Anil Chandiramani

Brittany is a fourth-year double major in Spanish Studies and Chicano/Latino Studies, with a minor in Social Justice. Brittany’s coursework mostly analyzes race/ethnicity, social class, and identity issues in ethnic studies discourse. As a recent McNair Scholar, she investigated issues of academic achievement among English Language Learners (ELL). Upon graduation, Brittany will pursue a dual Teachers License and Masters Degree in teaching ESL and Spanish Language Instruction. She enjoys topics of mixed methods research; U.S. history, emphasis on the minority experience; and world history, emphasis on Latin America. Brittany is familiar with MLA, footnotes/endnotes, and most recently APA documentation style.

Lauren is a Ph.D. student in English (with a B.A. in English from U Florida and M.A. in English from Indiana U). Her specialties are pre-WWII American literatures, Modernism, Gothic literature, and film studies. As a graduate assistant, she has taught surveys of American literature and composition courses and worked with the U of M website VG: Voices from the Gaps. Outside of her field, Lauren is especially interested in African American and African studies, anthropology, art history, cultural studies, and women’s studies. However, she enjoys working with students on writing in any field, especially on projects that call for creativity, as well as analysis. Lauren is most familiar with MLA but also comfortable with APA and Chicago documentation styles.

Candance is currently a PhD student in Literacy Education with a focus on writing. She has a B.A. in Spanish, focused on Latin American issues, and a minor in English. Her graduate work has focused on English education, literary theory, and personal narratives. She enjoys reading a variety of topics ranging from political science and global studies to literature and literary theory. She also fancies working through the research process and the nuts and bolts of both MLA and APA documentation.

Pat Eliason is a Non-Native Speaker specialist and teaches WRIT 1301, along with tutoring in both Nicholson and Appleby Hall. She has her Master's in Teaching English as a Second Language from the U of M, and a B.A. in English and linguistics, with a minor in cultural anthropology, from the University of North Dakota. She has been teaching at the U of M for over twenty years, and enjoys working with all types of writing and all stages of the process. She has used both APA and MLA styles. In her spare time she studies Tui Na (Chinese acupressure). See her if you have a headache.

Emily is working on her Masters in Teaching English as a Second Language. She believes it is imperative for individuals who have something to say to also have the tools to communicate effectively, regardless of language or subject matter. Emily received her B.A. in History with a minor in Political Science. She is most comfortable with the Chicago style of citation, but she is also familiar with MLA and APA.

Emily likes American History and organization (she sorts her Tupperware by labeling tops with first names of Revolutionary Americans and the Tupperware bottoms with the individuals’ corresponding last names).

Kit has M.A.s in ESL and Psycholinguistics, is a Non-Native Speaker Specialist, and teaches writing at the U of M. Her writing is primarily academic and technical (thirty years in computers), but she periodically writes in German (badly) to remind herself how hard it is to express one's self in another language. She views writing as a tool to learn what you actually think. She is particularly interested in cognitive psychology, literacy and language acquisition. Kit is especially fond of working with international, immigrant, and PhD students. It may be perverse, but she finds systems like APA fun.

Debra has a Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. in English and a Master of Library Science degree. Her dissertation was on representations of self by three women travel writers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Besides having been a librarian, she has taught writing and literature. Currently, besides studying writing center theory and practice, she does genealogy research. She is very familiar with MLA format, is learning Chicago style, and is willing to help writers figure out other style formats. She enjoys the huge variety of subjects that students write about here at the University of Minnesota.

Kirsten has a Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. in English literature, so, during those many years in school, she’s studied many subjects, including composition, film, women’s studies, French, history, physics, and astronomy. She always wishes she could have taken classes in geography, psychology, education, geology, and anthropology. Having been a writing consultant since 1989 at several institutions, she loves how much she’s learned from students about writing across the disciplines. She especially loves working with writers who struggle to write (like she does) and who are willing to experiment and take risks in their writing. Although she is happy to help students with all citation styles, she admits that she finds APA particularly arbitrary and oppressive.

Claire is a law student with a B.A. in English with a minor in mass communication. She has spent most of her professional career focusing on journalism, working in newspaper and magazine writing, publications editing, marketing, public relations and events planning. Claire is experienced with both MLA and APA formats, as well as resources that explain all University-assigned styles. She has experience in the areas of American and British literature, public relations, marketing, mass communications, journalism, film studies and creative writing.

Jayashree is a graduate student in the English department, with a B.A. and an M.A. in English and minors in History and Psychology. Her dissertation examines the development of romance fiction and draws on popular media, such as film, television, and the internet. She has worked as an adviser in the English department and taught courses on British literature, Shakespeare, composition, and modern fiction. She enjoys reading writing from all disciplines, especially literature, theater, and cultural studies. Jayashree is familiar with MLA format and has some experience with the Chicago Manual of Style. She hates revising her own drafts but believes that it’s the best way to become a good writer.

Meher is a third-year student and is majoring in Graphic Design with a minor in Art. Her areas of interest are design, art, cultures, literature and English, but she would love to learn about new subjects while consulting. She has used MLA and APA documentation most frequently. When not working at the writing center, she is usually reading books on just about anything, listening to classic rock and 80s music no one has heard of, spending time with friends and family, and generally being awesome.

Jenna is in her fourth year, pursuing both English and Spanish, with a minor in Sociology. She is a true liberal arts student, as her interests encompass a wide range of disciplines (which is why she has two majors and a minor!), from history, sociology and literature to cultural studies and political science. Jenna is comfortable with MLA and APA documentation, and would like to work more with Chicago style.

Katie has a Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. in English. Her dissertation was on writing center theory and practice; her M.A. work was primarily in Victorian Literature; and her B.A. included almost-minors in Music, Art History, and Philosophy. Although she is most comfortable with MLA format, she will gladly throw herself into other citation styles, given a willing co-learner. She enjoys working with writers from across the disciplines; however, she has a particular affinity for dissertation writers, having been one for so long herself.

Emily is a fourth-year English and Philosophy student just beginning work on her senior thesis. She is excited to be working at the writing center and is especially looking forward to sharing her growing expertise in thesis writing and preparation with others. She is most comfortable consulting in the Humanities and Social Sciences, but is always glad for the opportunity to work in less familiar subjects; her first love, however, will always be English language and literature. Emily is particularly strong in MLA citations, has a passable familiarity with APA and hopes her work at SWS will help her to learn other citation styles.

Melissa holds a B.A. in English and History and is currently finishing her Master’s in Teaching English as a Second Language. She has taught courses in writing, history and English speaking & listening. This fall she is returning as a first-year writing teacher. Melissa loves to work with students from all majors, levels, and backgrounds particularly on their written communication skills. Her style of consulting is very student-centered with time devoted to exploration and reflection. She feels comfortable helping students with MLA, APA and Chicago style documentation.

Gabriel is a third-year English and Anthropology major with an interest in European history, social theory and the arts. He understands how enormous the roadblocks to a finished paper can seem, having learned the hard way to write on in the face of persistent, daily urges to throw his computer in the garbage and skip town forever. He is also a committed generalist who looks forward to learning from students in a wide range of subjects, and hopes to encourage students in all fields to write like they mean it. He is most familiar with MLA and Chicago styles of documentation.

Adam is a fifth-year history/English major. He recently finished his senior paper on the Imperial War Graves Commission, and while he is particularly interested in WW1 and its cultural effects, especially regarding collective memory, Adam also focuses on modern Balkan, Russian, French, and Turkish history. In general he likes seeing history papers regardless of time period or geographical location, as well as papers from different disciplines. Adam has also enjoyed more niche courses like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Stuart Literature, plus the English survey courses. Most comfortable with MLA and Chicago style, he always uses a handbook or online resources when checking citations.

Greg is a PhD student from the Department of Writing Studies where he studies science museum exhibits.  His academic interests are wide, and he is comfortable with projects from CLA, the sciences, engineering, and IT, as well as with applications, resumes, and cover letters. He traffics most often in MLA but is happy to work with other documentation styles.  If you can't find him here, most likely he's in the pool.

Emily is an English major/Spanish minor in her junior year. Her current literary fetishes include 20th century American literature, essay-like novels, and lots and lots of food “lit”! While most of Emily’s experience lies in literary analysis, her academic career has been dappled with creative writing, geography, linguistics, and many foreign languages—she would love to work with any subject. She is comfortable with MLA documentation, is currently learning the Chicago style, and would welcome the chance to navigate any other kind of documentation.

Keely is a senior in the College of Liberal Arts, finishing up a double major in English and Studio Arts. Although she has had to narrow her academic interests in order to graduate on time, she is fascinated with the range of studies found at such a large University, including History, Anthropology, Social Work, Gender and Women’s Studies, and Comparative Literature. She is familiar with MLA documentation, and loves a good handbook, but is not a citation aficionado. Keely is especially interested in creative writing, but would love to work with any writer who wants to get their thoughts, passions, ideas, and work organized on paper.

John is a third-year English major, also working on a minor in Political Science. Most of both his reading and writing involves some combination of politics, armchair economics, indie rock, Parliament/Funkadelic, and baseball. Sometimes, he even pretends to be an academic. John is usually most comfortable in the social sciences, but he welcomes the opportunity to get his hands dirty in just about any subject. He knows MLA style best, but always has a style book on hand for you crazy APA/Chicago-types. John believes that accidental brilliance is still brilliance.

Wendy is a Junior majoring in Linguistics and minoring in Teaching English as a Second Language. She is interested in second language acquisition. She enjoys helping people with organization and clarity in their writing. She is most comfortable with MLA but is confident in her ability to find answers to other documentation questions using the extensive resources available at the Writing Center. She loves to help people who think they are “not good writers” realize that they are great writers.

Kim is one of the Nonnative Speaker (NNS) Specialists in the Center and has happily worked as a writing instructor and writing center consultant at the University of Minnesota for over 10 years. She has an M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and enjoys working with both undergrad and grad academic writers both as a teacher and a consultant.    

Ben is a third year student double majoring in English and psychology. His primary academic interests include English literature, cognitive psychology and creative writing. He most enjoys consulting on projects that involve creative or cross disciplinary thinking, but is comfortable working with a wide range of subjects and writing issues. Though he is most familiar with the MLA format, he is also happy to work with other common documentation styles.

Miranda is a fifth-year senior whose double major, a comparative literature/individually-designed program (Race, Identity, and Social Change in the U.S.), has given her experience writing in a range of departments.
She also believes that understanding disciplinary conventions is only part of the challenge of writing in academia, because everyone's writing process is different. So, she loves talking with students to find ways to be strategic about their strengths. You might also find her helpful with questions related to paper structure, developing ideas clearly, and working closely with text. She’s flexible, though, and eager to work on any writing concerns.

Maggie is an undergraduate studying English and Classical Greek, and if she had time in her schedule, she would take every language course offered at the U. She thinks that working through writer’s block is the most exciting part of consulting both because she is very familiar with the feeling, and she loves hearing new and interesting ideas. Any free time she might have is spent cooking, eating, or reading about delicious foodstuffs.

Yi is an undergraduate working on her Finance and Accounting degrees with a minor in Psychology at the University of Minnesota. Her areas of interest range from Cultural Studies, Creative Writing, and History to Psychology and Business. She also loves to brush up on resumes, cover letters, book/personal essays, and research papers. Yi is most comfortable with the MLA citation format, but she is also familiar with the APA format. Yi enjoys bringing uniqueness and creativity to writing pieces (while insuring that ideas are clear), just as she enjoys listening to and discovering fun, obscure Asian alternative music.