Meet our great WGS Graduate Specialization/Minor students!
 | Darian Wilson Darian's current research interests involve looking at childhood and neurodivergent studies through a queer lens to understand what power dynamics are in play when constructing narratives surrounding the neurodivergent child. As of 2025 she has her Master of Arts in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 2023 Darian received her bachelor's degree in English and Theatre Secondary Education at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Darian currently teaches intro to writing courses on campus. |
 | Chase Aunspach PhD Student, Communication Studies & English Minor Chase's research interests include: Critical Theory, Digital Culture, Field Methods, Masculinity, Materiality, Networked Media, Posthumanism, Queer Studies, Rhetorical Theory, and Visual Culture. |
 | Alexandra Bissell PhD Student, English Advisor: Professor Matt Cohen Alexandra Bissell is a doctoral student in English Literary and Cultural Studies with an emphasis in Women’s & Gender Studies. Her current work centers on poetry & poetics, queer theory, trauma, and the affective role of literature in cultural archives. She holds an M.A. in English from DePaul University and a B.A. in English with a minor in Creative Writing from the University of Northern Iowa. She served for two years as the executive editor of the literary magazine, Inner Weather, and has presented papers on the poetry of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Thom Gunn. Some of the accolades she has received for her critical and creative work include the Selina Terry Poetry Award, the James Hearst Award, and the James HiDuke Writing Award. She is also currently a recipient of the Crompton Fellowship. |
 | Olivia Checkalski In May 2020 she graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a B.A. in Psychology and American Culture & Difference, and a minor in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. In May 2022, she received her M.A. here at UNL, and her thesis explored women's motivations for sending nudes. Her current work focuses on the objectification of queer and trans populations. |
 | Karie Cobb Karie specializes in Literary and Cultural Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, and pursuing certification in the Teaching of Writing. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Maryland Global Campus. Her research is primarily focused on 19th century literature, particularly the Civil War, and its impact and implications on American society in the 21st century. She currently works as a graduate assistant at the Walt Whitman Archive. |
 | Alex Diede PhD Student, Social Psychology Alex Diede (she/her/hers) received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Black Hills State University in 2016, and is currently a doctoral student in the Social Psychology program here at UNL. She is a member of the Sexual Assault Sexual Health (SASH) research lab working with Dr. Kathryn Holland. Her research interests revolve around social problems and their respective systemic and/or social barriers that adversely and disproportionally impact women, sexual minorities, and gender minorities. This includes topics such as the adjudication of sexual assault and intimate partner violence cases from a survivor-centric vantage, policy and social discourses related to sexual education, and social reactions to disclosures related to sex and sexuality. |
 | Veronica Jemkur MA Student, Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design Advisor: Professor Sandra Starkey Veronica Jemkur is a Master's student in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design at UNL. She majors in Apparel Design with a graduate minor in Women's and Gender Studies. She earned her BA in Fashion Design from the University of East London. Veronica's research interests include Plus-size Fashion and inclusive fashion for women with disabilities. |
 | Lizzie Kehr Lizzie is pursuing her Master's degree in Art History with a specialization in Ancient Greek art and archaeology and a minor in Women's and Gender Studies. Her research interests include the representation of women in Greek art, literature, and mythology, with particular interest in the villainized, monstrous women such as Medusa, Circe, and Medea. Lizzie is a native Nebraskan and received her BA in Art with specializations in ceramics and digital media from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 2023. |
 | Celie Knudsen MA Student, English Advisor: Professor Sheri Stenberg Celie Knudsen is an M.A. student in composition and rhetoric. She is specifically interested in queer and feminist rhetorics and the intersection between writing pedagogy and fat studies. Celie works as a Core Teaching Artist for the Nebraska Writers Collective, where she helps run the largest youth poetry festival in the state. She graduated with highest distinction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a B.A. in English and Women's and Gender Studies. |
 | Meagan Kunitzer PhD Student, Sociology Meagan received her BA from the University of Northern Colorado in Sociology with a minor in Gender Studies, May 2019. As an undergrad she was selected to participate in the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program. Her position as a McNair Scholar allowed her to conduct original research. Specifically, how campus policy impacts reporting behaviors of sexual assault by students. Additionally, the Ronald E. McNair program is partially responsible for sending Meagan on her graduate school journey to the University of Nebraska Lincoln. The welcoming environment of both professors and students made her decision to come to UNL easy. Although the Nebraska Nice mentality could also contribute to the welcoming environment found at UNL. |
 | Ana Maria Tudela Martinez PhD Student, Modern Languages (Spanish Section) and Women's and Gender Studies Pronouns: she/her Advisors: Professor Ingrid Robyn and Professor Luis Othoniel Rosa Ana is beginning her PhD program in the Fall of 2021, having graduated in May 2020 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an MA student in Modern Languages, with specialization in Spanish. In 2019, she earned her BA degree in Hispanic Studies from the Unidersidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain). Her research interests mainly concern Contemporary Latin American Literature, with an applied perspective of Subaltern, Ethnic, and Women's and Gender Studies. |
 | Cara Morgenson PhD Student, Teaching, Learning & Teacher Education Advisor: Professor Loukia Sarroub |
 | Rin Nguyen Rin (all pronouns welcome) received their undergraduate degree in Psychology and Women's and Gender Studies with minors in Japanese, Sexuality Studies, Global Studies, Asian Studies, and English at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln (UNL). Rin is currently working with Dr. Dena Abbott in the Secularity and Sexuality (SeCs) Lab. Rin's research interests broadly encompass all topics related to human sexuality with an emphasis on concerns within the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) and transgender and gender diverse (TGD) communities. Rin looks forward to a career in academia where they can engage with underserved and marginalized populations through research, counseling, and teaching. |
 | Brittany Piper PhD student, Sociology Brittany Piper is a PhD student in sociology. Her primary research area is the sociology of family and the life course, including relationship formation, and the effect of divorce on children in early adulthood. She is currently working on two research endeavors. First, she is studying the effect of parent divorce on women as they enter early adulthood. Second, she is researching differences in friendship networks through romantic relationship initiation, transition to marriage, and dissolution. Brittany is an Illinois native and earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology in 2008 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her master’s degree in sociology from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2013. Her master’s thesis measured the effect of the “package deal” on class identity. The analysis revealed that financial satisfaction, childhood family income, and education are the overall strongest predictors in determining class identity, more than any of the characteristics of the package deal: marriage, parenthood, homeownership, or job status. She is interested in teaching introductory, gender, family, or social inequality courses in sociology. In Spring 2015, she is an instructor for the Sociology of Marriage and Family at UNL. She has previously taught Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of Sport, and Women in Contemporary Society. |
 | Jose Daniel Lino Plata MA student, Modern Languages and Literatures Daniel Lino Plata is a PhD student in the Modern Languages and Literatures Department with a certificate in Women's and Gender Studies. His research deals with cultural and literary representations of queer and LGBTQ+ subjectivities in contemporary Spain, focusing on masculinity studies, feminist theories, normativity, countercultural movements, and narratives of resistance. His article, "Gay Men and Homoaffection: Alternative Gay Masculinities in Hombres de verdad (2020), by Alberto Marcos", co-authored with Dr. Iker González-Allende, will be published in December 2022 in the journal Estudios LGBTIQ+, Comunicación y Cultura. He teaches both at the Modern Languages and Women's and Gender Studies departments. Courses taught: SPAN 101, SPAN 102, SPAN 201, SPAN 202, SPAN 203, SPAN 204, WMNS 101. WGS Courses WMNS 101: Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies Education B.A. English Studies, University of Salamanca, Spain (2019) M.A. Spanish, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2021) Areas of specialization Women's and Gender Studies Masculinity Studies Queer Studies Feminist Theories. |
 | Olatz Sanchez-Txabarri PhD student, Modern Languages and Modern Literatures Advisor: Professor Iker González-Allende Olatz Sanchez-Txabarri (Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain) completed her B.A in Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Deusto. In 2019 she received her M.A in Hispanic Studies at the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 2020 she completed her M.A in Education at UDIMA (Spain), where she specialized in Second Language Teaching while working as a Spanish Language teacher for immigrants in Bilbao (Spain). Currently, she is working on her Ph.D. program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she also works as a GTA teaching Spanish for the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Olatz specializes in Literature Written by Migrant Women studying literature from a gender and racial perspective to understand how migration affects women and their daughters and the relationships among them. |
| Carol Tschampl-Diesing PhD student, Communication Studies |
 | Andrea Wagh PhD student, History Andrea Wagh is a third-year history PhD student in the UNL History Department. Her research interests include 20th-century European History, the Holocaust, Jewish history, and comparative genocide studies. She is currently researching the experiences of Jewish children who were hidden during the Holocaust in western Europe. |