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Student Spotlights

Student Spotlight: Lisa Domenico

In the home stretch, Lisa is finishing the third of three papers that comprise her dissertation. Her research focuses on self-schema models (neurological networks that contain and process self-referential information) and how they serve as the unidentified mechanism...

Student Spotlight: Jay Borchert

Jay was just awarded the prestigious Mellon American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation Fellowship, an award given to graduate students in the humanities and related social sciences in the last year of Ph.D. dissertation writing. As a 5th year doctoral...

Student Spotlight: Devan Donaldson

“I’m an expert in my field. I have broken ground. I have made novel contributions. I’ve done it. I really have done it.” The news is still settling in for Devan Donaldson. While Devan doesn’t graduate until May, he’s leaving Ann Arbor now for Bloomington, Indiana...

Student Spotlight: Michael Bianco

“I’ve become an activist artist. My work has to do with issues in the environment, social and environmental justice.” Mike has previous a master’s degree in curatorial practice from the California College of the Arts and an undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary...

Student Spotlight: Logan Casey

“I’ve been into politics since I was 14. I always thought I’d run for office.” Logan, from St. Louis, received his undergraduate degree in political science from Truman State University, a small liberal arts college in Missouri. “In college I got really into the...

Student Spotlight: Zhuobin Liang

Zhuobin can’t believe he’s already been here for six years. “I’ll finish in a couple of months, it doesn’t seem real.” Challenged by needing to change labs when his initial PI left the University, Zhuobin’s research involves two different labs and projects. “My...

Student Spotlight: Cat Cassel

Cat’s dissertation, with roots in animal studies and feminist theory, examines insectoid literature through a feminist lens with respect to gender stereotypes and humanization of animal species. She is most intrigued by the way in which insectoid representation...

Student Spotlight: Caitlin Townsend

Caitlin is researching the scientific revolution in early modern Europe as it relates to the collection, display and narrative of natural history collections. Her work concentrates on the Royal Society of London as well as other, less formal collectors of fossils and...

Student Spotlight: Austin McCoy

Austin came to Michigan for his doctorate because of the faculty. “That was the deciding factor for me. My research interests were focused on the Midwest, and U-M was the best fit.” An Ohio native, Austin completed his undergraduate and master’s degree in African...

Student Spotlight: Amanda Healy

Amanda’s research focuses on postbellum historical fiction that represents the events of the U.S. past. Many of the novels she studies were written by or about women and the family and were long considered unimportant or apolitical. Her dissertation research shows...