Alumni Career Directory

Comparative Studies PhD Alumni (2009-2023): Career Directory

 

Tenure-Track Faculty Positions

  • Rebecca Adelman (2009) Former Professor and Chair of Media and Communication Studies, University of Maryland Baltimore County            

  • Damon Berry (2014) Associate Professor, Religious Studies Department, St. Lawrence University

  • Kay Clopton (2018) Assistant Professor, Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian, OSU

  • Dan DiPiero (2019) Assistant Professor, Conservatory of Music and Dance University of Missouri-Kansas City

  • Nic Flores (2019) Assistant Professor, Department of Latina/Latino Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

  • Seth Gaiters (2021) Assistant Professor, Philosophy and Religion, Africana Studies, University of North Carolina Wilmington

  • Sandra Garner (2010) Associate Professor, Global and Intercultural Studies, Miami University (OH)

  • Bishal Karna (2018) Assistant Professor, Religious Studies Department, Nazareth College

  • Michael McVicar (2010) Associate Professor, Department of Religion, Florida State University

  • Oded Nir (2014) Assistant Professor of Hebrew, Classical, Middle Eastern, and Asian Languages and Cultures, Queens College, CUNY

  • RaShelle Peck (2014) Assistant Professor, Department of Ethnic and Race Studies, Borough of Manhattan Community College–CUNY

  • Afsane Rezaei (2020) Assistant Professor, English, Utah State University

  • Elo-Hanna Seljamaa (2012) Associate Professor, Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore and Director, International MA Program Folkloristics and Applied Heritage Studies, University of Tartu, Estonia.

  • Keren Tanquay (2021) Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Ethics at Kettering Health, Kettering College

  • Enrico Zammarchi (2019) Assistant Professor, Italian–Modern Languages and Literature, Gonzaga University

 

Community-Engaged Research and Other Positions

  • Cristina Benedetti (2018) Folk & Traditional Arts Contractor, The Ohio Arts Council; Central Appalachia Living Traditions Project; Blind Eye Restoration, Columbus

  • Lindsay Bernhagen (2013) Coaching, Mentoring, Collaborative Learning, TORCH, San Francisco

  • Jennifer Black (2012) Researcher, Prison Radio

  • Tracy Carpenter (2009) Workflow and Efficiency Consultant

  • Kate Dean-Haidet (2012) Integrative Mental Health Advanced Practice Provider, Practice & Program Development, OhioHealth Hospice & Palliative Care; Primary Investigator, CARE Project (Comfort Awareness & Resiliency Education); Co-Investigator, TIRED Project (Trending Institutional Reasons for Emotional Distress)

  • Sandra Garner (2010) Outreach and Indigenous Community Engaged Research, Myaamia Center, Miami University (OH)

  • Seth Josephson (2018) Information Services Specialist, Whetstone Branch, Columbus Metropolitan Library

  • Bishal Karna (2018) Teaching Workshops on Self-Compassion, St Ann's Community, Rochester

  • Josh Kurz (2014) Assistant Director for Community-Engaged Leadership, Appalachian State University

  • Michael Murphy (2015) Co-Founder, The Center for RE Connection (Non-profit for Educational Opportunities in Sustainable Agriculture); Faculty Developer, Black Mountain, North Carolina

  • Gabriel Piser (2016) Prison Ecology Project; Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio; Founding Partner, Big Sky Education and Strategy

  • Vidar Thorsteinsson (2016) Director of Membership Affairs at Efling Reykjavík, Iceland

  • Kennedy Waliaula † (2009) Author and Executive, Nation Media Group, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Rachel Wortman Morris (2012) Director of the Future Skill Initiative–Talent & Employability Program at Microsoft and former Co-Director of the Microsoft AI Business School

Academic Positions

  • Puja Batra-Wells (2016) Program Manager, Global Arts and Sciences Discovery Theme, OSU

  • Saeed Honarmand (2011) Program Coordinator, Persian Department in The Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS), Columbia University

  • Alana Kumbier (2009) Research and Instruction Librarian, Amherst College

  • Josh Kurz (2014) Formerly Assistant Director for Community-Engaged Leadership, Appalachian State University; Student Representation and Governance Coordinator, Western Washington University

  • Brian Michael Murphy (2014) Dean of the College at Bennington College

  • Gabriel Piser (2016) Director of Community Initiatives, Center for Rural Engagement, Indiana University Bloomington

  • Ryann Patrus (2021) Associate Instructional Designer, Office of Technology and Digital Innovation (OTDI), OSU

  • Joanna Spanos (2013) Advising Manager, Arts and Sciences Honors Program, OSU

  • Caroline Toy (2020) Learning Experience Designer, Center for Learning and Teaching and Adjunct Professor, Champlain College

 

Lecturers and Associated Faculty

  • Zeynep Aydogdu (2019) Assistant Professor (RRT), Gateway to Belonging at OU & Women's and Gender Studies, Oklahoma University

  • Lindsay Bernhagen (2013) Lecturer, Educational Sustainability Doctoral Program, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point         

  • Ricky Crano (2014) Assistant Specialist, Humanities Center, and Lecturer in English, Film and Media Studies, Anthropology, UC Irvine

  • Sarah Craycraft (2022) Head Tutor & Lecturer, Harvard University

  • Andrew Culp (2013) Professor of Media History and Theory and Program Director of the MA Aesthetics and Politics program, School of Critical Studies and MA Aesthetics and Politics Program, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)

  • Kate Dean-Haidet (2012) Clinical Adjunct Professor, Family Medicine, Heritage Medical College, Ohio University

  • Kati Fitzgerald (2020) Visiting Assistant Professor, Wittenberg University

  • Amy Gregg (2017) Lecturer, College of Pharmacy, OSU

  • Kirsi Haënninen (2010) University Teacher, Historian, Archivist, Department of Culture and Arts Research, University of Turku.

  • Saeed Honarmand (2011) Senior Lecturer, Persian Department in The Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) at Columbia University

  • Seth Josephson (2018) Associated Faculty, Department of Comparative Studies, OSU

  • Tahseen Kazi (2014) Visiting Assistant Professor, Political Science and International Studies, Georgia Southern University

  • Drew Lyness (2014) Instructor, School of Liberal Arts, Yukon College, Canada

  • Ilana Maymind (2011) Lecturer, Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Religious Studies, Chapman University

  • Rachel Wortman Morris (2012) Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, University of Washington

  • Wamae Muriuki (2012) Lecturer, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Nairobi

  • Beth Shively (2012) Middle School Teacher, Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, Houston; Instructor, Departments of Integrated Studies and Political Science, Sam Houston State University; Distinguished Adjunct Faculty, Department of General Education, Joyce University

  • Rita Trimble (2013) Lecturer, Africana, Gender, and Identity Studies, Ohio Wesleyan University

 

Editorial Positions

  • Ricky Crano (2014) Contributing Editor, Angelaki: Journal for the Theoretical Humanities

  • Kate Dean-Haidet (2012) Editorial Board, The Journal of Palliative Medicine

  • Carolyn Elerding (2017) Sophia Editing, LLC and Managing and Acquisitions Editor, University of North Texas Press

  • Ilana Maymind (2011) Associate Editor, Bioethics International

  • Brian Michael Murphy (2014) Managing and Nonfiction Editor, Northwest Review; Director, Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop

  • Oded Nir (2014) Editor CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

  • Eleanor Paynter (2020) Host, MIgrations: A World on the Move podcast

  • Afsane Rezaei (2020) Reviews Editor, Western Folklore Journal

  • Elo-Hanna Seljamaa (2012) Co-editor of Studies in Folklore and Ethnology: Traditions, Practices, and Identities series (Lexington Books); Co-editor of Narrative Culture (Wayne State Univ. Press)

 

Postdoctoral and Research Fellowships

  • Sarah Craycraft (2022) Visiting Fellow, Centre for Southeast European Studies, University of Graz, Austria (2021); American Institute for Southeast European Studies Fellowship (2019)

  • Kati Fitzgerald (2020) Postdoctoral Associate, Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University (2021-22)

  • Seth Gaiters (2021) Social Science Research Council (SSRC) and Religion & Public Sphere Program: Religion Spirituality, and Democratic Renewal Fellowship, (Henry Luce Foundation and the Fetzer Institute) (2022-23); University of Virginia’s Religion, Race & Democracy Lab and the Memory Project Faculty Fellow (Henry Luce Foundation) (2022-23); Faculty Success Program, National Center for Faculty Diversity and Development (NCFDD) (2022); Social Science Research Council (SSRC): Religion and the Public Sphere Fellowship for Early-Career Scholars (Henry Luce Foundation) (2020-21); Louisville Institute Scholar, Louisville Institute for the Study of American Religion (Lilly Endowment) (2021-23); Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (2023)

  • Sandra Garner (2010) Heanon Wilkins Faculty Fellow (2010-12); NEH Summer Scholar (2013); Altman Scholar (2013-14, 2020-2021); Inaugural Chief Floyd Leonard Faculty Fellow, Myaamia Center, Miami University (OH) (2021-Present).

  • Amy Gregg (2017) The American Institute of The History of Pharmacy Grant; Curtis Gates Lloyd Fellow (2019)

  • Kirsi Haënninen (2010) Postdoctoral Fellow in Folklore at the University of Turku, Helsinki  

  • Leighla Khansari (2020) Folger Shakespeare Library Fellowship (2017)

  • Alana Kumbier (2009) Five College Blended Learning Grant (2016-2017); Queer Zine Archive Project Residency (2015)

  • Josh Kurz (2014) Postdoctoral Fellow in Global Studies, National University of Singapore (NUS) (2014-16)

  • Brian Michael Murphy (2014) Fulbright Scholarship (Italy) (2021); National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend (2020)

  • Eleanor Paynter (2020) Migrations Postdoctoral Fellow, Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, Cornell University (2020-23) and American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellowship Program (2022-23)

  • RaShelle Peck (2014) Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures (AMESALL), Rutgers University (2019-2020) and Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, Black Bodies Seminar (2018-2019).

  • Peggy Reynolds (2012) Research Fellow, Media and Communications Department’s Topological Research Unit, Goldsmiths (UK) (2016)

  • Elo-Hanna Seljamaa (2012) Estonian National Sciences (2017-18); Kone Foundation Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, Finland (2018); Estonian Research Council (2018-21); Research Fellow, University of Helsinki (2022-23)

  • Sarah Jasmine Stork (2021) Fulbright (Poland) (2021-2022)

  • Rachel Wortman Morris (2012) Postdoctoral Fellowship, Duke-NUS Medical School (2012-13)

 

Employment at OSU

  • Puja Batra-Wells (2016) Program Manager, Global Arts and Sciences Discovery Theme, OSU

  • Kay Clopton (2018) Assistant Professor, Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian, OSU

  • Amy Gregg (2017) Lecturer, College of Pharmacy, OSU

  • Seth Josephson (2018) Associated Faculty, Comparative Studies, OSU

  • Ryann Patrus (2021) Associate Instructional Designer, Office of Technology and Digital Innovation (OTDI), OSU

  • Joanna Spanos (2013) Advising Manager, ASC Honors Program, OSU


Last updated: May 2023