Cristiana Baik (Javier Gomez) holds a master’s degree from the Draper Program (now Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement) at NYU. She also has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama, and has written for various publications, including the Boston Review, American Letters & Commentary, and Conjunctions literary magazine.
Cassie Brewer (Chris Sullivan) has a BA in History from Wagner College and an MA in Archives and Public History at NYU. Having attended school on Staten Island, she was especially interested in the history of Fresh Kills and its connection to the Department of Sanitation.
Mario Cancel-Bigay (Joey Rivera) studied at Music School Ernesto Ramos Antonin in Puerto Rico, where he learned to play the Puerto Rican Cuatro, the island’s national instrument. He holds a BA in Modern Languages from the University of Puerto Rico, an MA in interdisciplinary studies from NYU’s Draper Program (now Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement), and a doctorate in ethnomusicology from Columbia University.
Giovanny Castro (Andre Ramos) earned his MA in Museum Studies at NYU. He studied History at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá in Colombia. He is a recipient of a Fulbright fellowship, and also earned a Colombian Ministry of Culture Scholarship Program for Artists award.
Jacqueline Colognesi (Edwin Nieves) was awarded her master’s degree in Archives and Public History from NYU. She is interested in using oral history as a storytelling technique, particularly as a means of creating inclusive and relatable historical narratives.
Hilary Crowe (Joe Siano) earned her MA from NYU’s John W. Draper Interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Humanities and Social Thought (now Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement). Her research interests included gender politics, city building, and the roles memory and affect play therein.
Josh Elmer (Mark O’Brien) was a student at NYU’s John W. Draper Interdisciplinary Master’s Program (now Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement). He received his undergraduate degree in Cinema & Photography with a minor in Sociology from Ithaca College. Josh’s interest in Sanitation started when he began working for an upstate New York Public Works Department as a seasonal employee in the summer of 2006. Josh put his Sanitation career oh hold in January 2012 when he started his graduate work at NYU.
Catherine Falzone (Marc Murphy) holds an MA from NYU’s Archives and Public History program. She earned her undergraduate degree from NYU in 2008 with a major in Metropolitan Studies, and is the academic programs administrator for NYU’s Rory Myers College of Nursing. She has also worked for the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and The Trust for Public Land, two non-profits that deal with the urban environment.
Shanna Farrell (Eloise Hirsh) earned her first master’s degree in interdisciplinary study from NYU’s Draper Program (now Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement) and her second in oral history from Columbia University. She is an interviewer with the Oral History Center at the University of California-Berkeley. Her books include Bay Area Cocktails: A History of Culture, Community and Craft (History Press, 2017) and A Good Drink: In Pursuit of Sustainable Spirits (Island Press, 2021).
Katie Fortunato (Raj Kottamasu) received a BA in History from the New School and then an MA in Humanities and Social Thought from NYU’s Draper Program (now Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement). Her academic work focused on the ways in which historical narratives are presented to the public through museums, memorials, and popular culture, and the relationship between history and memory.
Margaret Fraser (Hansine Bowe) received her BA in history from Bryn Mawr College in 2009 and in 2011 earned her MA from the Archives and Public History Program at NYU. Her master’s thesis work resulted in the New York City Taxi Driver Oral History Project.
Rachel Greer (Sandy McCaffrey) earned her MA in Archives and Public History at NYU. After graduate school she worked at New York City’s Municipal Archives, then was a lead archivist and project manager with the Winthrop Group, and is now a user experience copywriter at Sema4.
Emily Haidet (Angelo & Susan Bruno) holds a master’s degree from NYU’s Museum Studies program. With an undergraduate background in anthropology, her interests include cultural representation, community engagement, and various alternative display techniques within museums.
Maggie (Langlinais) Lee (Martin Bellew) earned her master’s degree from the Archives and Public History program at NYU. She received her undergraduate degree in Film & Television Production from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is now the records management officer at the Department of Sanitation and director of cultural and educational programs for the non-profit Sanitation Foundation. She is the author and architect of DSNY Remembers, a tribute to Sanitation’s role in the 9/11 response and recovery.
Christine Olson (Frank Zito) earned her master’s degree from the John W. Draper Interdisciplinary Program (now Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement) at NYU, where she also completed an Advanced Certificate in Museum Studies. Her master’s thesis focused on the influence of Gilded Age interior decorating on the development of museum collections of Islamic art, a topic that combines her interests in material culture studies, art history, and social history. In addition to her academic interests, Christine has worked as a product developer for a gift design company and is a classically trained violinist.
Lana Povitz (Joey Calvacca) received her PhD in history from NYU. Her research related to health culture, particularly around food, and to the different ways that North American communities understood the concepts of “healthy” and “natural” during the 1970s.
Samantha Rijkers (Will & Dawn Walsh) earned her MA in the History of Women and Gender from NYU. Her work focused on the history of immigrant life in New York City as well as the gender and ethnic dynamics within the workplace.
Maggie Schreiner (Phil Gleason) holds a master’s degree in Archives and Public History from NYU. As an academic and activist, she studied the creation of historical memory in organizing for social justice. She is currently a graduate student at the City University of New York.
Chelsea Trembly (Ted Nabavi) earned her BA in English from Loyola University (Chicago) and her MA from the Draper Program (now Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement) at NYU.
Anna Weinreich (Jack Behan) is a PhD candidate in anthropology at NYU; her research focuses on vistual anthropology, the anthropology of art, materiality, settler colonialism,indigenous rights, and Aboriginal Australia.