Samantha Wallace is a 7th year ABD in the Department of English at the University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Her research agenda aims, broadly, to study the varied ways female-driven networks of support and kinship emerge (or fail to emerge) within contemporary literature in response to adversity. Her dissertation, "Epistemic Uncertainties," argues for the value of uncertainty to feminist theory as a way of acknowledging the complexities of sexual and gender-based violence.
Samantha has served as a student leader in various University initiatives, including open access advocacy and the founding of the Institute for Global Humanities and Cultures' (IHGC) Public Humanities Lab. The IHGC Lab aims to rethink the model of public humanities through community engagement by promoting interdisciplinarity and graduate-student led projects with the Charlottesville community.
Samantha is one of two PhD Plus Liaisons from Department of English in 2020-2021. Along with her fellow PhD+ Liaisons, Samantha will collaborate with institutional and departmental teams on the broader goals of the AAU PhD Education initiative; namely, to make the full range of PhD career pathways visible, valued and viable for all students As a PhD Plus Liaison Program for AAU PhD Education initiative, she looks forward to the opportunity to learn from graduate students in other departments, and to invest time and effort into furthering data transparency on post-graduate positions and career trajectories.
About the Liaison Program
As a professional development experience for advanced graduate students, PhD Plus Liaison program affords the opportunity to collaborate with department leaders and PhD Plus administrators to identify ways in which field-specific training and education can be enhanced through the implementation of programs, practices, and activities broadly related to professional development.
In 2020-2021, eight liaisons will provide student leadership on the University's AAU PhD Education initiative and represent the four participating departments: Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, English and Religious Studies.