about me

Melanie received her Ph.D. from the UCLA English Department in June 2008. As a graduate student, she specialized in 20th-century American fiction, media and cultural studies, and the history and theory of higher education. In addition to teaching her own undergraduate literature courses, Melanie designed and taught a popular freshman seminar on “UCLA in the 1960s,” the first known class to be taught on UCLA history. Outside of the traditional classroom setting, she facilitated a bimonthly seminar for the Bruin Leaders Project, a campus program through which undergraduates can earn credit toward the university’s new civic engagement minor.  Her innovative teaching methods, outstanding student evaluations, and extensive community involvement recently earned her UCLA’s prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award, granted to only five graduate students each year. She was also profiled in the UCLA Graduate Quarterly as one of "UCLA's Best T.A.s" in 2008.

During her undergraduate career at UCLA, Melanie served two terms as president of the Bruin Democrats, leading the organization to receive the California Young Democrats (CYD) "College Club of the Year Award" and the Young Democratis of America "Local Event Award" in 2001. She also held several political internships, most notably at the U.S. Senate Democratic Leadership in Washington, D.C. and the 2000 Democratic National Convention Committee in Los Angeles.  Outside the realm of politics, during her senior year, she was president of the Alumni Scholars Club, an organization of about 900 student leaders dedicated to UCLA outreach and recruitment efforts. In 2001, she received her B.A. in policy and media studies from the Individual Major Program, with minors in political science and English. Her self-designed major was profiled in a front-page UCLA Daily Bruin article.

As a graduate student, Melanie continued her high level of on-campus involvement as the president of the English Graduate Union, a cabinet member of the Graduate Students Association, and a member of the UCLA Alumni Association’s Strategic Planning Committee. Most recently, Melanie served as Chair of the Board of Directors for ASUCLA, the $75 million organization that includes the student stores and restaurants on the campus. Additionally, she has represented students on numerous faculty committees at UCLA and has met with elected officials to lobby for higher education policies in both Sacramento and Washington, D.C.  Melanie’s leadership roles have brought her a wide range of public speaking opportunities, and she enjoys addressing audiences on diverse topics, such as youth civic involvement, the relationship of writing and creativity to leadership, and the use of technology in teaching.