Alumni Outcomes

Kevin Strait, PhD ’10, brought Chuck Berry’s famous red Cadillac to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Strait is one of two American Studies alumni who helped assemble the museum's collection. (Photo: William Atkins)

American Studies alumni pursue a variety of career paths, including academia, public history, public service, non-profit management, preservation and urban planning. Some of our graduates have launched their own businesses, others are artists and writers; others teach at world-class academic institutions.

Our PhD Alumni Include:

Sara Awartani, PhD '20, Assistant Professor, Program in American Culture, University of Michigan
Megan Black, PhD '15, Associate Professor of History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kimberly Probolus, PhD '19, ACLS Leading Edge Fellow
Pat Nugent, PhD '16, Thomas V. Mike Miller Director of Civic Engagement, Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, Washington College, Chestertown, Maryland
Zaynab Quadri, PhD '22, Henry Chauncey Jr. '57 Postdoctoral Fellow in the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy, Yale University
Kevin Strait, PhD '10, and Paul Gardullo, PhD '06, curators at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture
Amber Wiley, PhD '11, Presidential Associate Professor in Historic Preservation and the Matt and Erika Nord Director of the Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania

Our MA Alumni Include:

Jasmine Cannon, MA '19, Curator, Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
Samantha Citarella, MA '18, Assistant Archivist, Tiffany & Co.
Jenna Dawkins, MA '14, Principal Associate, Pew Charitable Trusts
Jacqueline Drayer, BA '15 and MA '18, City Historian, The Valentine, Richmond, Virginia
Libby Ellsworth-Kasch, BA '08 and MA '14, civil rights and criminal defense attorney, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Maggie Unverzagt Goddard, MA '14, Assistant Professor of Museum Studies at the University of Kansas
Chelsea Halling-Nye, MA '18, Program Coordinator, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Mary Stewart, MA ’11, Vice President for External Affairs, WETA

Our BA Alumni Include:

Rebekah Beaulieu, BA ’03, Louise Taft Semple President & CEO, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio
Eric Darnell, BA ’16, is a William Morris Endeavor talent agent in Los Angeles, California
Clara Hanson, BA '12, data scientist for Spotify
Mark Kates, BA '82, a central figure in the genre of alternative music, has launched the careers of countless legendary bands from Nirvana to the Beastie Boys
Amy Kurland, BA '77, founder of the famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee
Katie Doland Morey, BA '08, Manager, International Post at The Walt Disney Studios
James Zarsadiaz, BA ’08, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program, University of San Francisco