Lauren Gaskill

Enrolled 2010, MA 2012, PhD expected 2016

I received my BA from Georgetown University, with a major in Spanish language and linguistics, and a minor in Portuguese. Following graduation I worked several years as a paralegal, translating and interpreting for Spanish-speaking asylum seekers in New York City. While pursuing my MA and PhD at UC Irvine, I completed the emphasis in Visual Studies and took an array of courses in Spanish and Latin American Poetry, Narrative, Film, as well as courses in Anthropology, Critical Theory, and Second Language Teaching Methodology. I have had the opportunity to teach Spanish language courses at the beginning and intermediate level. My dissertation explores the intersection of photography and text from Argentina, Chile and Mexico, examining chronicles, literary journals, and novels. I received a Humanities Commons Research Travel Grant to conduct research in Argentina and Chile during summer of 2015. UC Irvine, as a young institution, lacks calcified departmental divides, leading to a collegiality and constant intellectual sharing across sub-disciplines of the humanities. It is common to take courses with students from Comparative Literature, Visual Studies, and Culture and Theory, and the constant guest lectures by renowned scholars, as well as frequent symposia and conferences, have all provided a rich environment in which to learn and share. UC Irvine has an idyllic campus and a vibrant graduate student community living in situ, which amply fulfills the lifestyle piece of the graduate student experience.