English Peer Mentors
Peer Mentorship
Peer Mentors are sophomore, junior, and senior English concentrators who are committed to making the department a welcoming place. You can reach out to them with questions you'd like to hear another student's perspective on. Whether you're thinking about how to combine English with another field, career plans in creative writing, how to choose a concentration, how to start thinking about a thesis, or just planning your concentration years, these guys are here because they want to help! Send them an email for anything about English that you'd like to ask a fellow student.
2024-2025 Peer Mentors
Abigail Chachkes
Abigail Chachkes, class of 2025, is an English concentrator with a Psychology secondary. She is also a tutor at the Harvard College Writing Center and works with the Harvard Review. She enjoys creative writing, and would love to talk any time about the workshops offered here!
Niyathi Chagantipati
Hi everyone! My name is Niyathi (Niya) Chagantipati and I'm a junior in Lowell House concentrating in English with a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy as well as a Language Citation is Modern Standard Arabic. My interests are mainly in poetry (both critical and creative), particularly post-WWII Asian American writing. I'm also a pre-law student and am happy to field any and all questions about (pre-)law and literature!
Emma Chan
Hi all! I'm an English concentrator also pursuing a secondary in History of Art and Architecture. I'm planning to go into law and/or English academia, so I welcome conversations from students interested in either path. I plan to pursue a critical thesis on Yellow Peril tropes in literature and how the humanities can make (and unmake) racial stereotypes. I'm also a creative writer, so I'm more than happy to talk to students considering English, creative writing, or the humanities in general!
Juliet Coe
Hi Everybody! I’m Juliet, I’m a senior studying Physics and English. I’m a great lover of naturalist literature, the nineteenth century, and creative writing! At the moment, I’m working on a creative non-fiction thesis on light which fuses scientific, historical, and narrative voices through travel writing (think Robert McFarlane and Rebecca Solnit). I’m overjoyed to talk about any and all stories, how they merge through interdisciplinary work/concentration/theses, on campus jobs, and the glory of a hot board plus coffee and a beautiful fall day! I’ve also spent the last three years as a writer/peer advisor for the Advocate features board and would love to discuss writing/publication.
Sally Edwards
Hi, y'all! My name is Sally Edwards, and I am a junior in Dunster House pursuing a joint degree in English Literature and Government, with citation in Spanish. I'm planning on writing a thesis focused on book bans in public schools in my home state of Texas. I hope to pursue a career in law, particularly focusing on constitutional law and the First Amendment. Outside of class, I enjoy working as a senior reporter at The Harvard Crimson, as well as singing in the Radcliffe Choral Society.
Sofia Giannuzzi
Hello, I’m Sofia! I’m pursuing a double concentration in Computer Science and English, and my interests lie mainly in the Digital Humanities. For my English department analytical thesis, I'm conducting research at the intersection of Generative AI and literature. Specifically, I'm investigating AI's potential to mimic human writing in the short story genre by training models on short stories and assessing their ability to generate creative content. I then apply digital humanities methods and close reading to analyze these AI-generated stories alongside human-written ones. In addition to my academic work, I’ve worked as a Software Engineer at a tech startup, contributed to the Generative AI for Hardware Development project at Harvard, and studied abroad. I’m always happy to discuss my experiences, whether they’re related to research, internships, thesis, study abroad, or other areas. Beyond academics, I serve as the House Committee Chair of Lowell House (I’m always up for a chat with fellow Lowellians!) and am a Computer Science Peer Concentration Advisor. In my free time, I love working out, baking, and reading!
Kevin Gu
Hi everyone! My name's Kevin Gu and I'm a junior double concentrating in honors English and economics with a language citation in Mandarin Chinese. I love poetry, both reading and writing, and am currently a reader for the Harvard Review. In my free time, I sing for the Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones and design for the Harvard Advocate! Happy to chat about course selection, double concentrating, and all things creative and critical writing.
Emma Hughes
Hi! I'm Emma Hughes, a senior studying English with an Educational Studies secondary. In the English department, I've loved studying modernist and American literature, as well as taking multiple creative writing courses. I'm currently writing my senior thesis, a creative nonfiction work about education and the self, so you can find me in various libraries at various hours of the day. After graduating, I'm planning to work as a teacher, and am always excited to talk about all things education—philosophical or practical! Also very happy to talk about studying abroad (I was at Oxford last spring!) and having a job on campus.
Malcolm John
Hello there. I’m Malcolm, concentrating in English with a secondary in German. Up to now my pet interest in literature has been the form and politics of various science fiction and fantasy subgenres like military SF, sword and sorcery, and cosmic horror. At the moment I am thinking between a critical thesis oriented around that previous reading or a creative thesis in one of the science fiction subgenres I have written about in my tutorials. I can always be found in Elliot House.
Joyce Kim
Hi! I'm a junior in Adams studying English with a secondary in Philosophy. I'm planning to write a critical thesis related to time and memory in a 20th century modernist novel, and I'm broadly interested in philosophy and literature (specifically aesthetics and epistemology), translated literature, and contemporary novels. Outside of classes, I do research and am involved in The Crimson's News board, and I'm hoping to pursue academia. I'd love to talk!
Chelsie Lim
My name is Chelsie and I'm a junior studying English and Psychology. I'm particularly interested in the relationship between language and affect, and enjoy all things storytelling. Open to any conversations about writing, multimedia, and memoir recommendations!
Frank Liu
Hi! This is Frank — I’m a double concentrator in English and Molecular & Cellular Biology (MCB) with a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy (GHHP), while also on the pre-med track and pursuing graduate school. My interests include 20th century literature, postcolonialism, the essay form, health discourse, modernism, and textual/material history. Outside of classes, I am president of The Harvard Advocate as well as a feature writer, and a researcher at the Broad Institute. My path to English has had many twists and turns, and I am glad to chat with anybody considering English, especially those from international (esp Chinese) and STEM backgrounds.
Colby Meeks
Hi, I’m Colby, a junior with a secondary field in Educational Studies, pursuing pathways in education and small press publishing. My academic work concerns poetry, and I’m always happy to talk about it, within or outside the departmental context. I’m also happy to talk about departmental support for FGLI students.
Liv Oster
Hi! I’m Liv, a junior studying English with a Music secondary. I joined the department after considering many humanities fields, including Classics, Comparative Literature, and History. I’m happy to answer questions about choosing to concentrate in English (especially if you have diverse intellectual interests), considering thesis writing, or anything else!
Ellie Powell
Hey y'all! My name is Ellie Powell, and I'm a senior studying English from Charlottesville, Virginia. I'm primarily interested in contemporary literary theory and cultural criticism, but have pet interests in Shakespeare studies and the Classics. Currently, I'm writing my thesis on how Gothic aesthetics characterized the literary response to 9/11, and wrote my junior paper on the Dworkinesque feminism of Willa Cather's Lucy Gayheart (1935). I'm super excited to chat with folks about how to find research positions in English, various funding opportunities for your projects, and how to get the most bang for your buck with course selection (Creative classes! Critical classes! Graduate seminars?!)! Outside of class, I'm very active in Harvard's arts community, especially the Radcliffe Choral Society, Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, and The Harvard Review.
Sophia Raines
Hello! I'm Sophia Raines, a sophomore studying English with a secondary in Folklore and Mythology. I love to write poetry and fiction in my free time, as well as read mythology - if you're looking for workshop or F&M course recommendations, I'm happy to have a chat with you!
Sam Rhee
Hello! I'm a senior in Quincy studying English and Physics with a secondary in Mathematical Sciences. I'm also particularly interested in continental philosophy. I work at the Writing Center and am a Fall '24 CA for English 187R ("Thinking Through Writing: Science Themes"). Happy to talk about teaching, creative writing, course selection, or anything else on your mind!
Jonathan Schneiderman
I'm a senior interested in relationships between literary form and politics, particularly between literature and liberalism. I'm currently writing a thesis on democracy in Moby-Dick, Huck Finn, and Invisible Man, and my favorite critics include Lionel Trilling, Ralph Ellison, and James Baldwin. I'm happy to talk to anyone who wants to talk to me.
Kyra Siegel
Hi! I'm Kyra, a junior studying English and Art, Film, & Visual Studies. Some of my favorite texts include A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Notable American Women by Ben Marcus, and Big Swiss by Jen Begin. Outside of the English department, you can find me in theater spaces performing and directing, and in the depths of the Sever basement making films. Excited to chat about all things English and creative writing.
Jessica Wang
Hello! I'm an English concentrator also pursuing a citation in Mandarin Chinese. I'm interested in speculative and monstrous forms as a vessel of Asian-American reckoning and protest. I plan to apply to law school after graduation to study civil rights law. I also am a creative writer and enjoy writing prose. Outside of the classroom, I'm part of the Harvard Advocate and conduct archival research for Harvard Legacy of Slavery and Take Back Harvard, the first project documenting and contextualizing our university's history of gender violence and discrimination.
Eliza Zangerl
Eliza Zangerl is an English and TDM double concentrator and member of RCS studying Shakespearean performance. She played the role of Ophelia in Hyperion’s production of Hamlet and is also directing the HCO production of Falstaff January 2024! She is happy to answer questions about her favorite English courses!
Other Advising Resources
For questions about program requirements, course petitions, and general advising, you can always ask the Undergraduate Office.
For more information on proffesional development in English, you can also visit Literary Careers.