Careers for Humanists

Katelyn Hemmeke (she/her) is a senior editor at Inklore (an imprint of Penguin Random House). Born in South Korea and raised in rural Michigan, she earned her B.A. in creative writing and Spanish at Hope College and her M.A. in English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She spent multiple years teaching and conducting research in South Korea as a two-time U.S. Fulbright Award recipient. After dabbling in roles ranging from university admin to nonprofit development/fundraising, Katelyn found her niche in Korean-to-English localization and worked at scroll platforms including Tappytoon and WEBTOON. Those experiences led to her current position at Inklore, where she edits English print adaptations of Korean webcomics and webnovels. Her work earned her a Publisher’s Weekly Star Watch nomination in 2025. 

Erica Machulak, PhD, is a medievalist turned entrepreneur and the author of Hustles for Humanists: Build a Business with Purpose (Rutgers University Press 2025). As the Founder of Hikma, she leads a social impact startup with a mission to mobilize scholarship for the public good through consulting, capacity building, and storytelling. Over the past five years, Hikma clients have secured $12.5M+ in funding to create evidence-based resources and tools, inform policies, and craft accessible communications published by Forbes, the CBC, and other platforms. Erica has delivered training at universities around the world and through “Plan for Research Impact,” a Hikma course certified by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. 

As a writer, editor, and facilitator, Erica believes that the world needs to hear more from people who resist easy answers. Her work has been featured in Inside Higher Ed, the Journal of Electronic Publishing, and Humanities, the magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and other major publications. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the University of Oxford (MSt.), and the University of Notre Dame (PhD). 

Jon McCray Jones graduated from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 2021 with dual undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Political Science. After graduating, he worked full time at WAVE Educational Fund, advocating for evidence-based gun violence prevention and rational gun policy in Wisconsin. He later worked for Congresswoman Gwen Moore before joining the ACLU of Wisconsin, where he is now a policy analyst and focuses heavily on surveillance, privacy, and civil liberties. His research and expertise on police surveillance technologies, particularly Flock and automated license plate readers, has been sought out by advocates, attorneys, and organizations across the country. He also does extensive policy work around LGBTQ+ rights, with a particular focus on protecting transgender people in Wisconsin. 

Outside of policy advocacy, Jon has a second career in Chicago’s dance music scene as a techno DJ and rave curator. He is a resident DJ and co-founder of a queer dance party that centers bisexual and pansexual communities. 

Jamee N. Pritchard, Ph.D., is an interdisciplinary scholar, public historian, and information professional whose work explores how Black histories and cultural knowledge are preserved, interpreted, and reimagined through archives, literature, and public institutions. She holds a Ph.D. in African and African Diaspora Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, as well as master’s degrees in library and information science and public history. Her professional interests include researching, interpreting, and curating archives and special collections that foreground the histories and cultural contributions of Black women and girls and other communities of color. 

Examining Black girls’ engagement with science fiction, fantasy, and horror, Pritchard’s dissertation considers Black women’s speculative fiction as an alternative archive for studying Black girlhood and (re)imagining Black girls’ futurity. Her broader research interests include Black women’s writing and literary activism and Black readerships of popular fiction. 

Pritchard currently serves as Special Assistant to the Executive Director at the Bronzeville Center for the Arts, where she supports executive leadership, institutional initiatives, and public programming. 

Monica VanBladel is an educator and program manager working in Latin American studies and public engagement. She is currently Associate Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she manages public programming, K-16 teacher outreach, academic programs, center communications and audience development.  

Prior to her work at UWM, Monica taught Spanish and Portuguese language and Latin American literature at Reed College, Mt. Tamalpais College, and Stanford University. She holds a B.A. in Spanish and Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in Iberian and Latin American Cultures from Stanford University. Monica’s work in the academic humanities established a strong foundation for her current work managing concurrent projects, communicating with multiple stakeholders, collaborating on teams, and communicating findings to diverse audiences. She finds great satisfaction in empowering others to see the world around them in new ways.