Q&A with Chelsea Silverman, Senior Academic Affairs Coordinator

Chelsea Silverman is The Graduate School’s new Senior Academic Affairs Coordinator. She oversees Interdisciplinary Assistantships, the Dissertation Proposal Development Program, and TGS recognition awards. Please join us in welcoming her!

Read below to learn more about Chelsea and her level of support.

• Can you describe your role within TGS Academic Affairs?
  I wear many hats, but the most relevant role I have for graduate students is as the coordinator for our Interdisciplinary Assistantship opportunities and the Dissertation Proposal Development Program (DPD). DPD is a workshop that brings together humanities students from across disciplines to gain feedback from peers and faculty mentors to clarify and refine their dissertation research. Both these opportunities provide funding for students to explore interdisciplinary opportunities and gain valuable experience in their graduate career.
  
  
• Can you tell us what inspired your decision to engage in this work?
  I sincerely believe in higher education and the merits it brings to society and culture. My undergraduate degree was also interdisciplinary by nature, and I took a leap of faith in graduate school by crossing disciplines from Comparative Linguistics into Speech-Language Pathology and experienced first-hand how that interdisciplinary knowledge helped my research and education.
  
  
• What resource(s) can you and your office provide for graduate students?
  We encourage graduate students to apply for our Interdisciplinary Assistantships and the Dissertation Proposal Development Program! The links provided have the current information for both these opportunities, but they should look forward to updates as we get ready for the next application season this winter quarter.
  
  
• How can graduate students most easily contact and/or make an appointment with you?
  Students can email questions regarding the Interdisciplinary Assistantship opportunities to interdisciplinaryGAships@northwestern.edu.
  
  Questions regarding the Dissertation Proposal Development Program can be emailed to tgs-ssrc-dpd@northwestern.edu.
  
  
• What’s one fun fact you can share about yourself?
  I read Classical Greek every Monday with my very first Greek teacher from high school. We are currently struggling our way through Medea.