Our inaugural day-long conference on December 4th will give you the chance to meet, learn from, and network with Graduate Center alumni from a range of professional backgrounds.
Whatever you may call them—alt-ac, alternative, nonacademic, industry—it’s important to have a sense of the range of career options that exists for those with graduate training.
Maggie Debelius, co-author of So What are You Going to Do with That: Finding Careers Outside Academia, will be our keynote speaker.
Scheduled speakers include:
Andrew Bast (Political Science; 60 Minutes/CBS)
Brooke Bryant (Music; Hospital for Special Surgery)
Christelle Cazabat (Social Sciences; United Nations)
PeiYao Chen (Psychology; Global Fund for Women)
Jaime Cleland (English; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Megan Coryat (Music; Doggedly Devoted)
Eliza Jane Darling (Anthropology; Historian for Hamilton County, NY)
David Gary (History; Yale University)
Jackie Glasthal (MALS; Scholastic)
Lori Heninger (Social Welfare; Plan International)
Sean Kelly (French; Deloitte LLP)
Lynda Kennedy (Urban Education; Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum)
Helen Koh (East Asian Languages & Civilizations; The Graduate Center, CUNY)
JT Kostman (Organizational Psychology; Time Inc.)
Gwynneth Malin (History; NYU Center for the Humanities)
Lisa Mazzola (MALS; Museum of Modern Art)
Tiffany Perkins-Munn (Psychology; J.P. Morgan)
John Reuland (English; Taft and Partners)
Astrid Rodriguez (Educational Psychology; Baruch College)
Whitney Rutter (MALS; Patron Technology)
Gretchen Susi (Environmental Psychology; Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change)
Brea Tremblay (MALS; Tribeca Shortlist)
Greg Wessner (Art History; Open House New York)
Robert Wood (Music; Brooklyn Academy of Music)
Schedule of events:
- 11:00 am: Registration begins (Segal Theatre)
- 11:30 am-12:45 pm: Lunch and keynote address by Maggie Debelius
- 1:00-2:15 pm: Breakout session 1: Skills
- Leadership
- Mentoring (here, students will have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with alumni)
- Relationship Building
- Research and Analysis
- Writing and Editing
- 2:30-3:45 pm: Breakout session 2: Industries
- Business: Media, Finance, Consulting
- Journalism, Policy, and Social Change
- Mentoring (here, students will have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with alumni)
- Museums and Cultural Organizations
- Universities and Alt-Ac
- 4:00-5:00 pm: Reception
Speaker Biographies:
Andrew Bast received his Master’s degree in Political Science with a concentration in Writing Politics from the Graduate Center in 2009. He wrote his thesis on the failures of U.S.-led state building efforts in Afghanistan. Since, he has worked as a Senior Editor at Newsweek and as Web Editor at Foreign Affairs. He has written for several publications, including The Washington Quarterly and The New York Times. He is currently an Associate Producer for the CBS broadcast news magazine 60 Minutes where he recently won an Emmy for an investigation into Major League Baseball’s doping case against its highest-paid player, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
Brooke Bryant serves as Assistant Director for Strategic Partnerships and a Major Gifts Officer at Hospital for Special Surgery. She received her Ph.D. in Musicology from the Graduate Center in 2009.
Christelle Cazabat is a Research Analyst at the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme in New York. Prior to this, she worked for the World Health Organization in research and program management in the regional office for the Eastern Mediterranean based in Egypt, and in the Geneva Headquarters. She also worked for the French Embassies in the Dominican Republic and in Cameroon, where she focused on civil society programs. She studied at the University of the Sorbonne in Paris, France, where she graduated with a Master’s degree in International Affairs and Languages and three Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science, Languages & Business, and Archaeology. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the University of the Sorbonne, where she focused on the role of civil society organizations in development.
PeiYao Chen is the Director of Learning, Evaluation, and Impact at Global Fund for Women. She has more than ten years of experience in research and evaluation in the non-profit sector, with a strong focus on the empowerment and grassroots activism of women and girls. Prior to joining Global Fund for Women, PeiYao was Associate Director of Evaluation at TCC Group, a management consulting firm providing strategic planning, evaluation, and capacity-building services to foundations and nonprofit organizations. Before TCC Group, PeiYao worked for several feminist organizations, including Girls Incorporated and the Ms. Foundation for Women. PeiYao received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from National Taiwan University and her Ph.D. in Psychology from the Graduate Center.
Jaime Cleland received her Ph.D. in English from the Graduate Center in 2007. After working as a Visiting Assistant Professor for four years in the Midwest, she returned to New York City and began a career in publishing. She is now a Senior Editor in the Intervention Solutions group at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, where she works on products for reading encouragement and intervention at the K-12 level.
Megan Coryat, Owner and Manager of Doggedly Devoted, is committed to the health and well-being of Harlem’s dogs. She holds the CPDT-KA certification and studied at the Academy for Dog Trainers. Megan is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and the Pet Professional Guild, and has volunteered as a Dog and Cat Companion at the Animal Care and Control Center’s Manhattan branch. She is certified in animal first aid by PetTech, the American Red Cross, and the Pet Professional Guild. Dog daycare and training is a second career for Megan. She left her position as a Director of Development in the arts nonprofit sector to spend more time with dogs and their people. She holds a Ph.D. in Music from the Graduate Center.
Eliza Jane Darling is the County Historian for Hamilton County, in upstate New York. After completing her Ph.D. in Anthropology at the Graduate Center in 2004, she taught Anthropology at the University of London for several years, before returning to her home in the Adirondacks to work in the field of public history. Dr. Darling’s research specialties include political ecology, the built environment, housing, and rural gentrification.
Maggie Debelius, co-author of So What Are You Going to Do with That? Finding Careers Outside Academia (University of Chicago, 2015) will speak about the newly revised edition of her guide to postacademic career options for M.A.s, Ph.D.s and graduate students. Debelius and her co-author Susan Basalla interviewed hundreds of graduate alumni across disciplines to find out how they have found satisfying careers outside of academia. Debelius is a Teaching Professor in the Department of English at Georgetown University and the Director of Faculty Development at Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS). She speaks and publishes in issues in graduate education and faculty development as well as composition pedagogy, writing assessment, and Writing Centers. She teaches both graduate and undergraduate level courses on writing pedagogy and Victorian literature. She holds an M.A. in English from Georgetown and a Ph.D. in English from Princeton.
David Gary is the Kaplanoff Librarian for American History at Yale University Library. He has a Ph.D. in American History, with a focus on the history of the book, from the Graduate Center, and a Master of Library Science degree from Queens College.
Jackie Glasthal, an Editor of Digital Products at Scholastic Inc., selects and edits news briefs at a reading level appropriate for elementary and middle school students. This year, she also launched Geography Spin, a classroom magazine for grades 3-5. Prior to pursuing a Masters in Liberal Studies from the Graduate Center, focusing on Biography, Autobiography and Memoir, Jackie was a freelance writer. Books to her credit include Liberty on Twenty Third Street (Silver Moon Press), American History Math (Scholastic), History Comes Alive: The American Revolution (Scholastic), and Quick Math Guide (Sterling). She has written for numerous publications and digital services, such as Encarta Junior Encyclopedia, The Learning Network of The New York Times, Instructor Magazine, Sesame Street Parent, National Geographic for Kids, Time for Kids, and SPACE.com. In a prior life she was an Editorial Director at Golden Books Family Entertainment, and occasionally teaches adults how to write for kids through Gotham Writers. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism from New York University.
Lori Heninger received her Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the Graduate Center in 2005. An experienced senior manager/leader who has moved organizations to their next levels of achievement and growth, Lori has 10 years in the for-profit and over 20 years in the not-for-profit sectors. Most recently the Head of the New York Office and UN Liaison for Plan International, she has produced international policy change resulting in increased funding in humanitarian education and is an acknowledged international leader on education in humanitarian contexts.
Sean Kelly, Global Lab Leader for the Leadership Center for Clients (LCC) at Deloitte, delivers LCC offerings globally and interfaces with the global Deloitte Greenhouse network. He received his Ph.D. in French from the Graduate Center in 2009.
Lynda Kennedy serves as the Vice President of Education for the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. She joined the Museum in July of 2014, leading the department in its work with K-12, college, and public audiences, partnerships with schools, teacher professional development, and access programming. Dr. Kennedy has worked in the education departments of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, The Museum of the Moving Image, and the Brooklyn Historical Society. She was the first Director of Teaching & Learning, Literacy, and Outreach for the New York Public Library, growing their services to teachers and students throughout New York City, creating programs, professional development and curricula based on the art, artifacts and ephemera housed in the Library’s rich research collections. For the Library she also oversaw access programming, as well as programs for incarcerated patrons, older adults, technology training, low literacy adults and young adults, and English language learners. Prior to the Library, she worked on collaborative teacher professional development projects funded by Federal Teaching American History grants with the former New York City Department of Education Office of Social Studies. An adjunct in the Master of Science in Education (M.S. Ed.) program at Metropolitan College of New York since 2006, she has also taught in the M.S. Ed. program of Hunter College and in the Exhibition Design program at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She has served as Chair of the New York City Museum Educators Roundtable, as President of the Museum Theatre Alliance, and as National Associate for the Education Committee of the American Alliance (formerly Association) of Museums. Dr. Kennedy received her Ph.D. in Urban Education from the Graduate Center and her M.S. Ed. from the Bank Street College of Education.
Helen Koh is Director of Institutional Giving at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. After receiving her Ph.D. in East Asian Languages & Civilizations from the University of Chicago, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Columbia University. Dr. Koh has worked in higher education and the arts to direct public programs, fundraising, and organizational development at Asia Society, Rhode Island School of Design, and the Museum of Chinese in America. Her first position after leaving academia was as a Proposal Consultant for Deloitte.
JT Kostman serves as Chief Data Officer for Time Inc. He has led analytic teams that have informed highly successful targeted marketing campaigns for a wide-range of organizations and has developed data-driven insight strategies for U.S. National Intelligence / Defense / Security agencies. Dr. Kostman holds a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the Graduate Center and Baruch College and finished his post-doctoral work in mathematics (focused on nonlinear dynamical systems theory) through the New England Complex Systems Institute at Harvard and MIT, as well as under an NSF fellowship studying at the University of Moscow as part of a NATO Advanced Study Institute.
Gwynneth C. Malin is the Director of the New York University (NYU) Center for the Humanities, where she oversees academic programs that highlight the University’s research and teaching in the humanities. She is an historian of 19th century New York and her research interests focus on the intersections between local government, natural resources, and water infrastructure. She holds a Ph.D. in History from the Graduate Center, a Master’s degree in History and an Advanced Certificate in Archival Management from NYU, and a Bachelor’s degree in History from Columbia University. Her writing has appeared in The Public Historian and The Journal of Archival Organization. As an academic administrator for over fifteen years, Dr. Malin has experience raising the visibility of the humanities, globalizing the campus, and developing study abroad programs. While at NYU, she has established new academic programs in Barcelona, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Florence, Paris, and Sicily.
Lisa Mazzola has been working in the field of Museum Education for over 20 years. In her current role as Assistant Director of School and Teacher Programs within the Education Department of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), she develops and administers programs and resources for K- 12 educators and schools that relate to collections, exhibitions, and other aspects of the Museum’s mission. She has also taught in an adjunct capacity for New York University and Columbia Teacher’s College in their Arts Administration and Arts Education Master’s programs. Prior to her work at MoMA, Lisa managed and facilitated educational experiences at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. In addition, Lisa spent three years as an art and design educator/consultant, developing residency programs in New York City public schools. Lisa continues to consult, most recently in the United Arab Emirates, for the Sharjah Museum Department. Lisa received a Bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York, College at Oswego, where she majored in Art History and minored in Museum Studies, and a Master’s degree in Liberal Studies/Urban Education from the Graduate Center.
Tiffany Perkins-Munn holds a Ph.D. in Social Personality, which she received in 2003 from the Graduate Center. Since receiving her degree, she has run an analytics group with Ipsos, the largest survey-based research company in the world, and has built an institutional client feedback program for Morgan Stanley, an investment bank. She owns her own business, Title Boxing Club, a fitness center in Princeton, New Jersey, and currently works for JPMorgan as a Data Scientist.
John Reuland serves as Communications Manager at Taft and Partners, a Public Relations and Communications firm in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Dr. Reuland received his Ph.D. in English from Princeton University in 2013.
Astrid Rodriguez serves as Director of Enrollment Management at Baruch College. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the Graduate Center in 2010.
Whitney Rutter serves as Senior Account Executive at Patron Technology, a computer software company. She received her Master’s degree in International Relations from the Graduate Center in 2013.
Gretchen Susi is Director of The Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change where she has led the Roundtable’s efforts to implement place-based equity-promoting strategies with partners from across the country. Her work has focused on community development policy and practice, the effects of stress on human development and well-being, social movements, resident activism in public housing, cross-sector alliances, and methods for identifying and dismantling structural racism. Gretchen has served on the adjunct faculty of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation at Columbia University, and volunteers for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of New York City. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Psychology from the Graduate Center and is a fellow of the Public Science Project at the Graduate Center’s Center for Human Environments.
Brea Tremblay is the Head of Editorial at Tribeca Shortlist. Since her education at the Graduate Center, Ms. Tremblay has worked as a Writer, Editor, and Content Manager, for several media companies, including most recently serving as the Assistant Managing Editor at The Daily Beast.
Gregory Wessner joined Open House New York as Executive Director in January 2013. Previous to his work at OHNY, he spent fifteen years at the Architectural League of New York, where he most recently served as Special Projects and Exhibitions Director. A curator and architectural historian, exhibitions and projects include “The Unfinished Grid: Design Speculations for Manhattan,” an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Commissioners’ Plan for New York; “Folly,” the inaugural installation of an ongoing commission co-organized by the League and Socrates Sculpture Park; and “The City We Imagined/The City We Made: New New York 2001-2010” and “New New York: Fast Forward,” a pair of exhibitions that explored architecture, planning and development in New York in the first decade of the 21st century. He did doctoral research in architectural history at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and completed his undergraduate studies in Art History at Rutgers University.
Robert Wood has worked as a copywriter at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) since 2006. He has also worked as a freelance writer and editor for the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. He earned a Ph.D. in Musicology from the Graduate Center in 2014, with a dissertation on composer Edgard Varèse, modernism, and the experience of modernity, and holds a B.M. in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music. A native of Wichita Falls, TX, Robert currently lives in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn and enjoys playing old-time music on the banjo, backpacking, biking, and spouting platitudes about the end of art.
