Amanda Alexander, 2014

Thesis:

“In Our Veins Flows the Blood of Many Brave Races”: The Influence of the German Literary Vampire on Constructions of Race and Nation in Nineteenth-Century British Vampire Fiction

Read more about Amanda on her Alumni Profile listing.

Thomas King, 2018

Thesis:

Writing Center Tutor Training: An Examination of Emphasis on Critical Pedagogy in Tutor Training Handbooks

After graduating from HSU in May 2018, I landed two adjunct English composition jobs in Tennessee: Christian Brothers University and Southwest Tennessee Community College. In 2019, I continued teaching for CBU and began adjunct teaching for Concorde Career College. I worked at both institutions until this August, when CBU offered me a full-time one-year contract. The courses I teach are Composition 1, Composition 2, and occasionally Introduction to Literature. My foot was in the door, when the department head noticed on my curriculum vitae my years of writing center work. I was all the way in because of lots of hard work, persistence, resilience, and flexibleness. When I am asked to teach a class--no matter what day of the week, time of day or year, traditional setting, hybrid, or online--I do not turn it down. I regularly ​reflect on the courses that I took in the MA program because each course provided me with a solid foundation.

Alysia Hegg, 2021

Thesis:

Write Yourself Awake: The Double Pursuit of Mindfulness Meditation and Writing Theory

I recently accepted the position of Student Development Advisor for College of the Redwoods Adult and Community Education Program. The MA in English helped bump me up to the higher end of the starting pay for this position, which, first and foremost, I believe is important because people often wonder what an MA in English can do for you. In addition to just simply having this degree, the MA program at HSU taught me how to do research, helped me to develop professionally in terms of my desire to pursue a career in academic services, provided me a framework to work as a progressive English and Spanish teacher as a bilingual educator, and finally, helped me become a more nonviolent person through the support I received in doing race work.

Karen Zurita, 2022

Thesis:

Words Made from Flesh and Bones: How Xicanx Queer Authors are Decolonizing Writing to Reclaim Their Indigeneity

I’m Karen Zurita, and I’m a proud first generation Mixtec Xicanx. I grew up in Sylmar, where I attended Los Angeles Mission College and transferred to Humboldt State to complete my Bachelor’s. During that time, I discovered my love for spoken-word poetry and being an essayist. My passion grew, and when I graduated in 2016, it influenced me to enroll in Humboldt State’s english graduate program, focusing on Literature and Cultural Studies. Over the course of my graduate studies, my professors introduced me to many Queer Xicanx writers, which helped me articulate my ideas and decolonize my writing. Living in Humboldt for several years, I had the honor to get to know the Yurok and Hupa community, and they helped me understand how to start healing my writing and how to put my identity into words. In all, I found the language to empower myself and my community, and became a poet who knows how to wield it.

Justin Egan, 2019

Thesis:

Towards a Critical Game Based Pedagogy in Composition

Currently, I am working for Papa and Barkley Social, a dispensary, spa, and cannabis lounge. In my present role, I am responsible for customer service and dispensary sales. I hope to grow within the company into a more creative role and spend less time on the floor. I will be taking on a part-time teaching position in composition at College of the Redwoods next semester, and I am very excited. My patience and resilience have finally led me to the role I have been seeking since graduation. I do my best to keep myself engaged with reading and writing, and sometimes publish reviews of books and video games on Medium. I have been outlining and conceptualizing a science fiction novel, tentatively titled Pseudo-Real, which I plan to begin formally writing in 2022. I see great value in the graduate program at HSU. Not only have I been instructed by incredible teachers and advisors, but also I was given the privilege and great learning opportunity to teach my own composition courses. These experiences confirmed for me that teaching college-level composition was the most rewarding work I had done and that it was the career path I wanted to pursue. Studying and discussing language, systems of power, and the ways power can be subverted have focused my interpretive and critical perspectives. My political education would not be complete without my time in this program. Language is power, and learning to read and use language effectively is valuable--often dangerous–work.