By Shana Melnysyn Dr. Chris Odato, an Instructional Consultant at Keene State College, received his PhD in Linguistics at the University of Michigan in 2010. Dr. Chris Odato is an Instructional Consultant at Keene State College in New Hampshire, where he works closely with faculty on course design and professional development. After a few years…
Category: Alumni Voices
Bringing PhD Training to Academic Innovation Projects
By Shana Melnysyn Dr. Sarah Moncada is a Project Coordinator for the Academic Innovation Initiative in U of M’s Office of Academic Innovation. She graduated from U of M with a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures in December 2016. Dr. Sarah Moncada helps facilitate the Academic Innovation Initiative, a year-long effort launched by the…
A Political Philosopher in a Taxpayer Watchdog Agency
By Eleni Manis, senior research analyst in the office of an elected official in the New York metropolitan area. Dr. Manis completed her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Michigan in 2009. Not so long ago, I was a philosopher specializing in political philosophy. Today, I work in the political arena, serving as a…
How I (Unknowingly) Prepared for My Museum Career
By Matthew Jaber Stiffler, Researcher at the Arab American National Museum and Lecturer at the University of Michigan. Dr. Stiffler received his PhD in American Culture from U of M in 2010. My transition from academia to the world of cultural museums was, initially, supposed to be a temporary exile. My graduate career, eight years in…
Developing and Applying Humanities Skills: From Museums to Financial Services
By Heloise Finch-Boyer, Senior Grants Specialist at Leyton UK. Dr. Finch-Boyer finished her PhD in Anthropology and History at University of Michigan in 2009. Internships aren’t just for undergrads. But when I entered the doctoral program in anthropology & history I was obsessed with other things: my field site, papers, prelims, my PhD “question”, the…
Using Humanities Training for Technical Writing
By Asynith Palmer, Technical Writer in Residence at University of Maryland Baltimore County and Information Developer at AMP Systems, LLC. Dr Palmer received her PhD in English from the University of Michigan in 2014. I have been a full time consultant since earning my PhD in English Language & Literature in 2014. I carry two business…
From PhD to Public Humanities
By Joe Cialdella, Program Officer at the Michigan Humanities Council. Dr. Cialdella received his PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan in 2015. Unlike many of my peers, I didn’t enter graduate school with the single goal of becoming a tenure track professor. It was not only the scarcity of academic jobs that…
Humanities Training, Leadership Skills, and International Development Work
By Meg Ahern, gender specialist at the Global Partnership for Education at the World Bank. Dr. Ahern completed her joint PhD in Women’s Studies & English in 2012. When I was at Rackham, I never attended any alternative career panels – I was in full academia-or-bust mode. Upon graduating, I had the incredible luck to get the…
What’s the right job for bringing historical perspectives into public life?
By Amanda Moniz, PhD, Associate Director of the National History Center and Program Coordinator at the American Historical Association. Dr. Moniz received her PhD in History from the University of Michigan in 2008. If you had asked me several years ago what public history is, I would have talked about museums. Indeed, museums are leading…