meet the team
Monica Huerta (Co-Director) is an Assistant Professor in English and American Studies. Her research and teaching expose the aesthetic life of power through visual culture, photography, and law. She is looking forward to growing Organizing Stories into a space where students can join their interests in narrative and justice. Born and raised in Chicago, she has crisscrossed the coasts, and lives in Philadelphia.
Autumn Womack (Co-Director) is an Assistant Professor in the departments of African American Studies and English. She researches and writes about African American literary culture and the histories of visual technology at the turn of the twentieth century. With Organizing Stories, she is excited to continue exploring the ways that political activism and literary practice intersect in our contemporary moment. She is born and raised in Philadelphia, where she currently resides.
Hellen Wainaina (Graduate Assistant) is a Ph.D. student in the English department. In her research and writing, Hellen is interested in postcolonial narratology, black aesthetics, and critical resistance to reductive readings of postcolonial literature, particularly the tendency to categorize postcolonial work as either magical realist or historically realist texts. Prior to undertaking graduate studies, Hellen was an assistant editor at the Sewanee Review and completed professional certification for editing at the University of Chicago Graham School. She holds a B.A. in English and Music from Sewanee: The University of the South.
Thomas Coulouras (Ungraduate Research Assistant) is a second-year potential Public and International Affairs concentrator pursuing certificates in Gender/Sexuality Studies and Spanish Language/Culture. He is passionate about advancing the human rights of marginalized peoples both domestically and abroad. On campus, he is actively involved in Princeton for Palestine, Divest Princeton, and Princeton Students for Prison Education Abolition and Reform.
Anika Asthana (Ungraduate Research Assistant) is a second-year concentrating in the School of Public and International Affairs with a certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies. She sits on the Diversiry, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the Undergraduate Student Government and sings with Old NasSoul. She is interested in applying her passion for social equity and intersectional feminism in the Organizing Stories project!