2021–22 Fellows
Sasha Crawford-Holland is a PhD student in Cinema and Media Studies whose research examines how people and institutions use nonfiction media to produce knowledge about political problems such as state violence and climate change. This research analyzes how cultural forms, technical platforms, and social conditions organize the perception of evidence and the modes of (ir)rationality mobilized in response to it. Sasha holds a BA in Cultural Studies from McGill University and an MA in Cinema and Media Studies from the University of Southern California. Sasha has published widely on issues pertaining to the politics of media, in journals such as Film History, Television & New Media, Synoptique, and American Quarterly.
Catrin Dowd is a PhD student in Music and Theater and Performance Studies. She is interested in the history of cultural diplomacy, intellectual property, and musical performance/opera production. She received an MA in double bass performance from McGill University and has performed at the Aspen, Moritzburg, and Lucerne festivals as well as the Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg.
Tanvi Gandhi is a PhD candidate in the Department of Physics. She works in Professor Heinrich Jaeger’s group, where she studies stress dynamics in packings of grains. In her research, she investigates the effect of intergranular interactions on the larger-scale behavior of granular packings. Tanvi was a 2020–21 ASCI Collaboration Grant awardee along with Beatrice Fazio from the Romance Languages and Literatures Department. Their project “Dante in the Lab” explores themes of thermodynamics and phase transitions as they appear in Dante’s Inferno, culminating in a short film where physical experiments accompany a narrative piece. Tanvi holds a BS in Physics from the University of California, San Diego.
Tyler Kramlich is a PhD student in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. His research focuses on the conditions and constraints necessary for the formation of evolvable biomolecular machines. He investigates the evolvability of proteins by placing them in systems of fluctuating constraints and analyzing the effects on structure and function. In addition to his scientific aspirations, he enjoys composing music for a wide variety of ensembles. He has been composing since middle school and has a BM in Music Composition as well as a BS in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University. His music is informed by his upbringing in Sweden and Germany, and his musical influences include Charles Ives, Leoš Janáček, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Tyler has an interest in exploring theories of music outside of the classical occidental tradition and has worked on musicological research projects at the Smithsonian Institute. Tyler is always looking for opportunities to unify his dual interests in bioengineering and composition, especially in ways that aid in scientific communication or broaden public access to new ideas.
Charles Liang is a PhD student at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. He graduated from Columbia University in 2018 with a BS in Applied Physics and a minor in Applied Mathematics. Charles conducts theoretical and computational research on phase transitions, such as when a material transitions from a metal to an insulator, known as the metal-to-insulator transition, which can be tuned in various materials and carries importance for opto-electronic devices. In fact, we commonly encounter phase transitions in our daily lives and in nature, including when an ice cube melts in a glass of water or when ice crystals form over a cold night. But current models do not adequately account for entropy from phonons, additional disorder due to the material’s atomic lattice deforming. As a result, his research on the metal-to-insulator transition helps further our understanding of fascinating materials, phenomena, and novel opto-electronic devices. For the arts and culture, Charles’s main conduits have been through music (the viola and violin), studying abroad, and learning languages, including French, German, and Mandarin. In spring 2017, he studied at the University of Oxford, St. Catherine’s College. In his free time, Charles enjoys playing the viola, running, badminton, and practicing French/German with friends.
Reed McConnell is a PhD student in anthropology. Her dissertation research explores post-apocalyptic imaginaries and toxic threat in the desert region of Imperial Valley, California. Her broader interests include the US War on Terror, environmental contamination, tourist industries, material culture, and Hollywood. She is also a writer whose essays have appeared in publications including Cabinet, The Baffler, The Point, and Public Books, and she holds an MA in Cultural Theory and History from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Gabriel Novak is a composer, songwriter, and performer currently in the 4th year of his PhD in Music Composition from the University of Chicago, studying with Augusta Read Thomas. Synthesizing sounds from jazz, classical, rock, blues, and many others drawn from both an old and modern American vernacular, Novak aims to blur the lines between genres in his music constantly. Recent projects have included "Spur" for brass quintet, a collaboration and recording with Axiom Brass; collaborations with Quatuor Diotima, Fonema Consort, and a piano concerto all premiering 2022; two premieres of choral works, The Answer and She'll Find The Sky, and a collaboration with ~Nois saxophone quartet. Novak graduated with a BM from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Double Major in Composition and Music Theory, studying with Keith Fitch, Steven Mark Kohn, and Diane Urista. There, he delivered his senior thesis, "Analytical Multiplicity and the Functional Passing Tone." An avid educator and clinician, Novak has taught numerous courses in Music Theory, Composition, Electronic Music Production, and Choral Writing and Arranging, as well as given several master classes and clinics.
Elissa Osterland is an artist and MFA candidate in the Department of Visual Arts. Through live performance, still image, and sculptural objects, Elissa's practice explores haptic histories, performing research as material investigations in time through memory. In these studies, images and objects serve as proxies to make space for silences implicit in the archive, paying close attention to embodied knowledge and histories both real and imagined. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University.