New Fall 2023 students

Jeeyoung Choi (she/her/hers) is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Literature, Theory, Cultural Studies program. Her main academic interests include American modernism and critical theory, as well as representations of ethics in literature. She is from Seoul, South Korea, which is also where she completed her B.A. at Chung-Ang University. Outside of school she enjoys bad TV, travelling to warm places, and experimenting with fashion! 

Emily Crider is a first-year PhD student from Arlington, Texas. She received her bachelor’s degree from Stephen F. Austin State University in 2019 and graduated with an MA from the University of Oklahoma in the spring of 2022. Her primary areas of study are 19th-century British literature, women writers, gender studies, and Lacanian theory. Emily also has an interest in postcolonial literature, particularly in relation to questions of individual and collective identity, and is looking forward to expanding this area of her research. She has a cat named Cleo and is determined to find the best tacos in Indiana, so if you have any recommendations, please let her know.

Sidney Duclerois is an incoming Masters student, interested in specializing in Medieval Literature. She attended Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia, for her Bachelors and is brand new to Indiana. Sidney is a cat lover and a collector of antique photographs. 

Matthew Choi Taitano (he/him) was born and raised in Guam to a native CHamoru father and Korean mother. In June 2014, Matthew graduated from Simon A. Sanchez High School, located in Yigo, Guam, as valedictorian of 358 students. In May 2020, he graduated from Princeton University with an A.B. in English and certificates in African American Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies. In May 2023, he graduated from Northeastern University with an M.A. in English and graduate certificate in Digital Humanities. In June 2023, Matthew started his Ph.D. studies in Literature, Theory, Cultural Studies (English Department) at Purdue University through the Graduate BRIDGE Program (run by the OGDI). His BRIDGE project, “Imagining Intersectional Text Encoding for Close Reading Jane Eyre and the Victorian Novel,” won 3rd place for poster presentations. Matthew’s research interests lie at the intersection of Victorian studies, digital humanities, and critical race theory. At Purdue, he is also a research assistant at the North American Victorian Studies Association. Throughout his academic career, Matthew has been awarded the following scholarships/fellowships: Gates Millennium Scholarship (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (Princeton University/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation), Leadership Alliance Fellowship (Columbia University GSAS/Leadership Alliance), Excellence Award (Northeastern University), HASTAC Scholars Program Fellowship (Northeastern University/HASTAC), and Purdue Doctoral Fellowship (Purdue University). 

Carri Jane Tenniswood (she/her/hers) is from the small town of Adrian, Michigan – only about four hours from West Lafayette. Before coming to Purdue, she graduated from Siena Heights University with a double major in English Literature and Creative Writing with a minor in Ethnic and Gender Studies and recently graduated from Purdue with an MA in Literature, Theory, and Cultural Studies. Currently, she is a first-year Ph.D. student in the LTC program with a focus on Early Medieval studies. Her research focuses on gender with a side passion for indigenous studies and a recent interest in psychoanalytical and ecocritical approaches. Outside of academics, she likes to bake, crochet, embroider, and watch too many horror movies with her cats Alexander Martin and Cillian Eamon