most of the time I've been here, but have been back to visit DC several times! Also, my boyfriend's (not a GW grad) sister will be starting at GW in a few weeks!
Tian Peralto 08 has been in Law School in the Cayman Islands since September 2008 and recently represented the Cayman Islands Law School in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna, where we placed 74th out of 251 schools.
Alex Caldwell 07 has been working as the spokeswoman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association since shortly after graduation. At NATCA, Caldwell not only represents the union in both national and local interviews but she spearheads its media training program.
Sarah Cohn 07 graduated with a Masters in Social Work in Clinical Mental Health from Columbia University.
Joseph P. Fisher PhD 07 has recently begun the revisions on his dissertation, In the Words of Total Need": Craving Addiction in Literary Studies, with an eye toward publication, he hopes, within the next two years. He has also recently joined the blogging staff of the website PopMatters, where he writes about all things cultural. Joe and Brian Flota PhD 06 are working on an anthology of essays titled "Catastrophe and the Cure": The Politics of Post-9/11 Music.
Teresa Tess Salazar 07 moved to the New York area after graduation to pursue a career in publishing/editing. I am now an Assistant Editor in the Print-Editorial division of Springer Healthcare, primarily working with authors to edit, design, and publish cutting edge medical texts, she writes. It's enjoyable, however, I do miss the days of studying cultural theory.
Taylor Stern 07 is currently working on her MA in English at DePaul University in her native Chicago. This year she will be writing a thesis on the works of contemporary British author David Mitchell while completing her coursework. Ms. Stern also is the assistant 8th Grade Teacher at The Francis W. Parker School.
Jennifer Caulk 06 took a job after graduation with DISH Network as a technical writer in the Information Technology department. Since then, Jennifer's career has led her to her current position in IT project management with Accenture.
Brian G. Feener 06 writes,For the past 4 years I've been working as the website editor and analyst for USA Football and, since April, Total Wine & More. I'm regularly DJing in the area and still writing, with two active blogs (one tech-focused, one music-focused) and I'm working on a post-modern play, a superhero novel, and an unedited collection of poetry all at the same time. I figure one has to get done eventually.
Jack Gaynor 06 works at Interfolio (www.interfolio.com), primarily doing business with our university partners, both at the career center and departmental levels. Our online service helps students, faculty, and staff manage the process of collecting, storing, and distributing confidential letters of recommendation, and other documents, for the purpose of applying to medical school, graduate school, or jobs in higher education. In June 2010 I started my 5th year with the company.
Miriam Nemeth 06 graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2009 and has been clerking for a federal judge on the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit since that time. She writes, "In August 2011, I will be moving to Memphis to clerk for a judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and plan to return to DC after that year. I have become involved with Team in Training and will be running a half-marathon this fall for charity and a full marathon in the spring."
Alex OSullivan-Pierce 06 has been teaching English in the Bronx for 4 years and is beginning law school this fall at Suffolk University in Boston.
Joshua Patriquin 06 worked for 3 years as a Special Ed teacher in a progressive program for public and private middle and high school kids in Massachusetts. He then moved to New York City to study music and make an album.
Alana Guiney 05 earned her law degree from Willamette University College of Law, passed the bar, and now works as an Investigator in the Elections Division of the Oregon Secretary of State's Office. She writes, Maybe in a future newsletter you could include a smattering of what English majors and professors are reading. I'm always looking for new books. I'm currently reading Shirley (by Charlotte Bronte) and wondering how this great book passed me by all these years.
Since graduating, Shannon Derby 04 has received her MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College ('07) and has been teaching courses in literature and writing at Emerson College and Suffolk University for the past five years. This fall, she will be moving to Dublin to pursue further postgraduate studies at Trinity College.
Megan Ann Harmon 04 currently lives in Miami and works for a national arts non-profit called YoungArts (www.youngarts.org). She also just started a blog (www.miamifavs.tumblr.com) and began writing a series for the Miami Heralds online lifestyle news source, miami.com. She moved to Miami from DC, where she was working at the Corcoran Gallery of Art as the manager of membership. After falling head over heels in love with Miami, she writes, I am sure I will be here forevermore.
Sean Perkins 04 stayed at GW to earn an MA in Curriculum and Instruction in 2006. After graduate school, he writes, I was hired, and remain, the Senior Academic Advisor at the Embassy of Kuwait. I have grandiose plans of returning to school for a PhD, but am somewhat frightened of rejection and embarking on such an important endeavor.
Delaina Price 04 is working on a PhD in history at Yale University.
Rachel
Day 03 is
currently the director of communications at the John F. Kennedy Library
Foundation in Boston. One of my favorite things about the Kennedy Library is
that it houses the Ernest Hemingway Collection, she writes.
Caitlin MacAlpine 03
earned an MA in English
at Georgetown University in 2005. My thesis, The Two-Spirit Tradition in
Contemporary American Indian Literature, was accepted for presentation at
the Gendered Transnationalisms conference at UCLA. Since graduation I have
worked as an English teacher at a private middle/high school in Silver Spring,
MD, and on a personal note, I'm getting married next August!
Brent Stansell 03 teaches in the Theatre & Dance Department at GWU and also works as a theatre educator at American University, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, Folger Theatre, and Imagination Stage. He runs his own theatre company called the DC Theatre Collective (www.dctheatrecollective.com).
Rachel Dinkes 02 is a Senior Research Analyst at the American Institutes for Research. She currently serves as a member of the OECD Education Working Party representing the interests of the United States at the bi-annual meetings. She is responsible for the collection, submission, and presentation of U.S. data for the annual OECD publication, Education at a Glance. Ms. Dinkes is the lead author of Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 commissioned by the National Center for Education Statistics and is a co-author and contributor to the Congressionally-mandated Condition of Education 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. She is also a doctoral candidate in Public Policy and Administration at George Washington University (anticipated completion May 2011). Ms. Dinkes earned her masters degree in statistics and survey methodology from the London School of Economics. Ms. Dinkes previously served as a Survey Statistician at the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Debra Filcman 02 lives in Boston, where she is the editor of an award-winning newspaper and website, the Somerville Journal and WickedLocalSomerville.com. She's also an avid arts blogger and freelance copywriter.
Sara Stroman 02 is in New York City working for Mitsubishi International Corporation in the Corporate Communications Department. I maintain their website and help create and design all internal publications, she writes. In the last year, I decided to follow my real passion, writing, but with incorporating my loves for paper and design, by starting a stationery company called S2 Stationery & Design. It's only a year old now, but I've done some great projects already and am looking forward to getting more time on my hands to design more and create my brand. Everyone interested can view my Etsy page here: www.s2stationery.com.
Matthew C. Gummerson BA/BS 01; M.D. 05 is presently on staff as a Pediatric Anesthesiologist in the Air Force in San Antonio, Texas. I finished my fellowship at Children's Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School and was active-duty in the Air Force before then. I am married with no kids (yet!).
Karen Anderson Hoffman 00 has been working in the book publishing in New York since graduation. Originally in acquisitions at Penguin, she is now happily working in advertising and promotions at Random House.
After earning his BA, Chip Ward 00 earned an MA in Human Resource Development from GWU. I own a Bethesda-based television production company and executive producer the PBS travel series, Equitrekking, for which I won and Emmy in 2009. My wife, Darley Newman is a '01 SMPA graduate and she hosts the series.
Upon graduation, Joanna Hatzis 99 moved to New York City where she worked in both the fashion art world in development and public relations. She currently resides in Washington, DC and is receiving a masters in Public Communication from American University.
Jaime Begley 98 writes, I spent 5 years as an 8th grade Language Arts teacher in Hollywood, FL, and I spent last year teaching English in South Korea. Now I live in Wheaton, IL, while I figure out my next great adventure.
Richard E. Otten 98 is currently a Cultural Studies PhD student at George Mason University. He teaches in GMUs Department of Communication and in the American Studies Department at Anne Arundel Community College.
Nishi Chawla PhD 97 writes, After nearly fifteen years of completing my PhD at GWU, I am still teaching at the University of Maryland. I have also published two novels and four collections of poems. I live with my husband in Bethesda, Maryland.
Damask (Hansen) Petrick 97 writes, I have been employed at Lockheed Martin Corporation for seven years and am currently the International Business Development Operations Manager. I married Stephen Petrick four years ago and we have two children, Charlotte (2) and Benjamin (11 months).
Iris Jamahl (Johnson) Dunkle 96 just finished her Ph.D. in English at Case Western Reserve University this Spring. Her first poetry collection Inheritance was published by Finishing Line Press June 2010.
Catherine Johnson 95 is Executive Editor at McGraw-Hill Professional, where she manages the medical test-preparation publishing program in addition to overseeing the allied-health and nursing program. She has worked in medical publishing since 1996. In July, Catherine celebrated her 10th wedding anniversary to husband Brian Johnson. They reside in Cheshire, CT with their two daughters: Margaret (7) and Anna Mae (4).
Sharmili Majmudar 95 was recently recognized with the Chicago Foundation for Women's 2010 Impact Award. Currently she serves as executive director of the Chicago-based non-profit Rape Victim Advocates, and she and her partner are excitedly expecting their first child this October.
Jeremias Tan BA 95; MD 99 was a resident in internal medicine and then was chief resident at GW in 2003. He went on to study gastroenterology at the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts from 2003 to 2006. He has been a practicing GI in Northern Virginia since 2006.
Andrew Skola 93 is currently the director of client relationships for AvreaFoster, a B2B branding and marketing firm in Dallas, Texas. He lives in Dallas with his wife, Adrienne Cortez, a native Texan, and landscape architect. He received an MA in American Studies/Literature in 1996 from Purdue University.
Jacyln Jackie Goldman (Schatell) 90 writes, After graduation, I applied to law school and took two internships in public relations. I went to law school briefly, but decided to pursue PR, which I have been doing successfully for nearly two decades. Over the years, I worked at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ, and for Erickson Retirement Communities, and Prudential, as well as for other companies. I currently run my own boutique PR Firm called, JGS PR Group -- http://www.jgsprgroup.com. I loved GWU and the English Dept., and have many fond memories of the school and English program.
Amanda Ohlke 86 (GSEHD) went into the museum field which was always my goal. Ive had interesting jobs at museums and museum-related associations and am enjoying an exciting time at the International Spy Museum. Using my creative writing skills to construct spy missions for GPS-based games and adult activities is a blast. My understanding of how to plot something has really come in handy. Thanks so much for all the good background from my literature studies!
Jonathan Murray 80 has had careers in journalism, marketing, business, and now, venture capital. He can be found at www.esplp.com/team.html
Stuart Moulthrop 75 is leaving the University of Baltimore to become Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His writing and teaching at UWM will center on electronic literature and the critical study of emerging digital culture.
Jeffrey Gorsky 74, formerly a criminal defense attorney and US foreign service officer, is now an attorney with the U.S. State Department. He writes, My agent is trying to sell a history of the Spanish Jews entitled Jewish Blood that I've been working on for four years. He is married with two daughters.
After GW, Gail Obenreder ODonnell 71 completed professional studies in the theatre (Circle in the Square /NYC) and has worked in the arts and humanities (as a producer of theatre and events in NYC and Atlanta) for most of her career, continuing as well to explore singing and writing. Formerly with the Delaware Theatre Company, she currently is Director of External Affairs at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, where her English studies and interests in the humanities dovetail especially nicely with the Museums renowned collection of Pre-Raphaelite art (Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the other PRBs) and with its public programs in music and poetry. Visit the Museum at www.delart.org and the Pre-Raphaelites at www.preraph.org.
Thomas Hart BA 70; MA 73 received his PhD in English from Catholic University in 1993. Currently retired, he worked for the government for a number of years, and left for a career in technical writing and programming. He runs a blog devoted to literature, movies, music, and politics called Jurassic Rants at http://web.me.com/tehart.
After graduation, Karen Vaucher 70 went on to pursue her second passion besides reading and writing, namely cooking. I owned several bistros in NYC and East Hampton, NY thinking that I could accumulate many experiences and observations of people which would contribute to a great novel in my future. I now live in the Hill County of Texas - where I raise goats and sell gourmet products for chefs and cater small elegant dinner parties - still pursing the dream of accumulating experiences for a great novel.
Sally (Dolan) Alexander 66 writes, I was Sally Colclough when I entered GW in 1951 and my father was Dean of the Law School, Sally Dolan when I finished my BA in 1966, after the death of my first husband, and my MA in 1970, when my father was Provost of the university. I went on to take a second MA from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins. As Sally Alexander, I retired from the Chair of the English Department at the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda in 2000. My husband and I live on the Severn River near Annapolis.
Rita E. Frank 66 earned a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of Maryland (College Park). She just retired this past May from Virginia Wesleyan College as a Professor of Psychology. During my teaching career, she writes, I taught courses in child language and literacy and so carried my love of language with me throughout my career.
Barbara Ann (Brown) Mayo-Wells 61 earned an MA and PhD in medieval English from the University of Maryland. She has now retired after a career as an academic administrator (most recently, Director, Institute for Research on Adults in Higher Education). Currently she is writing a family history that promises to take a decade to complete.
She writes, I worked harder for that GW degree than for either of the Maryland postgraduate degrees! In 1961, GW required comprehensive exams of its graduating English majors 2 days, 10 hours total. My doctoral exams at Maryland lasted only 9 hours.
Samuel Jay Keyser 56 retired from the faculty at MIT in 1998, although he still holds a position as Special Assistant to the Chancellor. (At MIT, he worked closely with GWs new provost, Dr. Steven Lerman.) He won the GW Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992. He blogs at http://www.travelreluctantly.blogspot.com.
He writes, Ive also written a book about what it's like for me, as travel-averse as they come, being married to a travel addict. I followed her to forty countries around the world since we've been together. Why do I do it? You can check it out here:
http://www.amazon.com/I-Married-Travel-Junkie-ebook/dp/B003QP4EJE/ref=cm_pdp_rev_itm_title_1
Rayleona Fratkin Sanders BA 51; MA 53 entered GW as a pre-med student and after graduation worked first as an elementary school teacher and then as a high school English teacher. In those days, she writes, a teacher shortage meant a teaching job, even if you had no classes in the School of Education. I modeled my classroom after the excellent teachers I had at GW--Tupper, Linton, Stone, Allee, Day, Shepard--to name those who come immediately to mind. I also taught Chaucer (in Middle English) at Dunbarton College during that time.
In 1957 I worked at the Library of Congress--again with no professional degree--and was assigned to the reference and bibliography section to research and answers questions posed by Congressional staff and the public, including students. I left to raise a family of four magnificent children and worked part time for U.S. News and World Report as a proofreader for eleven years. During that time I took a class in editing.
In 1980 I went to work for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a technical editor, utilizing all the biology, chemistry, and physics classes that had been a major part of the pre-med curriculum. I retired from NRC in 1999.
Louise Williams Marsh 48 received her MA from Harvard (then Radcliffe) in 1949. My professors at GW had urged me to apply there, she writes. I later returned to GW and taught freshman English for about three years with the intention of returning to Harvard. That never happened. Instead, I married Richard Marsh, who was teaching in the math department. Our moves were dictated by his career.
I have been an editor and have had various writing jobs. I am still an active volunteer with the Boy Scouts as an Eagle Scout coordinator in my district.