2024-2025 American Studies Ph.D. Cohort
The Department of American Studies is pleased to announce our 2024-2025 American Studies Graduate Ph.D. Cohort.
![Portrait of a person with dark hair to shoulders, wearingthinly framed gold glasses and a light yellow t-shirt, smiling.](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image/public/Daniel%20Modesto.png?h=414fdf8e&itok=ZKxBrB1-)
Daniel Modesto is an American Studies Ph.D student at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. As a Mixteco scholar from New York, Daniel’s personal and academic interests lie in the visibility and presence of Indigenous communities in urban centers.
![Person with dark hair tied behind their head wearing circularly framed silver glasses smiling. The person is wearing a black and white striped design shirt.](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image/public/Selena%20Moon.png?h=61ce19a1&itok=NHNGsHMO)
Selena Moon is a PhD candidate in the American Studies Critical Ethnic Studies cohort. She is a disabled mixed race Japanese American (Japanese-White) who has lived in several U.S. states and Japan. She received her BA from Smith College and MA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
![Person with short brown hair and a brown mustache standing with hands joined together smiling slightly. They are wearing a short sleeve white collared polo shirt and they are standing in front of a paved path with trees in the background.](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image/public/Francisco%20Almanza.png?h=61ce19a1&itok=EHrwnyA-)
Francisco Rangel Almanza (he/they) identifies as an undocumented queer scholar-activist from Mexico. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington-Tacoma in Ethnic, Gender, and Labor Studies, with minors in Law and Policy, and Latino Studies.
![Person with long brown hair and bangs at eyebrow level looking and reaching for a book on a shelf above them. They are wearing a black tank top surrounded by other bookshelves.](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image/public/Chia-Hua%20Tsai.jpg?h=ac778ff2&itok=lG9BQ6Cj)
Chia-Hua Tsai is a PhD student in American Studies at the University of Minnesota. She received her MA in Drama and Theatre Studies from National Taiwan University, where her research focused on the intersection of race performativity, body politics, and social movements in African American theatre.