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Spotlights

March Spotlight
Kendall Rallins

Kendall Rallins always knew they wanted to pursue academia. That’s precisely why they chose the MA in Women’s and Gender Studies at LAS. “DePaul felt like a place where I could really grow as a scholar,” more so than other programs they were exploring. “And you can’t beat the faculty here,” they said.

One of her favorite professors was Dr. Anne Mitchell. “I have never seen someone more dynamic in class...she was incredibly engaging.” Dr. Mitchell’s course on Black Women’s Lives and Experiences made a lasting imprint on Kendall as a person and a scholar. “Being taught by a Black queer woman, in a class with all Black students, I learned by example what kind of educator I want to be.”

Although they always knew they wanted to go into academia, Kendall’s time at DePaul helped them refine their scholarly voice and research interests. “There’s a certain form that academia in general tries to push on you, and in each discipline has its own form as well...[but] really good writers craft a voice that is distinctly theirs.” At DePaul, “I learned how to find my own voice as an academic writer,” they shared.

Kendall appreciated the space that the WGS gave her to explore different scholarly interests. “It’s perfectly fine to not have it 100% figured out.” Kendall’s initial research interests was not women in sports, but she wrote a sports-related paper as a one-off. Or so she thought; eventually, several faculty members pointed out that she seemed to be most passionate about that topic. “They told me, you seem excited about this, so you should write about this...this is your project.”

Kendall is currently pursuing a PhD in Feminist Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Their feminist sports studies research focuses on Black queer athletes creating their own spaces. While the trajectory of their work is still developing, they are interested in examining the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in sports and sports media. They are exploring topics such as the Black queer basketball aesthetic and the performance of politics, especially in the WNBA. This interest began as an examination of herself and her own experience as a Black queer women's basketball player. Kendall was awarded the UCSB Racial Justice Fellowship to fund this work.

Kendall’s time in the WGS program helped her prepare for her current work at UCSB. “My professors created an environment where I could grow as a scholar and carve out a space for myself in academia.”Kendall also credits her WGS cohort for helping her navigate academia and feel comfortable with her work. “We truly respected each other as colleagues, scholars, and people, and were invested in one another’s work.”


alumni spotlight Kendall Rallins
 
alumni spotlight Jordan Wright
 

February Spotlight
Jordan Wright

As an artist, scholar, and researcher, Jordan Wright exemplifies the interdisciplinary spirit characteristic of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (LAS) at DePaul.

Studying in The Art School, Jordan earned their B.A. in Art, Media, and Design with a minor in Creative Writing and was a member of DePaul POETS and the DePaul Black Artists Network. Their artistic practice focused on the Black diasporic experience and social and ecological exploitation in the Midwest.

Jordan made the most of The Art School and the College of LAS. In the classroom, they drew connections between and across disciplines, a practice that would benefit not only their schoolwork, but also their art. “Some of the best classes I took for my art were the ones that were not strictly art classes,” they said. “I was thinking about what I was doing in other classes all the time, and each class informed the other.” In a class on art and artists in contemporary culture, housed in The Art School, Professor Matthew Girson changed the way Jordan developed ideas and wrote academic essays for the rest of their college experience. Through their interdisciplinary education, they gained “a critical thinking lens, a way to process a text even at first read…not just what it’s staying, but why or how they’re saying it.”

Outside of the classroom, Jordan was a student worker at the Special Collections and Archives at the DePaul University Library, where they refined their data entry, metadata, and archival description skills. They also gained valuable professional experience as the Archie Motley Intern at the Chicago History Museum. Their projects included enriching metadata for the Raeburn Flerlage Collection of Chicago Blues and Jazz photography and researching Chicago blues, jazz, and folk venues, musicians, and scenes in the 1960s and 1970s. The learning and connections they gained through these professional opportunities helped them land their current job as a Reader Services and Administrative Assistant at the University of Chicago Library, Special Collections, where they help others feel confident using the archive and doing research.

Jordan recently returned to DePaul for the opening of The Art School’s Fall 2022 Recent Graduates Exhibition, where they were one of five artists showing their work. Sharing advice for future LAS students, Jordan said: “Branch out and take a class in another topic in LAS. It might come back to you in 3 or 10 years and lead to something more holistic and thorough than if you were to narrowly focus on one specific discipline – it’s going to do wonders for your work.”

January Spotlight
Alyssa Hernandez

When Alyssa Hernandez first stepped foot on DePaul’s campus, she knew it would be a perfect fit. She remembers her tour guide saying that any student who comes to DePaul, regardless of their background, will leave a better person.

“That’s the beautiful part about DePaul: there’s you the student, and you the person,” Hernandez added. Ultimately, she came to agree with what she first heard from her guide: “DePaul made me a better person and leader, on top of excellent academics.”

Hernandez has certainly embraced the values she shaped at DePaul in her career as a public servant specializing in urban policy: “It has been foundational to who I am.”

Beyond the personal growth and values she honed during college, her academic formation at LAS has been key to her success in the field of urban policy. “My job right now is perfect for what I studied in college, and I didn’t know that at the time.”

Her academic focus on urban policy was informed not only by the classmates, professors, and assignments in Public Policy and Geography, but also by the setting of these experiences – the city of Chicago. “Chicago is your playground, your classroom, and to be studying urban policy in a city like Chicago...” was an amazing experience.

“In a Geography course with [Professor] Euan Hague, he assigned us to ride public transportation from one point of the city to downtown.” Students used what they had learned in their textbook and in the classroom about concentric rings in a city and applied it to what they were seeing on Chicago Transit Authority transportation during this experiential assignment. “You don’t forget assignments like that.”

Alyssa’s academic journey didn’t stop at Geography and Public Policy, though she loved those core courses. “I took classes in communications, through the theatre schools, and a whole host of religion courses that set me up to be a more informed global citizen,” she said. “I loved exploring outside of my programs because I got to follow the topics that were of interest through many different lenses like sociological, philosophical, and geographical.”

After graduating from DePaul, Alyssa attended graduate school at Florida State University, where she studied education policy. She worked at several agencies in the Florida state government before relocating to Cleveland, where she currently serves as the Director of Community Development for the City of Cleveland, overseeing a staff of 90 people. She spends hours in front of the City Council, advocating for more housing, community support, and a wide range of programs in her area.

The through-line of Alyssa’s career has been policy, service, and helping those most in need. “For me, policy is always exciting. I’m a doer.”


alumni spotlight Alyssa Hernandez
 


Additional Alumni Spotlights by Department Website


American StudiesAfrican & Black Diaspora StudiesCatholic StudiesCritical Ethnic StudiesEnglishGlobal Asian StudiesHistoryInternational StudiesLatin American & Latino StudiesPublic HealthSocial WorkSociology

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