Fellow Voices is made up of a group of Writing and Speaking Fellows at Barnard College, and is overseen by Cecelia Lie, Coordinator of the Writing and Speaking Programs. Read on to learn more about each of them, or click to learn about our philosophy.
Annelise Finney
BC ’15 │ Speaking Fellow │ Major: Urban Studies
Annelise Finney loves both cities and nature, which can be a confusing combination. Where humans choose to spend their time, and how they interact with space and with each other fascinates her. This includes how they speak, what they say, and how they it. Speaking is something most of us do everyday, yet it is far from the mundane. Speaking causes things to happen. Think about this the next time you speak to someone: just a simple manipulation of muscles has an effect on the world around you. Your words are your power- use them.
Aliza Goldberg
BC ’14 │ Writing Fellow │ Majors: English (Creative Writing) and Ancient Studies, Minors: Art History and Environmental Science
Aliza Goldberg, a sophomore double majoring in English (Creative Writing) and Ancient Studies and double minoring in Art History and perhaps Environmental Science, clearly has trouble making major decisions. Yet during her time at Barnard, becoming a Writing Fellow was never a decision with which she struggled. She loves languages both dead and alive, and has studied Latin, Spanish, Italian and Vietnamese. This summer Aliza will be interning at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi in the economics section, which has nothing to do with any of her majors or minors but does offer adventure. You can read about her past adventures on her blog alizid.blogspot.com. Along with fellowing, Aliza enjoys going to museums, traveling, reading The Aeneid, writing, and revising. She has revised this bio numerous times and is still unhappy with it.
Rebecca Kelliher
BC ’13 │ Writing Fellow │ Major: English, Minor: Art History
Outside of Writing Fellows, Rebecca’s been actively volunteering for community projects increasing literacy throughout the city. In the spring of last year, she worked at Christie’s Auction House, writing, researching, and editing proposals for artworks. In the fall of sophomore year, Rebecca also worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Thomas J. Watson Library. As of now, Rebecca’s future is most likely looking towards graduate school in English or Art History. Of course, there’s always becoming a professional bio writer (given her obvious talent for speaking in the third person). It is Rebecca’s belief that the Writing and Speaking Fellows program helps peers become more conscious of their voices and, by consequence, of their own power to express those voices, to have their thoughts be heard. To you, the dear reader of Fellow Voices, Rebecca’s message is simple: read the words of others to share your own. We’re listening.
Sarah Levine
BC ’14 │ Speaking Fellow │ Major: Urban Studies, Political Science
Sarah enjoys New York Times cross words, sweater weather, flying, Turning To The Page by Stephen Dunn, babysitting, student think-tanks like Design for America, old lady neighbors, Santiago Calatrava, cities, Aquaphor NYC Triathlon, public education, her parents, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Cory Booker, sewing, Wired Magazine, peach tea, http://www.theatlanticcities.com, Saving Private Ryan, Danse Russe by William Carlos Williams , this video of Anne Richards, FC Barcelona, sun showers, moleskins, and Speaking Fellows. She hopes to use this blog as a venue to muse on many of these things.
Cecelia Lie
BC ’11 │ Coordinator, Writing and Speaking Programs
Cecelia is still in disbelief that her first job after graduating from Barnard involves creating projects (like this blog) with the brightest, most amazing women she knows. As the Coordinator of both programs, she is particularly excited about the connection between Writing Fellows’ and Speaking Fellows’ philosophies, and looks forward to posting about the writing-speaking relationship – a connection that shapes and reshapes her views of empowerment, feminism, and creative intelligence on a moment-to-moment basis. Cecelia wants to show how Fellows do more than talk about semi-colons like secret admirers, or teach you how to hold eye contact for uncomfortable periods of time during presentations; rather, Fellows fellow (yes, fellow) each others’ lives — asking questions, reflecting, and saying what they mean.
Tabia Santos
BC ’13 │ Speaking Fellow │ Major: Neuroscience, Minor: Psychology, Pre-Med
Tabia is a Neuroscience major, pre-med, and always talking. In her free time she likes to socialize because she feels that good conversation is extremely satisfying in any language (Tabia speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese). Between classes, various student groups like the Network of Premed Students, and doing research at the NYS Psychiatric Institute, she has found that public speaking is EVERYWHERE. Tabia believes public speaking is as easy as private speaking, and strives to make others feel comfortable and confident in front of an audience. Tabia’s mission is to help her fellow students find their voices and use them, too.
Lauren Seaman
BC ’13 │ Speaking Fellow │ Major: English, Athena Scholar
Lauren Seaman is a junior Speaking Fellow, and is honored to be writing her own bio. Lauren began her “speaking career” as a stand-up comedian, but has since retired and moved from the stage to other outlets for public speaking. As a Barnard tour guide, Lauren has the opportunity to regularly voice and confess her love for all things Barnard (especially BC security guards and the R&B slow jams played in Liz’s Place). Since becoming a Speaking Fellow, Lauren has committed herself to helping others find strength through self-expression – in both written and spoken forms. She believes that great public speaking — while it can be learned and taught — is not a secret, trait or innate talent; it is the honest presentation of an individual and her beliefs. Lauren is excited to contribute to Fellow Voices, and hopes the blog community will encourage others to write, speak and be heard.
Christina Seto
BC ’15 │ Writing Fellow │ Major: Neuroscience and Behavior, English, Minor: Classics
Christina is a sophomore Writing Fellow, who always looks to find connections: between speaking and writing, between humanities and science, between Barnard students and the world beyond. She loves studying the human mind through biology, literature, and history, and she can often be found making references to things like chemistry and poetry in the same sentence. Her favorite topics are wave-particle duality and the Heisenberg principle, Shakespeare and Steinbeck, and Ovid and Cicero; any combinations are even better. You can find more of her writing on her personal blog about food allergies in New York city, Brunch with Bear. Her passions beyond writing include sunbathing, watching Baz Luhrmann’s movies, and teaching young children.
Mansi Vira
BC ’13 │ Writing Fellow │ Major: Dance, Minor: Psychology, Athena Scholar, Pre-Med
Mansi is a Junior, studying Dance and Pre-Med, hoping to integrate the two realms as a doctor. Through dance, she has learned to connect to and help others—from children in an orphanage to her own classmates at Barnard. She feels humbled to be able to carry forth this connection through her involvement in the Writing Fellows Program. Through this blog, she wishes to share her own experiences of how movement, dance, speech, and writing are not distinct, but rather, profoundly interconnected.
