Jill Fedun, Class of ’16

Jill’s passion for writing and literature allows her to be the best version of herself in the classroom. Unsure of what to do after undergrad, Jill went back to school for teaching and joined Stony Brook’s MAT Program, where she still maintains contact with her classmates and applies what she’s learned in her classroom today. Now an English teacher at Roslyn High School, Jill advises future English teachers that to be successful in what you do, you must love what you do: “You have to put your neck on the line for something you love.”

Could you describe what a typical day at your job is like? What is the best or most satisfying part of your job?

I teach three sections of ninth grade and one section of AP Language, and I am also a strive teacher. I also direct the musical and the play, so I’m usually busy after school doing that. I’d say the most fulfilling part of my job is when the kids and I are in class, and we’re annotating and talking about a passage, and all the students are engaged. When they’re writing things down, bouncing ideas off of each other, and talking about what it means, I sometimes think to myself, “I can’t believe this is my job right now, that this is what I get to do.” Secondarily, when I’m directing the musical and the play, I love it when the students are finally on stage performing. It’s so lovely to see the fruits of my labor in action, and the students are so confident in what they do.

How has your experience in the English Department and Teachers Education Program helped you in your current career?

Firstly, I think we have the best Professors in the MAT Program. They were very realistic about what the job would entail, preparing us to create student-centered lessons and reminding us that it’s important for there to be rigor. I feel like everyone who went through the same Program felt ready to be a teacher by the end of it. Stony Brook did a fine job at cultivating us to be who we were supposed to be, and I really like that.

Where did you Student Teach?  What led you to choose that District? 

My mentor told me about a friend she had in West Islip and said that I’d love to work with her. I had a great experience. I taught eighth grade, and my cooperating teacher was lovely. She was very hands-off, which I thought was good. Since the first day of school, she had me teaching the classes, and of course, she’d give me pointers here and there, but she truly let me go through trial and error, which I think was great. 

What advice would you give to current English majors at SBU who are interested in a career like yours? (What should they study or do at this point in their education?) 

To be a successful teacher, especially an English teacher, you have to be well-read in the sense that you genuinely love literature. You have to put your neck on the line for something you love, and secondly, you have to make sure that you know your stuff. That’s one of the things I’ve noticed in the hiring process. Make sure your resume and cover letter are solid. But I think just the love of what you’re doing tops everything.

Crazy Fish Sing defies traditional genre boundaries, embodying the abstract intangibility of the book title itself. Inspired by Suranga Katugampala’s forthcoming film, Still Here, Simone Brioni, Peter Bruno, and Loredana Polezzi took us through the chaotic process of crafting a book simultaneously with the final stages of the film’s production, showing us their perspective on “cultural hybridity, urbanization, and realism.”

We often think about migration from a sociological perspective and not from the beauty it brings, which is why the aesthetic component of both the book and documentary is incredibly crucial. Expanding cinematic production, Still Here emphasizes the mood of the film rather than the plot, just as Crazy Fish Sing captures its subject unconventionally by containing interviews, diaries, essays, art, and more. 

You can’t predict the outcome of life, so the film does not make room for prediction itself. The unique film style brings the viewer through typical walks of life by including pauses of silence, frames of stillness, and moments that defy straightforward explanations. By having the frames stand still, the film presents time as both paused and continuous, highlighting that to understand movement, you must also understand stillness. The book also embodies unpredictability by containing various mediums; you truly cannot predict what the next page will bring. 

Crazy Fish Sing and Still Here beautifully capture the inconsistency of life. They push beyond their constraints to transport the audience to the spaces they highlight- artificial, colonized, affective, and more. Both the book and the film skillfully open a dialogue that challenges us to see migration and space not just as a sociological phenomenon but as aesthetic works of art.

Laci Burton

If Laci Burton knows how to do one thing, it’s staying busy. From tutoring to on-campus leadership positions, Laci’s time at Stony Brook is nothing short of admirable. After being awarded a URECA grant to go to the Library of Congress, Laci was able to further her research for her Honor’s thesis and uncovered something exceptional. Laci argues that Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House uses Freudian ideology to subvert the goals of psychoanalysis and hegemonic enforcement of gender roles.

What made you pursue English as a major? What’s the most fulfilling part of it?

Studying English just felt right. I think because the Humanities are so integral in activism and the world, being an English major gave me access to having an impact. It’s crucial for me to be an English scholar who can add to the conversation on topics that are important to me. I also love that my major allows me to do my own unique research that I may not have had the opportunity to do if I wasn’t studying in the Honors Program.

Tell me about your Honors Thesis. What led you to this topic? Who’s mentoring you?

My advisor is Professor Scheckel; what else is new. My work is on the queer subtext in Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, but more specifically, how she uses Freudian ideology to subvert the goals of psychoanalysis and hegemonic enforcement of gender roles. I’ve always loved the queer gothic genre, so as soon as I got accepted into the Honors Program, I knew my thesis was going to be related to it. When I got a URECA grant to travel to the Library of Congress, where all of Shirley Jackson’s notes, drafts, and manuscripts are archived, I found a letter connecting her to Nandor Fodor, a Freudian scholar who theorized the psychoanalytic reasoning behind poltergeists. Basically, he was saying that ghosts only happen because your subconscious projects these events. Jackson and Fodor communicated with each other, and she took inspiration from him. When I started reading Fodor’s cases, one of the case studies I found very much mirrors the events of The Haunting of Hill House, but the ending is different. I questioned why Jackson portrays the same arc of events and uses these Freudian techniques but writes so that it doesn’t work out for the protagonist in the end. Why did she choose that ending? 

What was the most fun/interesting thing you learned while researching for your thesis? 

I feel like the most fun and exciting thing must’ve been going to the archives in D.C. and getting to hold Jackson’s first-hand notes. Like, she wrote these on the typewriter or by hand, and they’re in my hand—that’s crazy. There were over 7,000 documents. So, getting a glimpse of not only her work but her life and dealing with these documents firsthand was incredible and unforgettable.

What career path are you interested in after you graduate?

I definitely want to teach, but I love research and publishing equally. So, ideally, I would like to be a professor at a university. I work at the writing center, and I’ve TAed for EGL204 and WRT102 a few times, so I’ve had teaching experience, and this is what I love.

If your words had the power to change a heart, a mind, or a policy, what would you choose? This question, which most of us might consider hypothetical,  has opened new ways for many incarcerated individuals across the country to find a new purpose  as they reflect upon their past and envision new futures. “Writing Beyond the Prison: Reimagining the Carceral Ecosystem with Incarcerated Authors,” a public humanities project funded by the American Council of Learned Societies (ALCS), celebrated the launching of an online writing curriculum for use in carceral settings and a “living archive” of incarcerated individuals’ work digitally preserved in the SBU library. This event brought together scholars, activists, and formerly and currently incarcerated individuals to discuss the transformative power of writing within the carceral system.

This project not only provided valuable resources for education and advocacy but also underscored the importance of creative expression in the rehabilitation process. Through storytelling, incarcerated individuals are able to reclaim their narratives and challenge the ways they have been defined by the carceral system. Attendees heard pieces created by incarcerated individuals, saw animated short films of some of the work come to life, and had the opportunity to hear directly from incarcerated author and activist Ivan Kilgore, who joined the conversation via telephone call from his cell in Solano State Prison. 

The thought-provoking conversation was preceded by a keynote address from Lawrence Bartley, the publisher of The Marshall Project Inside. Bartley, a formerly incarcerated journalist, has worked tirelessly to bring accurate, trustworthy news to incarcerated audiences through News Inside and its companion video series, Inside Story. His keynote addressed the role of the media in reshaping the narrative around incarceration and empowering marginalized voices.

The event, supported by the Center for Changing Systems of Power and the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook,  served as a powerful reminder of the need for systemic reform. It reinforced the idea that writing, education, and media can help dismantle the prison-industrial complex and give incarcerated people the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to society.

For more information about the Writing Beyond the Prison project, visit their website. 

Take a look at this event from a student perspective. 

While World War 2’s devastating battles were fought on the battlefield, their victories were unknowingly secured in libraries. Dr. Elyse Graham’s Book and Dagger reveals how scholars and humanists became spies, formed the Office of Strategic Services, invented modern spycraft, and ultimately saved the world.

In the Humanities Poetry Center on October 30, faculty, staff, students, and guests gathered in anticipation to hear from Graham as she brought us through how bibliophiles helped win World War 2. Taking us through her research process and sharing excerpts from the book, not a dull moment passed as she spoke about the many distinct scholars who were abruptly called to participate in a newly formed curriculum to become spies for the U.S. government. I mean, what better people could you ask to deceive other than the professors who meticulously study the arts of irony, illusion, and hyperbole?

Written like a spy novel but depicted as a history book, Graham’s book defies genre. The unique writing style and motivation behind that style are said to mimic the whispers and dialogue Graham engages in while working at Stony Brook’s English Department. As Graham introduced us to some of her characters, it became clear that some are disguised versions of actual Department Faculty members, and in a book about secret agents and hidden identities, you might want to be careful of who you’re really speaking to.

This was by far one of the most engaging events I’ve attended from the English Department, with the content and humor grasping my attention from start to finish. I was personally never aware of the scholars turned agents aspect of World War 2, but after attending this event, I can’t wait to learn more. I’ve already purchased my copy, and I know which faculty members I’m steering clear of. 

SBU’s third Science on Stage, an innovative collaboration between scientists and artists created by English Professor Ken Weitzman, focused on one of the most urgent  and devastating threats to our planet and our very existence: climate change.  The evening’s performances and the conversations that ensued beautifully highlighted how everyone fits in the narrative.

The event opened with an original composition by Professor of Music, Meg Schedel. Carnival of the Endangered Animals took deconstructed instruments to depict the calls of endangered animals. The sounds that filled the room gave voice  to creatures that are rarely heard in the wild. Using Artificial Intelligence to map recordings of these endangered species onto instruments, this opening performance conjured the beauty, struggles, and perseverance of not only the animals portrayed in the music, but all creatures affected by climate change. 

The three plays that followed balanced seriousness and humor. “Counterfactual” emphasized the importance of political differences, showing that no matter what your views are, we’re all affected by the same conditions, climate change being one of them. “Ghost Forest” personified natural disasters and brought necessary awareness to the growing presence of ghost forests, which are coastal forests killed by tectonic plate shifts or riptides. Lastly, “Resplendence” fused together memory and pain to evoke the longing for childhood, or at least, how things used to be. Following a family through generations, the play showcased how things continue to change, no matter how we battle with that fact; one can never go back to how things once were.

Whether you have had a personal experience with climate change or not, it is clear from Science on Stage that you inevitably will. Keeping these key issues at the forefront of all minds while also allowing each individual to integrate it into their own lives is important. Science on Stage brought the scary unknown into a format that all can take in and feel personally. From such understanding, we can only hope that the world may benefit.

VocalizED Documentary Premiering at the Penn Museum Nov. 8

New to Stony Brook, Dr. Neisha Terry Young brings a new internship opportunity where students can earn EXP+ credits and lifelong skills. The VocalizED Identity Crafting and Exploration (VOICE) lab is a collaborative cultural identity exploration and narration hub where students can learn podcasting, video narratives, and other digital and multimodal tools. By participating in projects, this internship aims to amplify immigrant voices in a way that allows them to speak their truth and tell their authentic stories.

What made you come up with VOICE, and why is it meaningful to you?

The VOICE Lab itself is an outgrowth of my dissertation research. I started a podcast in 2020 at the height of the pandemic called “VocalizED,” which invites people to explore and discuss some controversial educational issues. VocalizED is actually the first word in VOICE because, for me, my interest has always been to amplify immigrant narratives, so when I began wondering what I really wanted coming from it, It led to VocalizED Identity Crafting and Exploration. It’s very personal to me because I’m an immigrant, but not only that, I’m a black immigrant woman. When I began teaching in the U.S., I realized many immigrant youths have had their stories told for them rather than by them, which further inspired me to create a space for them to share their own stories.

Why should students sign up for this Research Lab? What impact do you hope students will walk away with upon doing this internship? 

We need to facilitate and nurture understanding, so students who are a part of the Lab can gain connection and knowledge of the immigrant experience because they’re able to hear stories from them. Stories are powerful; stories shape reality, and hearing stories will expand our minds and view of the world. Additionally, those who join my Lab develop many multidisciplinary crafting skills. They get to build digital literacy skills and learn how to do podcasting. I hope they walk away transformed. For those who come to the Lab as immigrants or children of immigrants, I hope they walk away with a stronger appreciation for their story. Even those who join the Lab without that background, I hope they walk away with a stronger appreciation for who we are as Americans and immigrants and with the allyship in helping to amplify narratives.

What are you expecting in your upcoming collaboration with the Penn Museum? Do you typically collaborate in these types of ways during this research lab? 

The Penn Museum is an outgrowth of my collaboration with Carribean Community in Philadelphia. The feedback so far has been incredible. One lady said that she cried because the story touched her, and she came to the program not having that background. I’m looking forward to doing similar projects in the future. We’re hoping to do a traveling exhibit, and I plan on offering a summer program for immigrant youth to amplify their voices via digital literacies and help them master the tools needed to do so. 

What is the selection process like when choosing students for the Lab? How many are you looking to select?

I’d like to work with about five students. I have an application form that students will fill out, and there are a number of things I look for. One section asks them to explain their interest in partnering with the Lab, and I look at that to see why they’re coming to this space. They don’t have to have a background as an immigrant, but I want to see a genuine interest in growth, dialogue, and openness.

What dilemmas are English educators currently facing in the classroom, and what approaches are they taking to navigating them? On October 23 in the Poetry Center, secondary school  teachers from across Long Island and SBU English professors spent 90 minutes listening to and learning from each other in an open round table in pursuit of a common goal: understanding where students are, what they need, and how the teaching of English can contribute to the social, emotional, and intellectual growth of students, not only in the classroom but in life. 

The Summit Conference was created in 2022 by Josh Cabat, Director of the English Education Program at SBU, as a way to build bridges between teachers of English at the secondary and university levels. According to Cabat, “It’s important for us to build and maintain this social network in order to depend on one another.” All of the teachers agreed that It is impossible to discuss literature without acknowledging the social issues that come with it. Part of teaching literature is teaching about empathy, either  with the characters or with the  themes of the book. It is not an educator’s job to teach their students what to think, but how to think, and this is done by exposing them to the diverse realm of literature from various walks of life. 

The Covid-19 Pandemic has sparked an upsurge of what teachers are calling the productivity struggle. Despite their students being more than capable, a number of teachers state that their students doubt their potential and articulation. This Summit spoke about the importance of creating and maintaining a comfortable and safe space for their students to help them find their voice. We found that simply asking students, “How are you?” goes a long way in having the students feel seen and heard in the classroom. 

It was incredible to observe this dialogue personally, because as a student, I never thought to put myself in the shoes of an educator. I was absorbed in the stories these teachers had to tell, and for the first time in my life, I understood what it was like to be on the other side of the classroom. The event offered a powerful lesson in empathy that’ll stick with me in a longlasting way.

Joshua Cabat

Every student needs to have a teacher like Professor Cabat. Despite being ready to retire before his time at Stony Brook, Professor Cabat became the Director of the English Teacher Education Program to positively impact others and inspire the next generation of inspirers. Full of personality and humor, Professor Cabat advises that for any student pursuing teaching, you must have two key traits: passion and commitment to making your corner of the world a better place.

What made you pursue your current profession? What’s the most fulfilling part of your career?

There is a Hindu belief that there are four phases in life. You learn, you do, you teach others what you’ve learned, and you reflect. I was all ready to retire; I taught hard for thirty-five years and, in that time, became an adjunct professor here. When Stony Brook University posted the job offer for Director of English Teacher Education, I thought, “Well, that’s going to get me from stage two to stage three.” What better way than going from teaching to teaching the teachers how to teach? The most fulfilling part I’d say is having three three-inch binders full of notes, cards, letters, drawings, etc., from people whose lives I’ve made a little better because they ran into me at the right time. To me, that’s evidence of trying to make a life worth living. 

Do you have any publications/research? Are you currently working on any?

My scholarship is mostly things I’ve done for the National Council of Teachers of English and their periodical for high school teachers, called English Journal. I’ve written a few pieces for them. I’ve had so many wonderful opportunities in my life. I was a Teaching Artist at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in their Young Film Critics Program for ten years. I’ve also started the NYC Shakespeare Festival along with the Northshore Student Shakespeare Festival. I love putting this stuff into play. I’m also working on an outline of a book. I’ve never published anything book-length before, but I have a plan! I’m working on it!

Through any of those experiences, do you have a memory that stands out?

Let’s see. The third NYC Shakespeare Festival, which was held at NYU, was based on the model established by the Folger of the Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. They have a festival. So every year, P.S. 123 from Bushwick would come in full costume and do twenty-minute adaptations of Shakespearean tragedies. One year, the kids brought a rolling table with them, and put a sheet over it with Hamlet’s father’s ghost standing on the table. During the performance, under the table and under the sheet, a kid was pushing the table on his knees so that it looked like the ghost was floating. I was like, “Oh my goodness!” It isn’t a competitive festival, but we did give little fun awards. So we gave the biggest award with the biggest applause to the kid under the table; that was amazing. 

What’s been your favorite class to teach at Stony Brook?

I would say the Methods Two class. The way I teach Methods Two is that I abandon theory, I abandon speculation about the larger philosophy of education, and I just model stuff that is not theoretical but stuff that’s worked for me over the years in many different classrooms. To me, the essence of any class is, “Can I use this stuff tomorrow?” It’s very practical, and so that’s probably my favorite class I’ve taught.

Who are you outside of Stony Brook? Do you have any hobbies or interests that you’d like to share?

I am a serial nerd; I am one of those people who has deep obsessions. For example, where am I spending Veterans Day weekend? I’m spending Veterans Day Weekend at the Star Trek convention! I’m also a music person. I’m a clarinetist and an alto sax player. I also run a virtual Film Society for people in my synagogue and people all around the Country, and we meet once a week to discuss films. I also have a Podcast called Vintage Sand with a couple of old friends I adore. We dont pose as film critics or actors, but we just love movies!

Amanda Korber, Class of ’09

Amanda’s time in Stony Brook’s English Honors Program greatly helped her develop the practical skills she uses today as a Supervising Attorney for The Legal Aid Society of the District of Colombia’s housing unit, where she spends most of her days researching and writing. Amanda especially values the opportunity the Honors Program provided to write her own original thesis: “What an amazing luxury to just read books and think about them and think about how to frame arguments and persuasive thoughts about them; it was really just so much fun.” 

Could you describe what a typical day at your job is like? What is the best or most satisfying part of it?

Currently, I help and supervise new attorneys who represent tenants in eviction cases and tenant associations in rent increase cases. I’m coming up on ten years of being a lawyer, so it’s really nice to work with new lawyers and help them get started in the work and find their way through it. However, I still sometimes represent clients myself because, frankly, one of my favorite parts of my job is working directly with clients. 

Did you know that that was the area that you wanted to go into after law school? Or was this always what you wanted to do? 

When I graduated from Stony Brook, I did not know what I wanted to do. One summer, I interned at Children’s Law Center in New York City, a non-profit law firm that represents children in foster care, so I had a sense that I wanted to go into direct services as a lawyer. I just wasn’t totally sure if I wanted to be a lawyer until after I graduated. I played with a lot of ideas. All different paths work for people; I think that’s really important to remember.

How has your experience in the English Honors Program helped you in your current career? Do you have a specific experience from the Program that you’d like to share? 

The Program helped me significantly develop my practical skills. So much of my day is researching, writing, trying to make persuasive arguments— whether it’s for court or for policy-making, so I greatly appreciate that. Working on my thesis was probably one of my favorite things I did at Stony Brook; like, what an amazing luxury to just read books and think about them and think about how to frame arguments and persuasive thoughts about them. It was one of the best things I did looking back at my academic career. 

Is there any advice that you would give to current English majors at Stony Brook who are interested in a career like yours? 

I really want to emphasize that I don’t think there is one right way to get anywhere, and that the best way to land somewhere good for you is to follow your own interests and things that you love. Working every day is hard— and it’s hard even when you have a job you love— so you really want to make sure you land not where you think you’re supposed to land but where you want to land.