Graduate Students

Graduate English Students


  • Samia Ahmed, PhD Student

    Samia Ahmed

    Samia is originally from Bhopal, India but now lives in New York where she is enrolled in the PhD creative writing program at Binghamton University. Her work can be found in The Kenyon Review, Coffin Bell Journal, deLuge Literary and Arts Journal, Bluestem Magazine and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from Old Dominion University. 

    Research Interests:

    Contemporary Fiction, Postcolonial Studies, Eco-criticism, Historical Fiction, Gender Studies, Translation.

    Publications:

    https://kenyonreview.org/journal/julyaug-2020/selections/samia-ahmed/


    https://coffinbell.com/a-cup-of-chai-and-never-after/


    https://bluestemmagazine.com/s2022/#Samia_Ahmed


    https://www.barzakhmag.net/summer-2022-prose-2/2022/7/14/samia-ahmed


    https://www.thechakkar.com/home/goodgirls


    https://barelysouthreview.com/2019/02/11/living-brave-writing-braver-an-interview-with-jon-sands/


    Honors and Awards:

    “Bhopal, 1984” Honorable Mention AWP Intro Journal Award 2021, judged by Mary Grimm
    “When They Came For Us” Honorable Mention Jerri Dickseski Fiction Prize, judged by Janet Peery
    “A Cup of Chai and Never After” Nominated for Best of Net Anthology, Sundress Publication
    “Ars Poetica” Finalist 2018-19 ODU College Poetry Prize organized by the Academy of American Poets, judged by Ilya Kaminsky 
    Provost’s Doctoral Summer Fellowship, this distinguished Fellowship is given to a select number of students in recognition of their clear academic potential to do exceptionally high-caliber graduate work
    Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Department of English, General Literature and Rhetoric, Binghamton University ($17,000)
    David Scott Sutelan Memorial Scholarship for exceptional merit
    The Sutelan Scholarship was established in 1995 and is awarded annually to one or two final-year MFA students who demonstrate exceptional merit
    SEES Graduate Travel Award ($500)
    Graduate Teaching Assistantship, College of Arts & Letters, Department of English, Old Dominion University ($10,000)


    Education:

    MFA (fiction)- Department of English, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 2021 
    Thesis: When They Came for Us, stories
    Thesis Advisor: Kent Wascom
    Committee Members: John McManus, Benjamin Kingsley
    M.J. (Masters in Journalism) Department of Journalism, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National
    University, Bhopal, India, 2017
    B.A. Honors-Department of Economics, Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, Bhopal, India, 2015
    Major- Economics, Minor- English Literature

  • Areej AlQowaifly, PhD Student

    Areej AlQowaifly

    Areej is a doctoral candidate in English Literature. Her dissertation centers around the intricate relationship between narrative, ethics, and memory. She focuses on the emerging field of Narrative Ethics, delving into how narratives convey, challenge, or reinforce ethical values. Informed by disciplines such as psychology and psychoanalysis, she investigates the concept of "memory narrative," which explores how memories are interpreted, constructed, and shared. By examining the interplay between memory, narrative, and ethics, Areej seeks to illuminate the complexities of human experience and contribute to a deeper understanding of identity, culture, and historical understanding.


    Advisor

    Dr. Jeffner Allen


    Research Areas

    Modern/postmodern global Literature, Narrative, Memory studies, Ethical theory, Kafka.


    Education

    Masters of Arts in English Literature, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS

    Bachelor of Arts in English, and a minor in Education, UQU, Makkah, SA

  • Roudri Bandyopadhyay, PhD Student

    Roudri Bandyopadhyay

    Roudri Bandyopadhyay is a creative writing nonfiction graduate who completed her MFA from Virginia and is now a part of the Binghamton University to pursue her PhD in the same field. As a writer, she is greatly inclined to write about real-world women and their stories, all intertwined with age old beliefs, traditions, rituals, and often texts from the ancient Indian literature that has shaped the minds of so many. Her interests further dwells into unfolding intergenerational trauma, displacement, and the effects of colonialism in a post colonial world.


    Advisor

    Susan Strehle


    Research Areas

    Post colonial literature and South Asian feminism


    Publications, Conferences, Etc.,

    https://linktr.ee/roudri


    Education

    MFA in Creative Writing Nonfiction

  • Elaina Bonora, 4+1 MA Student

    Elaina Bonora

    Elaina Bonora is an accelerated Master's student in the English Department at Binghamton University. She graduated summa cum laude with her B.A. in English, Creative Writing and a minor in Human Rights in 2023. Her research interests are centered around young adult literature and mental health. Overall, her critical and creative pursuits are geared toward narrative medicine and auto-ethnography.


    Research Areas

    Creative Writing; Poetry; Disability Studies; Literature and Psychological Studies;Young Adult Literature; Auto-ethnography; Narrative Medicine; Feminist Theory; Contemporary Literature


    Honors & Awards

        “Nostalgia” Writing Contest, Binghamton University AO Magazine                     

         4+1 Accelerated Masters Program, Binghamton University 

         Graduated Summa Cum Laude                             

         Phi Eta Sigma National Honors Society             

         Phi Beta Kappa National Honors Society


    Education

    B.A., English; Creative Writing, Human Rights Minor, Binghamton University

  • Khadijah Boxill, PhD Student

    Khadijah Boxill is a  PhD candidate in English Literature at Binghamton University. Prior to starting her studies at Binghamton University, Khadijah received a Masters of Arts in Africana Studies from the University at Albany, and received a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and Africana Studies from Binghamton University. Khadijah's upcoming dissertation, "Space and Place: The Displacement of Self in African American Literature," will dissect the value and intention of space and place in African American Literature, as African American characters exist and navigate through restricting measures to identify one's self. Khadijah currently serves as a Graduate Admissions Recruiter at Binghamton University. Prior to this role, Khadijah has served as both a graduate and teaching assistant, receiving awards such as the Clifford D. Clark Fellowship and Lyceum Graduate Student Grant. After completing her degree, Khadijah hopes to foster her research interests to continue teaching and conducting research.


    Research Areas

    African American Literature post 1865-1900s, post 1900s-current, criminology, critical race theory, space and place, identity displacement


    Dissertation Title

    Space and Place: The Displacement of Self in African American Literature


    Publications, Conferences, Etc.,

    UMass EGO Conference “Reading Conflicts: Bodies, Spaces, Affects, April 2023

    Session Presentation: The Intention of Space and Place in African American Literature and Text.


    Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association (PCA/ACA) 2022 National Online Conference, April 2023

    Session Presentation: The Intention of Space and Place in African American Literature and Text.

    • Served as the session chair.


    Stony Brook 2023 English Graduate Conference, February 2023

    Session Presentation: The Intention of Space and Place in African American Literature and Text.


    Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association (PCA/ACA) 2022 National Online Conference, April 2022

    Session Presentation: “The Legacies of Historical Fiction in American Literature.”

    • Served as the session chair.


    College English Association (CEA) Conference, March-April 2022

    Session Presentation: “African American Orphans and Exiles: The Forgotten and the Ignored.”


    Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association (PCA/ACA) 2021 National Online Conference, June 2021.

    Session Presentation: “African American Orphans and Exiles: The Forgotten and the Ignored.”


    Honors & Awards

    Clifford D. Clark Fellowship Recipient

    Lyceum Graduate Student Grant Recipient


    Education

    Masters of Arts in Africana Studies, SUNY Albany

    Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Africana Studies, Binghamton University

  • Alycia Calvert, PhD Student

    Alycia Calvert

    Alycia Calvert is an emerging writer and photographer. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Hunger Journal, The Las Vegas Writes Anthology, Hecate Magazine, The Boulder City Review and Double Downs with Nevada Humanities Blog. She’s just finished an her first year of PhD, and will spend summer preparing for her first few exams. Last year she finished an MFA at UNLV, and a summer Residency in France. She loves house plants, beignets made by her daughter; traveling; and weird and compelling little stories, some of which she’s written herself.

    https://alyciacalvert.wixsite.com/alyciacalvertwriter

    Research Interests:

    Flash Fiction, Monstrosity and Gender, Speculative, Science, Earth writing, and folklore. 

    Publications:

    "No Drought of Sound in the Desert" 


    Education:

    MFA Fine Arts Creative Writing - UNLV August 2022
    Bachelors of English with a Creative Writing Concentration - UNLV - May 2016

  • Hannah Carr-Murphy, PhD Student

    Hannah Carr-Murphy is a poet and musician from Black Hawk County, Iowa. Her poetry has appeared in journals Common Ground Review, Presence: A Journal of Catholic Poetry, and Adanna as well as anthologies Exs (Final Thursday), Double Kiss (Mammoth Books), and Spectral Lines (Alternating Currents). Previously, Hannah worked as Production Coordinator for North American Review at University of Northern Iowa and as Layout/Design Editor for An Focal at University of Limerick, Ireland. She is currently Co-Editor in Chief of Harpur Palate, Binghamton University's literary magazine. See some of her work at www.hannahcarrmurphy.com

    Research Interests:

    Creative Writing Pedagogy | Sound in American Poetry | Contemporary Opera 

    Honors and Awards:

    Provost’s Doctoral Fellowship

    Education:

    Bachelor of Arts, English, University of Northern Iowa
    Bachelor of Music, Instrumental Performance (flute), University of Northern Iowa
    Master's of Arts, Community Music, University of Limerick (Ireland)

  • Sam Corradetti, PhD Student

    Sam Corradetti's work has been featured in vulnerary magazine, Exist Otherwise, The Fabulist, and others. Sam is a recipient of the Rin Kelly scholarship for speculative fiction and a BookEnds fellowship, and is currently a Clark fellow at Binghamton University pursuing a PhD in English with a creative writing focus.


    Research Areas

    Short fiction, speculative fiction, hybrid & experimental form, myth & folklore, queer narratives, multiethnic literature, medieval studies


    Education

    MFA, Creative Writing - Fiction, Temple University

    MS, International Marketing, Saint Joseph's University

    BS, Italian, Saint Joseph's University

  • Samantha Covais, PhD Student

    Sam's academic research focuses primarily on masculinity and philia in 20th and 21st century American literature with a concentration on the works of John Steinbeck. She is also interested in the intersection of philosophy, theology, and literature. When she's not on campus, you can find her running, hiking, or cheering on the Phillies and the Mavericks!


    Research Areas:

    20th and 21st century American literature; masculinity studies


    Publications, Conferences, Etc.:

    Presentations at NeMLA, the International Steinbeck Conference, SEPCHE, John R. Milton Writers’ Conference, PAMLA, NEPCA;

    Publications in the Steinbeck Review, CONCEPT, and the Hemingway Review;


    Education:

    Chestnut Hill College, BA; Villanova University, MA;

  • Ella Flores, PhD Student

    Ella Flores is a first year Ph.D. candidate in poetry at Binghamton University and received an MFA from Northern Michigan University.


    Advisor:

    Susan Strehle


    Research Areas:

    Poetry, History of the Americas, Paleoanthropology, Linguistics


    Publications, Conferences, etc.:

    Summerset Review, South Caroline Review, Willow Springs, RHINO and others. 


    Education

    BA from Salisbury University, MFA from Northern Michigan University

  • Jordan E. Franklin, PhD Student

    Jordan E. Franklin is a poet, Clark fellow and doctoral student in the Department of English at Binghamton University. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, she earned her MFA from Stony Brook Southampton where she served as a Turner Fellow. Jordan is the author of the full-length poetry collection, when the signals come home (Switchback Books, 2021), and a poetry chapbook, boys in the electric age (Tolsun Books, 2021). Her work has appeared in Breadcrumbs, Frontier, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, the Southampton Review and elsewhere. She is the winner of the 2017 James Hearst Poetry Prize, the 2020 Gatewood Prize and a finalist of the 2019 Furious Flower Poetry Prize.

    Publications:

    when the signals come home (Switchback Books, 2021)
    boys in the electric age (Tolsun Books, 2021)
    "Multiverse of Madness (in Technicolor)," Frontier Poetry
    "Inheritance," Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Volume 5, Issue 4
    "Find the River," Guesthouse
    "Widower," the Ekphrastic Review


    Honors and Awards:

    2022 - Clifford D. Clark Diversity Fellowship, Binghamton University
    2020 - Gatewood Prize, Switchback Books
    2020 - February Poem of the Month Winner, Brooklyn Poets
    2019 - Furious Flower Poetry Prize, Finalist
    2018 - NYC Teaching Fellows
    2017 - James Hearst Poetry Prize, First Place, North American Review
    2015 - W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship, Stony Brook University


    Education:

    M.S Ed, Students with Disabilities Grades 1-6, Brooklyn College, 2020
    M.F.A, Creative Writing and Literature, Stony Brook Southampton, 2018
    B.F.A, Creative Writing, Brooklyn College, 2012

  • Joseph Heiland, PhD Student

    Joseph is a first-year PhD student at Binghamton University, where he studies English and creative writing. He holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. His work has appeared in Lumina Journal, Eastern Iowa Review, and Reed Magazine

    Research Areas

    Narrative, Form, Cultural Studies, Film & Media Studies  

    Education

    BA, Ithaca College; MFA, Sarah Lawrence College

  • Shruti Jain, PhD Student

    Shruti Jain

    Shruti's research is interested in the global eighteenth century and the enlightenment with a specific focus on the networks of race and caste. She is also the co-host and co-producer of the podcast "Immigrants Wake America", which helps her explore the role the expansion of archival processes in the eighteenth century and beyond. www.immigrantswakeamerica.com

    Research Interests:

    Eighteenth Century Studies, Critical Race Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Caste Studies

    Advisor:

    Dr. John O. Havard

    Publications:

    (Forthcoming) "Sexualized Racial-Colonial Grotesque in the Company Archives" in Eighteenth Century Fiction

    "Pharos the Egyptian and the Gothic Other as Excess" in Tête- à-Tête: Journal of French and Comparative Literature 

    Book Review: "Religion Enlightenment and Empire: British Interpretations of Hinduism in the Eighteenth Century" by Jessica Patterson. Journal for Eighteenth Century Studies. 

    Feature: SO! Amplifies: Immigrants Wake America Podcast and the Work of Engaged Digital Humanities


    Honors and Awards:

    Graduate Student Excellence Award in Service and Outreach, 2023


    Education:

    MA English, University of Hyderabad (2018); BA English, Performing Arts and Psychology, Christ University, Bangalore, India (2016).

  • Allen Loomis, PhD Student

    Allen Loomis

    Allen Loomis is a doctoral candidate in the Department of English at Binghamton University. His work examines the confluence of the domestic sphere and public theater in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. More specifically, he studies how increased availability and improved quality of window glass influenced these realms. His dissertation argues that shifts in window glass production changed how public theater participated in the discourse of the home as a cynosure and borrowed from windows in conceptualizing the so-called fourth wall. 

    He is also interested in early modern true crime narratives told via ballads, pamphlets, court documents, and the fascinating yet frightening dramatic genre of domestic tragedies. Some of his favorites include – Arden of Faversham, Two Lamentable Tragedies, A Yorkshire Tragedy, and A Warning for Fair Women. 

    Research Interests:

    Material Culture of Glass, Shakespeare Studies, Domestic Architecture, Early Modern Literature  

    Dissertation Title

    Transparent Window Glass and the Theatricality of Dwelling in Early Modern England

    Advisor:

    Dr. John Kuhn


    Honors and Awards:

    Rakow Grant for Glass Research, Rakow Library, Corning Museum of Glass
    Harpur College Graduate Student Research Grant, Binghamton University
    Francis X. Newman Endowment for Support of Research, Binghamton University 


    Education:

    B.A. and M.A. in English at Loyola University Chicago. 

  • Blessin McFarlane, 4+1 MA Student

    Blessin McFarlane

    Blessin McFarlane (MA, English Literature) is a journalist at the university, having written for the Pipe Dream Newspaper and The Division of Research's DISCOVER-e website during her undergraduate years, and the Binghamton University Magazine in her graduate. Blessin is currently pursuing her dream of becoming a broadcast journalist, working as a marketing intern and Graduate Residence Director in the interim. Her particular interests include reporting on scientific research and global, political, and climate news, but she enjoys interviewing interesting people most of all. Having served as a McNair Scholar, the student commencement speaker, and a tour guide, public speaking has proven to be Blessin's main domain. 


    Research Areas

    Journalism, Global Politics, Climate Studies


    Honors & Awards

    Cum Laude, Dean's List (2020-2023), Harpur College Student Commencement Speaker (2023), Q-Center OUTstanding Student Award (2023), Accelerated 3+1 English Literature BA/MA track


    Education

    Binghamton University, BA English Literature, 2023

  • Matthew Midgett, PhD Student

    Matthew Midgett

    Matt is interested in how the 19th century British novel understands time, particularly as related to labor, community, and genre. 

    Research Interests:

    Marxist Theory, 19th century British novels, Political Violence in Literature and Film

    Education:

    B.A. English - Temple University; M.A. English and Media Studies - Rutgers University-Camden

  • Grace Miller, PhD Student

    Grace is from Rochester, NY. While attending Nazareth College, she studied at Université Rennes 2 and Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir. She received her MA in 2021 from Binghamton University in Comparative Literature. 

    Research:

    Historical Amnesia, Native American Literature, Postcolonial Theory, Trauma Studies, Intergenerational Trauma, US Imperialism, American Pluralism

    Publications:

    "Reverberations of Boarding School Trauma in Upstate New York" 


    Education:

    M.A., Comparative Literature, Binghamton University 
    B.A., French Language and Literature with minor in History, Nazareth College 2019
    B.A., Spanish Language and Literature with minor in Psychology, Nazareth College 2019

  • Sydney Newton, 4+1 MA Student
    Sydney is a 4+1 MA student studying American literature, among many other interests. She received her BA of English from Binghamton University in May 2023, and works as a Graduate Assistant in the Dean of Student's Office on campus.
  • Peter Proscia,  4+1 MA Student

    Peter Proscia

    Peter graduated with his BA in English Literature and Rhetoric from Binghamton University in May 2023. He is currently pursuing a one year Master’s at BU, where he is leading students in an interdisciplinary study of themes of mental wellness in children’s literature. 


    Research Areas

    Children’s Literature from the Victorian Age to present, LGBTQ+ literature, Mental Health Literature, Motherhood in Literature


    Education

    BA from BU in 2023

  • Md Hasan Ashik Rahman, PhD Student

    Hasan Rahman

    Hasan completed his previous studies in English Literature and Film Studies from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. For his PhD dissertation at Binghamton University, he intends to study the cultural landscape of South Asia in the second half of the 20th century, mainly through its film adaptations and remakes. His interdisciplinary framework includes perspectives  from the diverse fields of postcolonialism, transnationalism, cultural studies, and Bangladesh studies.

    Research Interests:

    South Asia; Popular Culture; Adaptation Studies; Postcolonial and Transnational Perspectives

    Education:

    BA (English), MA (English Literature), MSS (Television and Film Studies) from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

  • Suzanne Richardson, PhD Student

    Suzanne Richardson earned her MFA at the University of New Mexico. She is a writer living in Binghamton, New York, and a Ph.D. student in creative writing at SUNY Binghamton. Her writing has appeared in Bomb Magazine, Gulf Coast, Poet Lore, Florida Review, DIALOGIST, Columbia Journal and New Ohio Review, among others. Find more of her writing at: www-suzannerichardsonwrites.tumblr.com/ 


    Research Areas

    Creative Writing: Memoir

  • Hena Sarkar, PhD Student

    A PhD student in the Literature track, Hena broadly works with postcolonial studies, global south theories, gender studies, and film and media. 

    Education:

    MA - Jadavpur University (2020)
    BA - Jadavpur University (2018)

  • Leah Slocum, PhD Student

    Leah is a PhD student in the English department at Binghamton University. She specializes in Victorian novels, the 19th-century British Empire, material and print cultures, and the Anglophone Caribbean with a focus on slavery and abolition. 


    Honors & Awards

    2021-2022 William V. Spanos Award (Binghamton University), 2020 Outstanding Master's Thesis in English (University at Albany).


    Education

    MA, English, University at Albany, 2020. BA, English and Psychology, University at Albany, 2018 (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa honor society).

  • Michael Williamson, PhD Student

    Michael's interests broadly include postcolonial theory and materialist histories in South Asia, Africa, and the United States; migration; cosmopolitanism; the nation; development; globalization; means of identity formation and self-fashioning; literary theory; as well as borders and other metonymic and physical sites of power from the mid-twentieth century to our contemporary moment.


    Research Areas

    20th and 21st century global Anglophone literatures


    Publications, Conferences, Etc.,

    “For I Can Here Disarm Thee With This Stick:” Magical (In)Abilities and Transitional Economies in The Tempest (forthcoming book chapter)


    “Scarcity and Identity Crisis: Ideological dissolution in Paul Bowles’ The Sheltering Sky,” Northeast Modern Language Association, Boston, March 2024


    “Literary Structural Adjustments: Characters, Form, and Genre in Five Star Billionaire,” Roundtable Participant - “Textualizing Surplus: People, Labor, Form,” Northeast Modern Language Association, Boston, March 2024


    “Resisting Border Technologies: Makina's Journey in Herrera's Signs Preceding the End of the World,” Roundtable Cohost - “How does it feel to be the problem?' Brownness and Being in the 21st Century,” Pacific and Ancient Modern Language Association, Portland, October 2023


    “The Border Within: Shifting Borders and the Australian Temporary Work Program in Adiga’s Amnesty,” Pacific and Ancient Modern Language Association, Portland, October 2023 


    “Colonialism upon an (Un)Natural Backdrop: Infrastructural Projects in Cary and Achebe,” Northeast Modern Language Association, SUNY Buffalo, March 2023


    “A Stand-In For Empire: The Synecdochic Function of Scientists in Victorian Monster Fiction,” Masters in English Regional Conference, Bridgewater State University, February 2023


    “Afropolitanism and Migratory Identities in Helon Habila’s Travelers,” Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, UCLA, November 2022 


    Education

    M.A. in English, the University of Vermont, 2023

    B.A. in English and History, the University of Houston, 2020

    A.A. in Liberal Arts, Lone Star College, 2016

  • Liz Ann Young, PhD Student

    Liz Young

    Liz Ann Young grew up in Michigan and then spent a few decades bouncing around the country between Washington, Vermont, Montana, and New York. She has worked in dozens of industries to support her poetry habit and has been the poetry editor of Atlas + Alice for almost a decade. She lives on a farm in the woods with lots of animals, her husband, and a few small humans she made. 


    Publications, Conferences, Etc.,

    "Saint Barbara" - Autofocus

    "Thinking of My Husband’s Mistress” and “Breakfast”  - Book of Matches 

    “Next to Your Shotgun” - San Pedro River Review 

    “A History Major” - Tinderbox Poetry Journal

    “Her Nails Were Dirty” - CHEST 

    “Vapor Rising” and “Day Lilies” - Big Muddy 

    “Prince Charming” - Black Heart

    “This is the Story of the Scar beneath Your Lip” - Inscape

    “The Day after We Broke Up” - Out of Our

    “Seventy Percent Chance of Storm in Hamilton, NY” - Alehouse


    Education

    Michigan State University, BA in English

    Michigan State University, BA in History

    Vermont College of Fine Arts, MFA in Poetry

  • Chenrui Zhao, PhD Student

    Chenrui Zhao is a PhD candidate and adjunct teaching member in the English department at Binghamton University, SUNY. She focuses her research on the global impact of neoliberalism through the analysis of literary and cultural texts. Specifically, she explores the manifestation of neoliberalism in East Asia, examining its influence on the limits of political alliances, economic transactions, and cultural interactions. Currently, she is in the final stages of completing her dissertation, which delves into the transformative effects of neoliberalism in China, turning it into a global service provider and consumer while providing building blocks to reshape its cultural identities. Her research contributions have been acknowledged through awards from the American Studies Association. Additionally, she is in the process of preparing her first publication, which centers around the popular cinematic representation of the infamous zombie figure in Hong Kong Cinema from the 1980s to the early 2000s.


    Research Areas:

    Marxist Theories,  Neocapitalism and Neoliberaism, The Global Asia