Meet the Staff
Administrative Staff
Jennifer Holt, Director
jennifer.r.holt@vanderbilt.edu
Jennifer believes that collaborative work on writing can help writers become critical, as well as independent, thinkers. In addition to directing the Writing Studio, she teaches courses in aesthetics, critical theory, and the philosophy of history. Her research interests focus on the contributions of the early Frankfurt School to debates about the relationship between aesthetics and politics. She does not begin to learn deeply about something until she tries to write about it.
Gary Jaeger, Assistant Director
gary.a.jaeger@vanderbilt.edu
Gary has been teaching and consulting on writing for over a decade. In addition to being an assistant director at the Writing Studio, he is a senior lecturer in the Philosophy Department where he teaches classes in ethics and political philosophy. His research interests are primarily in moral psychology, metaethics, and the history of early modern philosophy. He has published articles in the Journal of Value Inquiry and Metaphilosophy and is currently working on a book, tentatively titled Repression, Integrity, and Practical Reason. He earned a PhD in philosophy from the University of Chicago and a BA from Johns Hopkins University, where he double majored in philosophy and writing. Before coming to Vanderbilt, he taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Katherine Fusco , Assistant Director
katherine.fusco@vanderbilt.edu
Katherine Fusco serves as Assistant Director of the Writing Studio as well as Senior Lecturer in the English Department. She likes to talk through her writing with friends, preferably while taking a walk with coffee in hand. Katherine is currently working on her first book, which argues that stylistic innovations in the early cinema and American naturalist literature respond to anxieties about time in modernity. She’s promised herself a new coat if it’s done by Valentine’s day.
Amanda Middagh , Office Adminstrator
amanda.middagh@vanderbilt.edu
Amanda Middagh is a native of Iowa and moved to Nashville five years ago. She earned a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Communications from the University of Northern Iowa. In her spare time she likes to work with Street Theatre Company and she loves to read mysteries.
Clerks
Bridgett Green
Bridgett has a B.A. in Psychology from Davidson College and a M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary. Currently, she is a third year Ph.D. student in the area of New Testament and Early Christianity with a minor in Hebrew Bible at Vanderbilt and a fellow in the Theology and Practice program. In addition to working hard, Bridgett enjoys time hanging out with her friends, running and watching really good television.
Chris McCain
Chris McCain is a third-year Master of Divinity student at Vanderbilt Divinity School. He received a B.A. in German from Davidson College. Outside of reading about all things theological, Chris likes to go jogging around town, cook (or at least try to), and peruse farmer's markets.
Kelly Williams
Kelly Williams is a Ph.D. student in the Graduate Department of Religion, focusing on American religious history. She earned her M.A. in Religion at the University of Georgia (go Dawgs!) and her B.A. in English at Davidson College. When she's not reading or writing about nineteenth-century religious groups, she's reading a novel or (more likely) watching reality TV. If she ever decides she's responsible enough for a puppy, she'll name it "Franny" after the character in J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey.
Writing Consultants
Christopher Adamson
Christopher John Adamson is a first-year MFA candidate in poetry who was raised near the foothills of Salt Lake City, Utah. He earned a B.S. in journalism with a double major in poetry from Northwestern University, where he won an Academy of American Poets prize. He comes to Vanderbilt from Chicago where he worked as a private tutor and a freelance writer, editor, and graphic designer. Poetically he is preoccupied with how to render the intersections of myth, the wild, and the sacred.
Michael Alijewicz
Michael Alijewicz is a 4th Year PhD student in the English department, working on his dissertation on early modern uses of the subjunctive in literature, government, and architecture. But his true passions are amateur tugboat racing and conversations about writing. Nashville's geography only allows him to enjoy one of those things.
Ricardo Zamorano Baez
Ricardo Zamorano Baez is a first-year MFA student in poetry and is happy to be part of Vanderbilt’s literary atmosphere. He received his B. A. in Creative Writing from the University of California Riverside and has worked as an ESL and English tutor at a community college. Running through the open fields when the sun is disappearing in the horizon is his favorite form of re-energizing his mind and soul.
Rebecca Bernard
Rebecca Bernard is a second year MFA student in fiction. She received her BFA in film from NYU. She is head Fiction and Music editor for the Nashville Review. Her work has been published in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency among other places.
Destiny Birdsong
Destiny Birdsong is a fifth-year PhD student in the Department of English who is currently working on her dissertation, tentatively titled “No Steps on a Crystal Stair: Mothers, Daughters, and the Traumatic Transmission of Knowledge in Afro-Diasporic Literature.” In her free time, she enjoys reading and writing poetry, texting, watching crime television, and shopping.
Ariel Clemons
Ariel is a senior in Peabody College, majoring in Human & Organizational Development and Psychology. She is published in the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal and is a past participant in the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Writing Symposium. She believes that the hardest part of the writing process is coming up with a unique and intriguing topic, and the best way to work through this is by discussing your ideas with others. When Ariel isn't in the Writing Studio, she can most likely be found on the tennis courts or frequenting Yogurt Oasis.
Carolyn Cusick
Carolyn is a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy writing a dissertation on the importance of listening for epistemic justice. Sometimes people react hesitantly to this topic, fearing she is paying too close attention now to how well they listen. But no worrying here, since consulting requires her to be a really good listener and it is a job she very much likes. Writing is often a slow and painful process that is also rather rewarding. Most things get worked out first in her mind, and in conversation with others. Then she works to revise and clarify and complete her argument in writing.
Cara Dees
Cara Dees grew up in Wisconsin where she trained horses, milked cows, and took care of various birds and small mammals. She received her B.A. in English and certificate in European Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also worked as a Writing Fellow. She is now a first year in the MFA in Poetry program, which gives her an excuse to devote large amounts of her time to reading Robert Hayden, Anne Carson, and Brigit Pegeen Kelly.
James Grady
James Grady is currently a graduate student in Philosophy, specializing in medieval Jewish thought, and social and political philosophy. His dissertation is focused on the way medieval Jewish philosophers re-conceptualize the exile, both to counter anti-Jewish polemics and to revisit Jewish philosophy of history. He majored in philosophy and religion at Emory University (C'98), and received a Master of Theological Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School (2002). http://people.vanderbilt.edu/~james.a.grady
Lexi Haugh
Lexi is a senior in the college of Arts and Science and is a double major in Chemistry and English. She is pre-med and wishes to pursue a career in International Health. She is a member of Kappa Delta Sorority and involved with the Global Health Council and Nashville CARES. She enjoys travel, reading pretty much anything, coffee, being busy, and shopping.
Sarah Hoff
Sarah is a second year student at Vanderbilt Law School. She graduated from Vanderbilt in 2009, where she studied art history, English, and political science. She tends to write organically and has never used any of the outlines she has made (but she always makes one!). Recently, she has been writing opinions and orders for a judge, and she enjoys bringing this style of argumentation to the Writing Studio, without the legalese. She also loves to dance, play music, and learn to fiddle in her (very limited) spare time!
Caroline Hovanec
Cari Hovanec is a Ph.D. student in the English department, working on a dissertation about animals, biology, and British modernism. She is currently experimenting with writing chapters from the inside out. When she isn't writing, reading, or teaching, Cari enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, taking naps, and watching Florida Gators sports.
Claire Jimenez
Claire grew up in New York City between Brooklyn and Staten Island where she fell in love with poetry, then went to college in Maine where she studied creative writing with an amazing and kind teacher who taught her to love prose. After college, she spent several years teaching after-school or working retail which helped her understand that she hates selling things, but really likes youth development. Throughout this time, some years she wrote, and some years she didn't. 2010 was a pretty good year; she was able to bully herself into writing everyday. Now, If she gets really frustrated with a story or a poem, she remembers an Adrienne Rich line that another great teacher shared with her in college: "You must write and read as if your life depended on it."
Hayley Karlan
Hayley Karlan is a senior in the College of Arts and Science from Darien, Connecticut. She is double majoring in English and Art History, and minoring in Corporate Strategy. Hayley spent the fall semester of her junior year studying in Florence, Italy, and while she will miss Italian coffee, she is excited to get back to her friends and classes at Vanderbilt. She enjoys reading and writing short stories, and wishes she had more time to do both.
Daniel King
Dan is a currently a junior studying Secondary Education and English. Dan loves being in Peabody and plans on becoming a teacher after he graduates. In his spare time, Dan enjoys writing poetry for Vanderbilt Spoken Word and crafting jokes for The Slant and Tongue-N-Cheek. When he's not in Nashville Dan resides in Cherry Hill, NJ.
Marysa LaRowe
Marysa is a first-year MFA candidate in Creative Writing at Vanderbilt. Originally from Wheaton, IL, Marysa studied journalism at Boston University in Boston, MA before earning a B.A. in English and Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since then, she has worked as a writing tutor, retail clerk, health benefits advocate, event planning assistant, and volunteer teacher in a local prison. She yet to successfully create a story that incorporates all of these in one captivating plot line. Besides writing, Marysa enjoys running, biking, and people-watching at local coffee shops and bars. She is learning to appreciate country music.
Emilie Lyons
As a senior in the College of Arts and Science, Emilie is finishing up a major in English and minors in Spanish and Corporate Strategy. After having lived in St. Louis and Dallas, she now calls a small town in Kentucky home and loves nothing more than enjoying coffee and a book on the front porch. From magazines to books and blogs, she reads anything she can get her hands on and knows that whatever she does in life will center around reading and writing.
Megan McMurtry
Megan has a BA in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, an M.T.S. and Th.M. from Duke University, and an M.A. from Vanderbilt University. She is currently in her sixth year of the Ph.D. program in Hebrew Bible at Vanderbilt University. She is writing on the interaction between the cosmos and prophet in biblical prophetic texts as a means of communication and the function of this interaction in the reception history in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
John Morrell
John Morrell is a graduate student in the English department, studying American literature and environmental literature. He is writing a dissertation about the intersections of science fiction and climate change. John writes best in the morning and enjoys listening to piano jazz while he works.
Kate O'Doherty
Kate is a Ph.D. student in Psychology & Human Development focusing on social cognitive development. After earning a B.A. in Psychology at University of Notre Dame, Kate took spent time in Missoula, MT and Chicago, IL before moving to Nashville to start graduate school. She greatly enjoys teaching and working one-on-one with students. When she is not on campus working with toddlers in the Early Development Lab, Kate is at home taking care of her own toddler and hanging out with her husband and friends.
Chris Paris
Chris Paris is a Ph.D. student in the Graduate Department of Religion and is nearing the completion of his dissertation, “Narrative Obtrusiveness in the Hebrew Bible.” He earned a B.A. and an M.A. from Western Kentucky University as well as an M.T.S. from Vanderbilt Divinity School. He enjoys connecting pop culture with the study of religion and would be happy to share his insights on the Jewish influence on comic books, Rorschach as a prophetic figure in Watchmen, and the use and misuse of omniscience in Lost. When he’s not working or watching sci fi, he enjoys playing Wii with his wife and son.
Annette Quarcoopome
Annette Quarcoopome received her BA in Comparative Literature from Williams College. She is currently a second year graduate student in the French department and specializes in francophone Caribbean literature. She enjoys travelling and sleeping (as much as her schedule allows...which really isn't much).
Jacob Robbins
Jacob Robbins is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in English and Psychology. He loves reading novels steeped in escapism, although he certainly finds time for non-literary diversions. He grew up a short drive from Nashville in Louisville, Kentucky, and is an avid outdoors lover. One can usually find him enjoying nature in some fashion, holed up reading a book, or laughing at the most recent posts on Reddit. For him, the writing process is a crude, painstaking prelude to the meticulous editing that follows. He hopes that one day a piece of his writing will fleetingly be mistaken for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s.
Eric Rosenberg
Eric Rosenberg is a junior from Fort Lauderdale, Florida majoring in English and History, with a minor in Human and Organizational Development. He is brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity and enjoys the Dave Matthews Band, the Miami Heat, and internet blogs. Eric keeps a notepad with him at all times because a great idea can appear anywhere.
Donika Ross
Donika Ross is currently a PhD student in the English Department, and her research interests include cowboys, white masculinity, and the frontier. She received an MFA in Writing from the University of Texas in Austin, and loves writing poems about birds and fields.
Janet Thielke
Janet Thielke is a first year MFA candidate in fiction. She graduated with a B.A. in English, Creative Writing from the University of Southern California and spent the last year living, writing, and working in London, Edinburgh, and New York City. She’ll read just about anything, which frequently includes but is not limited to the backs of cereal boxes.
John Wheeler
John Wheeler is a senior majoring in English with a creative writing focus. He’ll probably minor in Spanish. He enjoys writing science fiction and fantasy novels and stories, many of which include knife fights. He attended the Alpha science fiction and fantasy writing workshop in Greensburg, Pennsylvania for three summers, most recently as a staff member. He also writes music and humorous (he hopes) stories. In his spare time, he reads, climbs, and plays racquetball and guitar, but not simultaneously. He also plays trumpet in Vanderbilt's Spirit of Gold marching band. A native of Alpharetta, Georgia, he is happy to have the opportunity to work with other writers.
Tim Xu
Tim Xu is a senior in the College of Arts and Science majoring in Neuroscience and European Studies. He is interested in French and European culture and studied abroad at Sciences Po in Paris during his third year at Vanderbilt. Following graduation, Tim plans to pursue a career in academic medicine and hopes to integrate his cultural interests in some way. He enjoys swimming, tennis, French poetry, and listening to movie soundtracks.