Beyond the Tenure-Track Symposium Panel, "What to Do During Graduate School"

Beyond the Tenure-Track: A Symposium on Career Paths for Graduate Students in the Humanities

Hosted by the English Department Graduate Program

This symposium will give current students the opportunity to hear from alumni of our English Graduate Program (as well as the graduate program at Georgia State) who now work in a range of careers. The panels will provide concrete advice for graduate students curious about transitioning out of teaching in the academy, and will include lots of time for Q&A and discussion.

A reception follows this panel in the Park Hall Library, Room 261

Panel 2: “What to Do During Graduate School”

A discussion of what graduate students can do while still in school, to best prepare themselves for different types of careers.

Panelists: Jordan Creel, Megan Morgan, Lisa Ward

Jordan Creel is a Global Account Manager for Ernst & Young, working as a Chief of Staff for EY's most complex global clients. She argues that it is precisely her academic training in close reading and analysis, among other disciplines, which has made her successful in this role. Jordan was born and raised in Athens, earned her BA in English at UGA, with a minor in Spanish. She then moved to Argentina before beginning her graduate work at Georgia State. She completed her MA in American Literature, experimenting with Willa Cather's O Pioneers! from three theoretical perspectives. She also completed her doctoral coursework in Victorian Literature before beginning her career at Ernst & Young while tutoring Spanish in the Athletic Department, supporting a local Atlanta Public School's after care program, teaching a 4/4 load at GSU and teaching multiple sections of Business Communications at Emory's Goizueta Business School. She is passionate about the opportunities outside of the traditional academy available to students of the humanities, especially advanced graduate students.

Megan Morgan earned her MA and her PhD in English literature at the University of Georgia. She wrote her dissertation on narrative structure and social change in novels by 18th-century British women writers under the supervision of Dr. Roxanne Eberle. Megan worked as an editor and project manager for the informational how-to website wikiHow until 2016, when she took a job as the assistant to the department head in the College of Pharmacy at UGA. She is now the Graduate Advisor for three degrees in the departments of Political Science and International Affairs at SPIA.

Lisa Ward earned her PhD in English in 2012 from the University of Georgia. Her graduate work explored screen adaptations of early modern drama; during her time at UGA, she taught courses in both English and Film Studies. She served as the Assistant Director of First-year Composition until 2015, when she took a position as Visiting Assistant Professor in English and Interim Writing Center Director at Oxford College of Emory University. Lisa currently works in Oxford’s Academic Technology department as the college’s Educational Analyst.