Myles
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Academic area and expected graduation date:
Learning Sciences
School of Education
Myles has been at IU for more than 30 semesters! "I have lived here most of my life," he said, "and completed
a BS, three Masters, and currently working finishing my Ph.D." Myles expects to graduate May 2008.
The emissary position seems like a great way to be a part of the university in new and valuable way.
Research interests
As a learning scientist, I am interested in how people may optimize physical performance through a greater knowledge of their bodies.
My research work is focused on expressing how quality of life/performance can be modified with a gained conceptual understanding of movement.
What I enjoy most about my graduate program
The graduate process has been an ideal way for me to explore, share, and develop new ways of seeing the world.
Advice for prospective graduate students
Go to a school where you feel comfortable.
Additional advice
Indiana is a wonderful place to got to school. Now that I am reaching the end of my program I realize that my perspective of the world has not changed, just an understanding of how to ask better questions.
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Carlos
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Academic area and expected graduation date:
Cognitive Science
Philosophy, Psychology, Computational Modeling
Carlos is in his third semester at IU and expects to graduate May 2011.
From previous experience in the university recruitment process, I've come to realize how important
personal attention and student feedback is in making a decision about where to go to graduate school.
The emissary program is exactly the kind of program that can give applicants this kind of attention and
feedback, so by participating in the program, I hope to make IU more attractive to prospective graduate students.
Research interests
I mainly do philosophical research on the foundations of cognitive science. That is, I study computational
and mathematical models of cognitive systems, and identify and evaluate their (usually implicit) philosophical
assumptions and commitments. In particular I investigate the role and value of certain explanatory notions,
including the notions of mental representation and modular explanation.
What I enjoy most about my graduate program
Its interdisciplinary nature: I regularly meet with faculty in at least 4 different departments, and attend talks in many others. Importantly, I am definitely not the only person in my graduate program doing this: interdisciplinary research is greatly encouraged, and I might even say expected.
Advice for prospective graduate students
Take your GRE's early, ideally in the summer before your senior year. Also, think about what kind of environment will be best for you: big cities can be exciting, but also distracting; small towns provide limited opportunities, but the environment is very conducive to focusing on research. (Of course, this does not mean that IU is only about work!)
Hobbies and interests
Cycling, cycling, and cycling.
Additional advice
I'm a very international person and have lived in a number of countries other than the US. If there is anything you would like to know about the international graduate student community here at IU, or about what kind of events there are on campus which might interest international(-minded) graduate students, just ask!
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Lanaya
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Academic area and expected graduation date:
Counseling Psychology
Lanaya is in her fourth year or coursework. She's just starting her dissertation and will be working as a psych intern next year. She expects to graduate August 2009.
I was motivated to be an emissary for graduate student diversity because I am personally and professionally committed to multicultural issues. I value diversity in the community, in the classroom, and in the counseling relationship. When I am in an environment that fosters diversity and respect for others, I feel that I am able to learn from various perspectives and life experiences. Increasing the diversity of the graduate student population will benefit Indiana University at many levels.
Research interests
The research in my academic program has been largely conceptual. I have co-authored a book chapter regarding the skill of cultural confrontation in multicultural counseling. I have also co-authored a journal response regarding a special issue on positive psychology. Lastly, I have assisted my advisor in writing an encyclopedia entry about multicultural issues in cross-cultural school consultation. I am currently collecting data regarding consultants’ beliefs and practices when engaging in multicultural consultation.
What I enjoy most about my graduate program
I enjoy the clinical portion of my graduate program the most. I appreciate being able to put into practice theories and concepts that I have learned in the classroom. I am very interested in the concept of change: what motivates people to change, what facilitates change, and how change can be generalized to other contexts. I am interpersonally oriented as a counselor, and I find that the clinical portion of my training allows for the most meaningful learning.
Advice for prospective graduate students
My advice for prospective graduate students is make time for themselves during graduate school. My program has the potential to take up all of my time; however, it is important that I also make time for my relationship, my family, and my own mental health. Balance is very important in any graduate program, and while there may be some times during the year when it is more difficult to achieve a balance (i.e., midterms, qualifying exams, term papers) making time for a life outside of school is important!
Hobbies and interests
My hobbies include reading for fun, playing the piano, and quilting.
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Gillian
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Academic area and expected graduation date:
Dual Ph.D. Program in Anthropology and Ethnomusicology
Gillian has been at IU since 2004 and expects to graduate June 2010.
I became an emissary because I wanted to help alleviate some of the uncertainties, confusions and fears that new graduate students feel, as a result of a lack of valuable information about Indiana University campus, the intricacies of the academic system, and Bloomington as whole. I hope to make their transition to Indiana University, Bloomington, less daunting than my own had been.
Research interests
My area of focus is the Caribbean and kweh-kweh is my dissertation research object.
Kweh-kweh is a uniquely Afro-Guyanese pre-wedding ritual, which occurs the night before a wedding ceremony, and is practiced by Afro-Guyanese in Guyana and abroad. Through research, which I commenced in the fall of 2005, I will articulate how contemporary kweh-kweh participants manipulate performance space, discard or reinterpret ritual segments, linguistically construct multiple, often seemingly diametrically opposed identities, and modify other performative aspects of the ritual, in order to display or suppress individual and collective conceptualizations of “tradition,” “Africa” and “Guyana.”
What I enjoy most about my graduate program
What I enjoy most about my graduate programs is the academic support I receive from a culturally diverse group of faculty, whose wide range of specializations enables me to broaden the scope of my understanding of musics, cultures and peoples of the world.
Advice for prospective graduate students
First things First. There are many recreational activities and exciting classes that you can engage in here at IU, but ensure that your first priority is successfully completing your requirements, and doing so in a timely manner. You will still have ample time to engage in extracurricular activities.
Hobbies and interests
My hobbies include making and listening to musics from all over the world, creative writing, reading, playing soccer with my sons, swimming, and engaging in various types of community service.
Additional advice
I am married and have two young children, ages 9 and 4, which add another dimension to the graduate school experience. These additional responsibilities can be overwhelming at times, but often act as catalysts for academic diligence, because I have no opportunity for procrastination, and must plan ahead in order to complete assignments in a timely manner.
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Valery
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Academic area and expected graduation date:
Biochemistry / Neuroscience
Valery is in her third semester of graduate school and expects to graduate in 2012.
I had so many questions my first year but I did not know who I should ask.
Some things you can ask your faculty mentor, but there are those that you would feel
more comfortable asking your peers. I ended up trying to figure things out on my own.
When I heard that the graduate school was beginning this program I thought that I could
use my experiences and knowledge to help others.
Research interests
I am currently in Dr. Michael Walker's lab in Neuroscience. His lab works with different lipid signaling
molecules of the brain. These lipids has been shown to either produce or dampen pain. Arachidonyl
ethanolamine (metabolite of arachidonic acid), is one of these lipids. The lab uses many biochemical
approaches (mass spec is one technique) to study and identify these molecules.
It is the hope of the lab that by studying these molecules and fully understanding them will lead
to improved therapies for patients that suffer with chronic pain.
What I enjoy most about my graduate program
I love how diverse the research is. There is an opportunity to learn and work with people from any field of
research while complementing it with your own background. It is not a program that makes you feel like
what you are working on will become repetitive. The faculty is always pushing you to look at the big picture.
Advice for prospective graduate students
Try to schedule a visit and makes sure you find time to talk to other graduate students in the program.
Hobbies and interests
Reading and sleeping. I also love to dance!
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Ebelia
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Academic area and expected graduation date:
Education Leadership and Policy Studies
Higher Education and Student Affairs
Ebelia is in her third year of graduate school and expects to graduate Spring 2009.
I research Latinos in various levels of postsecondary education.
I know how underrepresented we are in undergraduate and graduate programs.
I am doing what I can to increase these numbers.
Research interests
I study the Latino college experience. Most research in higher education has been based on White,
middle class, residential students, so it is critical to rethink the college experience for a population that
doesn’t match this norm. I consider how Latino students develop cognitively and psychosocially throughout
their undergraduate years, and I have also done some work in studying Latinos in graduate school.
I also am interested in Mexican American college student activism. How Mexican Americans asserts
their ethnic identity has political implications. It is interesting to follow how our political attitudes and behaviors
have changed this past century. And, it seems like college students have been integral in social movements.
My dissertation brings these two research strands together. I will conduct a study of women who participated
in activism in their college days as a way to investigate their experiences as Latinas in college and to see how
this activism influenced their ethnic identity.
What I enjoy most about my graduate program
I feel that I have a bunch of people who want to see me succeed. I have the best conversations with
classmates about our research interests. My faculty mentors are top notch in their support and help
in my developing research abilities. I complain a lot about the weather here (my previous home had
palm trees and sunny 75 degree weather year-round), but with the support that I have found in Bloomington,
I can’t imagine being in a better place for my doctoral work.
Advice for prospective graduate students
Have a good idea of what your research interests are. This helps in deciding what school to go to—it helps
tremendously to have faculty that specialize in your research interests.
Hobbies and interests
I have a cat and a small garden. I grow chiles and catnip. Watching Project Runway has inspired me to sew again.
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Rose
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Academic area and expected graduation date:
Linguistics
Rose has been at IU for six years or 12 semesters (which is "too many (smile)"she says). She expects to graduate May 2008.
I have always believed it is important to give back to the community, especially minority,
underrepresentend communities at the college and university level.
Research interests
I'm currently working on my disserartion research which focuses on African American English (AAE) of Black
women in the rural Mississippi Delta. I am doing a statistical analysis of three features typically used in AAE speech.
The data comes from recorded one-on-one interviews conducted by a Black sociologist and her team in the early 1990s.
What is interesting about my research is that even though there are many studies on AAE varieties in the U.S.,
the majority of them focus on the eastern Atlantic states (north and south). My research provides a description
of Black speech providing a new focus on the Delta.
What I enjoy most about my graduate program
I enjoy the positive and supportive relationships I have with the faculty members in my department. Other things that I enjoy are the professional development and various opportunities to present our research at the university.
Advice for prospective graduate students
Indiana University has a lot to offer students, especially minority and underrepresented groups. I encourage you to ask a lot of questions and find out as much as you can to see if this university is a match for you.
Hobbies and interests
I love karaoke and burning music CDs! I also enjoy eating out, going to jazz/R&B concerts, and I love to swim.
Additional advice
I'm an African-American woman, originally from Berkeley, California. My parents were both academics at the community college and university level in the Bay Area. My education in California consisted primarily of urban public schools. I then did my undergraduate work at Spelman College, a historically Black college, where I received a B.A. in Spanish. Four years later, I became a graduate student at I.U.
Currently, I'm a returning graduate student. I left Indiana and moved to Westchester County (the suburban area of NYC) for a few years. I'm now back to complete my dissertation research this year. I have personally seen how much Indiana University has changed over the years. And I must say that the change has definitely been for the better. There are a lot more events, activities, and programs that support and encourage diversity here. The great thing about this is that I have a wide range of experience from being completely isolated to being an agent for positive change. I can definitely let you know what Indiana is really like from the prospective of a black female academic.
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Nikole
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Academic area and expected graduation date:
Linguistics
Nikole is beginning her fifth year of study at IU. She hopes to graduate in 2009.
I was interested in becoming an emissary for graduate student diversity after noticing that many departments were not actually aware of how best to recruit and assist student populations that are underrepresented in graduate school. Despite the number of visible programs available on campus, these organizations and some departments seem to be disconnected. I felt as though there needed to be a liaison between diversity programs on campus, students, and individual departments.
Research interests
My academic interests include phonology (the study of speech sounds), sociolinguistics (the use of language within society), and language acquisition. My research has primarily focused on varieties of American English, specifically Southern American English and African American Vernacular English. I am interested in studying the linguistic forms of these dialects, how they differ from Standard American English, and the linguistic variation that occurs among speakers of these dialects.
What I enjoy most about my graduate program
I really enjoy the variety of research interests of the students and faculty. Unlike some other fields, linguistics is really an interdisciplinary field. As a graduate student in this department, you are exposed to different types of research conducted by faculty members and fellow student.
Advice for prospective graduate students
I think that I would advise any prospective graduate students to be organized, yet stay flexible. He or she should really know what they hope to get out of graduate school and try to make a plan to meet their goals. This plan should be reviewed a few times each semester with the student’s advisor in order to ensure that the student accomplishes the goal that he or she has set. At the same time, the student should realize that things may not work out as well as they planned. His or her personal situation, research interests, and faculty advisor(s) may all change during the course of their graduate education. Any unforeseen changes that do occur do not have to be viewed as an obstacle if the student is willing to be flexible and adjust their plan as needed.
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