Professor Mikulski is currently a PhD student at Stony Brook University. Researching topics such as James Joyce and Modernism while teaching multiple courses for Stony Brook Students.

What led you to go for doctoral studies?

I started on my undergrad as a physics major at UC Santa Barbara in California and before I went to college, I worked some summers in a physics lab. It was with my friend’s dad, he was a professor at UC Riverside, and I always looked up to him. I had this very idealistic view of maybe I should go along a similar academic path and become a professor too, do my PhD. That idea of having a profession that embodies doing what you love and you never have to work a day in your life. I started out in physics, and I said, no, I don’t think it’s physics for me, I think it’s English. I switched to English my second year of college, and I got pretty invested in going to graduate school pretty right away.

What drew you to Stony Brook?

The first thing that I found very appealing about it was, you know, I’m from California, so I had never been out here to New York, to New York City or to Long Island. Part of the appeal to me was the location, the amenities, and all the things being close to New York City can provide you. You can take classes in other universities nearby through the Inter Consortium, so you can take classes at Columbia, Rutgers, CUNY, or wherever. But for me, the first thing I thought of was the proximity to New York City as a cultural place, to go to museums and experience city life. The other thing was the faculty aligned with my research interests. When I first applied, I was interested in working with Celia Marshik, who’s the dean of the graduate school now, and Mike Rubenstein, who’s really into James Joyce, which was my obsession. That’s really why you choose to go to places you know? Your research aligns with the faculty and you think you can write a good project with them.

What has your time in the English program been like? Has it changed since you first started?

My path here at Stony Brook has been kind of circuitous in that I started in fall of 2020, which was when COVID was still very much in effect. I moved out here from California and lived in Queens, even though class was on Zoom. Because of COVID and remote learning, I didn’t get the most immersive graduate school experience, especially socially. I took a leave for about a year, and then decided not to come back and extend my leave further. A year and a half went by, and I came back for real in fall 2022 when everything was back in person. Since then, it’s been much better. It’s been great to see how different professors teach and to teach my own courses for the last three semesters. The coursework has been very stimulating and engaging. Every faculty member is very amiable and ready to help you with whatever you need. Even if you just took a course with them, you can still have this connection where you keep in touch and go to them for guidance. I’ve also had the freedom to explore my own interests.

What has your experience been like teaching?

It’s been great. I’m glad I wasn’t thrown right into teaching. At some universities, like my undergrad institution, graduate students don’t usually get to be instructors of record, they teach discussion sections for bigger lectures. Stony Brook is very generous in giving PhD students many opportunities to teach, which is great for later applying for jobs. TAing was a good first start to see how different professors teach. When I first taught English 130 a year ago, it was really fun for me because the course catered to my interests — literature, science, and technology. I taught it again over the summer and in the fall with slight alterations. Now I’m teaching World Literature (English 112, Modern World Literature), and it’s been a lot of fun. I have the freedom to design my own course, put the things I want on the syllabus, things I think will be good for students and spark discussion. The freedom to design the curriculum has been great.

Kay Sohini, Class of ’22

Kay Sohini will be holding a book talk about her new Graphic Novel This Beautiful, Ridiculous City this upcoming Fall Semester sponsored by the Department of English

When did you know you wanted to be a writer? 

I have wanted to be a writer all my life. I did not know that I wanted to make comics up until maybe five years ago. Inspired by Nick Sousanis, I drew my doctoral dissertation as a comic, and started working on my first book This Beautiful, Ridiculous City the same year I graduated. 

What led you to writing Graphic Novels specifically?

Drawing autobiographical comics is the closest you can get to seeing an overview of your life, see it from another perspective. It offers some sort of a distance, even as you are intimately engaging with the subject for months on end while making the book. There is a certain unique efficacy in relying on two modes of communication, especially in the comics medium where there’s a certain time space magic going on. And in my case, using words and pictures together to recall an event and conjure it from the depths of your memory, even as it tries to slip away, was something that set apart this medium from others. 

What is the best/most frustrating/most challenging/most satisfying part of being a writer?

Getting to write for a living is such a privilege, I do not take it lightly. I work from home most of the time, which means I get to spend hours on end sitting in the Sun by my very large window that looks over the city. . I guess the challenging part is that it can be a precarious spot to be in if you come from modest means. It does not necessarily have the stability of a 9-5. I make a decent living off it for the time being, but there’s no way to tell what the future will bring. 

How did your PhD/Stony Brook help you on your track to becoming a writer? Do you feel that getting a PhD helped you on your journey?

I am immensely grateful to my Professors in Stony Brook, especially Dr Jeffrey Santa Ana, Dr Lisa Diedrich and Dr Peter Khost, who encouraged me early on to experiment with how I present  my research. In my dissertation, “Drawing Unbelonging” my goal was to engage the sociopolitical through the lens of the personal. One of the things I focused on was to draw attention to the temporal and spatial scale of climate change and show how it disproportionately affects marginalized communities. I used art to combine my interest in public health and climate change, and to explore how belonging is usually tied to the trouble of conforming, rather than to the issue of a geographical space. The PhD taught me how to distill complex information into engaging stories and laid the foundation for the writing career I have today. 

This Beautiful, Ridiculous City would have never happened without my dissertation “Drawing Unbelonging” and the space I was allowed to experiment, and most importantly, learn through practice. The dissertation committee I had was truly the absolute best.

What is a favorite memory or experience of your time at SBU?

Strangely, I think it is the day I took my comprehensive exam and advanced to doctoral candidacy. It was a wonderful experience thanks to my committee. 

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in becoming a writer? 

Just write. Do not let yourself be overwhelmed by the bigger picture, your first objective is to put enough words on paper. It can be difficult to get a foot in the door, but there are people who are willing to be generous with their time and mentorship. When you are beginning, your only focus should be the craft. Write as much as you can, and read more than you write. Read widely, not just in the 1-2 genres that appeal to you. Read both contemporary works and classics. 

With a little luck, the rest will fall into place.

Anastasija Petrovska, Class of ’25

As a double major in Honors English and Honors Philosophy, Ana engages in endless thought provoking conversations in her classes. Currently working on her original English thesis on the role of abjection in art, Ana enjoys spending her days hanging out with friends, working out, and most importantly, reading with a cup of coffee.

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

I came into SBU undecided and I first fell in love with philosophy, so I declared that my first major. But, with philosophy, while the readings are very thought-provoking, the way in which they are presented is a bit dense. When I then took an English course here, I was surprised that the concepts we were learning about were the philosophies I was learning in my philosophy courses but they’re presented in a condensable and artistic way. The principles are very similar, and the thought processes are the same, so I thought to myself: why not declare a second major? It was a conscious choice, and I’m glad that I get to look at my English thesis as a passion project.

Do you feel like being a double major in English and Philosophy amplifies the conversations/viewpoints you have in both of your majors?

Yes, but it gets tricky. Because there are interdisciplinaries that cross over between my majors, it’s sometimes difficult to keep the focus and attention on the readings you’re doing in one particular class, even if some concepts overlap. I have to remember not to bring in an ongoing conversation that I had from a class five minutes prior into the reading and discussion in my next one. So while I see connections all the time, and feel inclined to share, the hardest part is actually trying to concentrate on one class at a time.

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

My original thesis idea came from a summer read, Powers of Horror by Julia Kristeva. A one-sentence summary (though it hardly does her work justice) is that abjection disrupts the subject-object binary, calling binarism into question entirely by outlining a psychological process rather than a fixed category of: subject/object. Abjection further challenges an individual’s subjectivity and relationality with others in the world. Kristeva writes poetically and abstractly enough for me to filter my interactions with daily artworks such as music, other books, advertisements, even memes through the concept of abjection. I remember putting on my headphones, hearing Zombie by The Cranberries, and instinctively beginning to analyze the metaphor of zombies application to Kristeva’s case study of the corpse. After taking EGL494 last semester, I started questioning whether applying theory to the consumption of art is an ethical way of engaging with it, especially in works depicting violence. Professor Celia Marshik is my mentor. One of my favorite parts of the English Honors thesis and process is the ways in which your project molds and shifts in ways you couldn’t really consider or account for as it happens naturally in the research and conversations through your cohort, professors, and even the scholars of whom you’ve entered a scholarly conversation with. 

What does a typical day at SBU look like for you?

Typically, if I wake up before class and have time, I’ll do some reading with coffee. I love slow mornings and taking my time. Then, I’ll go to my classes and linger in the library or the Humanities building. I’m in several clubs too, I’m on the e-board for the Philosophy Club and I’m a member of Pink Gloves (a boxing/self defense club). I like going to the gym, reading, cooking, and hanging out with my friends. 

What career path are you interested in after you graduate?

My dream career is to be a Professor in the humanities discipline. I like the university environment and want a career where I’ll be surrounded by young people who shape my worldview as I shape theirs. I also believe education is the best avenue for meaningful engagement. I love fostering thoughts and ideas with others, creating ripple effects that extend beyond the classroom. If I choose a different path, my backup plan is probably law; primarily because I see it as a form of activism that applies educational perspectives to drive forth action.

English is one of the most versatile and flexible majors that Stony Brook University has to offer. In particular, the skills gained from an English major easily allows students to excellently adapt to the skill set needed for Law School. Kayla Hayman, a career coach and pre-law advisor on campus, held an event in the Poetry Center for pre-law English students to advise them on the steps to take for a career in Law. 

Kayla shared several tools that students should utilize in order to maximize their future law school resume including but not limited to Forage, a job simulation/apprenticeship website, Handshake, a career exploration platform, Linkedin, a career centered social networking site, and our own SBU career center. We discussed different ways to approach professors for letters of recommendation, law career options and even a hypothetical mock court case to keep us engaged. 

As a pre-law student myself, I found that the information Kayla provided was extremely fruitful and worthwhile. In particular, taking advantage of career platforms such as Handshake and Forage are easily accessible and can quickly boost your resume. I know for certain that I’m going to start utilizing these tools more, and I definitely am going to make an appointment with the Career Center to take more steps toward my goals. 

Jessica Vestuto

Jessica Vestuto is a Stony Brook English BA alum and currently an editor for Mariner Books, a HarperCollins imprint. A former writer for the Stony Brook Press, Jessica has always believed in “the power of the pen.” 

What was your career journey like? How did you land on Stony Brook, decide to be an English major, and eventually go into publishing? 

Both my mom and my sister went there, and they were both English majors, so I knew for a fact that they had great professors and a really great program. It was like a financial thing too, [to] have such a high quality education and not go into so much debt was really important to me and I’m so grateful for [that] in the long run. I always loved writing in high school, I was very involved in the school paper. Sometime during my undergrad I discovered what an MFA in creative nonfiction was and it was one of those moments of, “that’s what I want to do.” That became my goal the whole time I was there. I was taking English courses, writing on the side, and working towards trying to get into those programs. I ended up going to Emerson, but the summer before that program started, […] I decided to do an internship at a publisher, at FSG, which is an imprint at Macmillan. When I was there, I [saw] what other editorial systems and editors were doing and I really fell in love with it. I still did my MFA, which was great, and at the same time I was working for a publisher in Boston.

What are your interests, what projects do you tend to be the most drawn to?

I do mostly literary fiction; as opposed to commercial fiction [which is] a little bit more story-driven, [literary fiction is] usually more of the voice and the characters than the plot. I do mostly debut authors which I really love. I’m interested in the intellectual breadth that a person can have and how long they can, hopefully for a very long time, be writing books. I’m always drawn to someone whose mind I really admire. It’s usually a little dark and a little weird, a little off-kilter. That’s the stuff that really excites me. One example is I’m working on a book [that] has vampires, but it’s playing with vampire tropes and subverts our expectation of what we think would happen to say something about culture, society, and politics.

How has your experience as an undergrad at Stony Brook benefitted you at HarperCollins? 

I learned how to speak and write about books, and that’s the foundation of everything I do now. So much of my job is hands-on, either through the jacket copy or in meetings with sales reps, I’m just trying to convince people to spend time and money on a book. I was really lucky to work with professors who encouraged me to read what I love, organize my thoughts, and express them effectively. That really shaped my editorial sensibilities. Also writing at the Stony Brook Press, I think that was the first time I really fell in love with the act of publishing something. Seeing my writing turn into a tangible object that other people could read — it’s the same thrilling feeling I get when a book I acquired comes from the printer, it just never gets old.

Lastly, what are you reading at the moment? 

I’m reading Human Acts by Han Kang. She wrote The Vegetarian and won the Booker [Prize for fiction in 2016], then the Nobel Prize [in literature] this year. She is brilliant in thinking about the world. I’m reading Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar too, that’s really good. One weird, fun book I’m reading is Jean Stein’s biography of Edie Sedgwick [Edie: An American Biography]. It’s a string of interviews edited together as one continuous conversation, it’s like a gossipy, illicit game of telephone that’s really fun to read.

Dr. David Heska Wanbli Weiden

David Heska Wanbli Weiden is an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota nation who strives to bring awareness about Native American literature, culture, history, and more into his classroom. His specialty in law and politics brings a new point of view within Indigenous studies, allowing us to understand the injustices Native Americans have faced by the U.S. Government. Currently working on a sequel to his bestselling book Winter Counts, Dr. Weiden continuously works on amplifying Indigenous voices both in mainstream media and in everyday life.

What made you pursue your current profession and what is the most fulfilling part of it?

Before I chose teaching 25 years ago, I was a licensed attorney in Colorado for a number of years. I did not find that to be the job I was best suited for, so I went back to school for teaching and earned my PhD at the University of Texas at Austin. I’ve never regretted that choice. The most fulfilling part about my job is certainly interacting with the students. When a class is going well and the students are really appreciating and understanding the material, it’s wonderful. I also enjoy helping students with their professional goals; I’ve helped students get into law school and graduate school and have been delighted to stay in touch with many of them. 

What inspired you to specialize in Native American Literature/Native American and Indigenous Studies? Why is it important to teach these topics to our students?

I’m an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota nation but grew up in Colorado. Our reservation is in South Dakota and my earliest memories involve visiting my family there. Naturally, I was drawn to issues involving Indigenous people, and especially fiction and nonfiction. For my M.F.A. degree in creative writing, I studied Native American fiction and literary theory at the Institute of American Indian Arts and I was able to focus on one particular area of Native literature for my thesis.

I believe it’s important to teach Native American studies, literature, culture, law, and politics, because Native Americans were the original people of this land, of course. But Indigenous people have a different way of thinking and looking at the world, which can provide a useful counterpoint to standard Western ideas and worldviews. I should also note that it’s important for Stony Brook students to know about the history of Indigenous people right here on Long Island, as well as learning about the current status of all of the Native people who are still here in New York. There’s a brand new program (and minor) in Native American and Indigenous Studies, and we have a community Steering Committee comprised of Native citizens from Long Island. In the new NAIS program, students can learn about Native history, art, culture, literature, and environmental justice. Students who’d like to learn more can check out the new website:  https://www.stonybrook.edu/nais/.

What is it like being a part of the Sicangu Lakota Nation? 

Native Americans have an important role in the U.S. because of our unique status as political entities as well as ethnic minorities. Many people don’t know that there are just under 600 sovereign Native nations within the boundaries of the United States. Because of this status, enrolled Natives are dual citizens:  citizens of their Native nation and of the United States. So, I’m a citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation as well as an American citizen; this creates a sense of duality, not only in regards to citizenship but culturally as well. 

Are you currently working on any publications/research that you’d like to talk about?

Yes, I’m working on the sequel to my novel, Winter Counts. That novel was marketed as crime fiction, but was really a meditation on Native identity and an examination of the broken criminal justice system on reservations. I was fortunate in that the book received a fair amount of attention, both from readers and policymakers. I explore other issues in Wisdom Corner, the next book in the series. On the scholarly side, I have just written “Leonard Peltier’s Sun Dance,” an essay that will appear in The Cambridge Companion to American Prison Literature. It’s an examination of the Peltier case and a literary analysis of his memoir. Many believe that Leonard Peltier was a political prisoner and wrongly convicted for aiding and abetting murder on the Pine Ridge reservation in the 1970’s. He was just released from prison; President Biden commuted his sentence in the very last hour of his presidency. 

What has been the most impactful thing you’ve ever learned during your research?

The most impactful thing I’ve learned is there is a huge gap in knowledge among high school and college students when it comes to the status of Native Americans and how they’ve been treated by the U.S. government. When I started teaching Native American history and culture twenty years ago, I learned that many people do not understand that our religion and spirituality was made a federal crime until 1978. Until 1978, there could be a criminal conviction and prison sentence for any Native American who practiced our unique spiritual ceremonies. Students are always stunned to learn this. There are many other laws and policies regarding Native citizens that students are surprised to learn. My hope is that my teaching and writing can help to educate people as to the history and culture of Native peoples and hopefully bring about changes in law and policy.

On February 11, 2025, the VocalizED Identity Crafting and Exploration (VOICE) Research Lab introduced the first session of their Fireside Chat Series, The Stories We Interrogate: Amplifying Immigrant and Refugee Narrative Amid Anti-Immigration Discourses. This inspiring event led by four English Faculty members gave glimpses  into the conversations surrounding migrant narratives during a time when it’s more crucial than ever. 

As the creator of the VOICE Research Lab, Dr. Neisha Terry Young focuses specifically on Black immigrant youths, and how they can reposition their authentic narratives to be amplified in white dominated discourse surrounding migrant narratives. Dr. Young’s inspiration for her passion stems from her experience being a black immigrant from Jamaica, alongside her experiences in the classroom as an educator. Using multiliteracy tools like podcasting, she strives to make space for students in the classroom to tell their authentic story. 

Dr. Jeffrey Santa Ana is a first-generation college graduate who’s strong attachment to migrant narratives comes from being a child of two immigrant parents from completely different backgrounds. His current work discusses how refugee narratives depict concepts like “home” and “belonging,” and how those who are displaced by war and conflict depict these ideas. Dr. Santa Ana’s work also shows how climate change exacerbates such violence, and he asks how we can find environmental justice within these narratives. 

Dr. Timothy August aims to curate a space for immigrants to amplify and tell their own story. His book, The Refugee Aesthetic: Reimagining Southeast Asian America, looks at the resurgence of people reclaiming their refugee identity, despite the long precedent of people being discomfited of the label. Dr. August strives to bring these discussions into his classroom, as his past Single Author course focused on Ocean Vuong and the Place of Refugee Literature.

Interested in narratives beyond English, Dr. Simone Brioni posits the ideas of translation and colonialism in respect to immigrant narratives, with particular emphasis on contemporary Italy. His passion for studying migration comes from both the rage and love he feels about the topic. Rage of how migrants are presented, especially with the abundance of misinformation that constantly shapes the migrant narrative, and love for the courage, ripeness, intelligence, and sensitivity of the writers he’s collaborated with. Dr. Brioni uses language, film, and literature to subversively re-think the idea of labels that force people to define themselves, particularly for immigrants.

Felicia Nadel

Felicia is currently a Teaching Assistant at Stony Brook working on her dissertation for the English PhD program. With a focus on ecofeminism, imperialism and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, Felicia writes with purpose. 

What are your specializations and topics of interest as well as what you’re currently working on? 

I’m in my second year of the English PhD, so I’m ending the coursework period this semester and starting to gather people I’ll be working with on my dissertation committee. I’m really interested in a lot of queer spaces and queer world building theory that came out of the community grappling with AIDS in the 80s and 90s. I’m interested in using it to think about psychologically processing the climate crisis that we’re in. I recently wrote the “Thread Moving Through the Hole” essay, [it’s about] me processing loss of snow, processes of immigration, and how we contextualize what’s happening around us. It’s definitely in its very early stages — over the summer is where I’m reading and researching and in a focused way. A lot of ecofeminist theories that are rooted in race relations and imperialism — you can’t disconnect them.

What led you to go for doctoral studies?

Going back to [the question of] how can you be effective, what kind of person are you? I’m almost 30, so I have done different things since college. I was mostly working at queer bars or on women or indigenous-led farms and switching between those two roles after college, but always working on writing. I still think those forms of work aren’t things that I’m leaving behind. I definitely see a future still working on farms in the summer. Now I work at a literary café […] very engaged in New York queer scenes and activist scenes. Reading, writing, and teaching about the issues that matter to me has always been something that I know I am nourished by. I also really like being with students and forming relationships that will help them […] move in the world in a way that is kinder to it.

Speaking of students, versus your time as a student and now being a Teaching Assistant interacting with humanities students, what have you noticed students today facing? Are there any notable differences, or do you kind of feel like it’s more or less the same experience? 

It’s definitely not the same experience, which is crazy because I’m only 10 years older than everyone in college. Students appear to be more anxious and feel very scared about messing up, [they] don’t seem to have a lot of confidence or training in their ability to write. They’re fully capable of it, […] I do think that it is a newer trend of a heightened sense of perfectionism. I’m friends with teachers who have been teaching for 30 years who do effort-based grading, and I think that would produce a different type of student in a good way.

What drew you to Stony Brook? I know you’ve been in a lot of different locations, is there anything about this school that stood out to you in terms of PhD programs?

There are things about this program that are really great. The English and the Gender Studies programs are really interconnected here. Also, when I was applying to PhD programs, it was important for me to write in ways that are academic, but are not really what the academy wants you to do. I really love theory or academic writing that is narrative [like] poetry or theory work that’s image-based. I specifically wanted to keep going through [the PhD program] one, because I want to teach at universities, but two, I want to learn to write that way and that writing training. So far I’ve been able to already start working on that writing, and for all of my coursework, instead of a classic final, I’ve gotten to experiment with different types of that kind of writing [surrounding] my dissertation project. I do already feel like I’ve been getting training in trying to write that way, so that’s been cool.

Lastly, what are you reading at the moment? 

Right now I am reading a transnational feminism of the Americas book. One of my favorite theory books is No Archive Will Restore You by Julietta Singh. Getting to return to Toni Morrison in our class [Single Author] is really nice. One of my classes is a teaching practicum figuring out how to teach with feminist pedagogy, so lots of different things.

On February 4, 2025, I had the honor to attend and be a panel member for The Department of English’s Admissions Virtual Event: Literary Lens: an English Student’s Life at SBU. The event consisted of a brief presentation giving the prospective students an overview of the Department and a fifty-minute Q&A session with the student panel. 

Being a part of the panel meant that I had the opportunity to tell prospective students about my experience at Stony Brook and why the English Program would be a good fit for them. I spoke about my experience as a double major, a Pre-Law student, and my favorite English classes I’ve taken thus far. It felt rewarding being able to hopefully inspire future students and I hope my story resonated with them.

One thing I especially took away from the event was hearing my fellow students’ varying experiences in the English major. I love how versatile everyone’s stories were, and it proves how many paths this department provides its students. There is no right or wrong way to go through this program and I hope that versatility was apparent to the audience. 

If you were unable to make it and would like the opportunity to learn more, you can check out “Literary Lens: an English Student’s Life at SBU” on the Stony Brook University Admissions’ YouTube page here: https://youtu.be/vJv9Cplz2Hc

As we settle into the rhythm of a brand-new semester, we’d like to extend a warm welcome back to all students, faculty, and staff in the Department of English at Stony Brook University! We hope your first week of classes went smoothly and that you’re feeling energized for the exciting months ahead.

Spring semester brings fresh opportunities for growth, discovery, and collaboration. Whether you’re diving into literature, honing your writing skills, or engaging in critical discussions, we’re thrilled to have you back on campus and ready to explore new ideas together.

Stay connected with the department on Instagram for upcoming events, guest lectures, and workshops that will enrich your academic journey.

Wishing you all a fantastic semester ahead!

– The Department of English