The Committee on Graduate Studies

Faculty members of the Committee on Graduate Studies serve as advisers to MALS students, attend thesis orals boards, assist with the evaluation of initial and candidacy applications, and set policies and curriculum for the program. Membership in the committee varies from year to year.

2023–2024 Graduate Commitee

Zhenya Bershstein, Professor of Russian

Jay Dickson (chair), Professor of English and Humanities

Jacqueline Dirks, Cornelia Marvin Pierce Professor of History and Humanities

Laura Zientek (ex officio), Associate Dean of Graduate and Special Programs

Lexi Neame, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science

Aaron Ramirez, Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies

Testimonials

Teaching a MALS course was a rare pleasure for me. The MALS students amaze me with their ability to bring so much energy to the classroom. They truly understand the value of learning for learning’s sake and they want to get the most of each minute of class discussion. Students like this energize a teacher. The classroom becomes a place where one has the ultimate luxury of bouncing ideas off of one another, trying out different interpretations of the text, and maybe even getting new perspectives on some of the really big questions. MALS students don’t ever take the classroom for granted – they know that, if everyone puts work into the conversation, it can be the locus of transformative discussions and collective refinement of great ideas.

The MALS students clearly have developed a culture of respect and generosity towards one another. I have the impression that over the course of several classes together, they know each other very well and enjoy the fact that they are in a small program. Everyone is comfortable with one another and this greatly increases the quality of discussion in the classroom.

ANN DELEHANTY
Professor of French & Humanities