Alexander Hall
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
Alex is beyond excited to be a CMU grad student, and is devoting his time to improving his writing and knowledge of literature. He hopes to pursue a career in editing, copywriting, research, or anything else that involves writing. When he’s not playing with his dog Poipu or in the kitchen helping his wife make eclairs, he enjoys studying Portuguese, reading, running, and rooting for the Cubs and Penguins.
Catherine Heiner
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
Catherine Heiner graduated from the University of Utah with Honors BA degrees in Writing and Rhetoric and Theatre Studies. She has worked as a journalist for The Daily Utah Chronicle, and as a dramaturg on a number of productions, including Self Defense, or death of some salesmen, American Idiot, and As You Like It. As a playwright, she has participated in the New Play Workshop in 2016 and 2017 with her plays Stuffing Season and Shots Fired. She plans to use her studies to explore how historical context can inform and influence theatrical productions.
Alexander Kisiel
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
Sandra Kruse
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Jon McIntire
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies (Part-Time CMU Staff)
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
Alison Meehan
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
Chloe Perry
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
My research includes present social justice issues, most specifically education inequality in the United States; ways that culture and education teach us about "bodies that matter," “otherness,” and which human lives are valued greater and why. Furthermore, I’m interested in exploring the ways that US nonprofit and volunteer culture interacts with education as an institution, the school to prison pipeline, income segregation, and power dynamics among different groups of individuals. This includes popular culture education, and education through artistic and activist movements.
Adrianna Rodriguez-Diaz
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
Bliss Saleebyan
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
Christopher Smida
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
Katie Stallsmith
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
Kelsey Trimm
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Katherine Tucker
M.A. Student, Literary and Cultural Studies (Part-Time CMU Staff)
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
Kate is a full-time staff member at CMU as an assistant to the department head in Mechanical Engineering. She has an M.S. in Library and Information Studies from Florida State University and a B.A. in English with concentrations in Literature and Creative Writing from Elon University. She is interested in learning more about Reader-Response theory and examining how the act of writing is inherently informed by the way the author expects the audience to understand their writing. She is also interested in diving deeper into Modernism and how politics and culture have shaped 20th (and 21st!) century American Literature. She enjoys yoga, painting, fantasy, science fiction, and watching The West Wing.