The Center constitutes an annual group of faculty Fellows in order to support their innovative humanities research with an eye towards expanding interdisciplinary networks of knowledge creation. UWM faculty, and faculty from other UW System schools and beyond, are selected to participate as Fellows.
The Center also hosts faculty from other countries who come to us with Fulbright or ACLS Fellowships, or support from their own institutions. Typically, the Center provides these International Fellows of the Center, as they are designated, with an office in the Center along with the other Center Fellows and as much research assistance, including library privileges, as possible.
A cadre of Graduate Fellows are also supported by C21. These fellows are pulled from the ranks of UWM graduate students across the disciplines, and C21 is proud to support their academic research as they work to help run the day-to-day operations of the Center and its programming.
Faculty Fellows 2022-2023
Nolan Bennett (Political Science)
Nolan Bennett is a political theorist specializing in American political thought, literature, and criminal justice. Currently, he is an assistant professor in Democracy and Justice Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, and has also held positions at Georgetown and Duke universities. Bennett received his degree from Cornell. He researches and writes on why so many people in the United States confront democratic dilemmas by offering their own life stories through autobiography, slave narrative, prison writing and more. Bennett teaches broadly in American political thought, constitutional law, literature, prisons and punishment, on college campuses and in correctional facilities. His first book, The Claims of Experience: Autobiography and American Democracy, provides a new theory for what makes autobiography political throughout the history of the United States and today. It can be ordered through Oxford University Press or Amazon. The book has been reviewed positively at The Review of Politics, Political Theory, and Perspectives on Politics. In his next book Bennett will look at the prison writings of authors ranging from Alexander Berkman and George Jackson to Jean Genet. He has also had articles and reviews published in Political Theory, American Political Thought, The Review of Politics, and elsewhere.
Thomas Haigh (History)
Thomas Haigh is a professor of history and affiliate professor of computer science at the UWM. He has published on many topics related to the history of computing, including a series of widely read “Historical Reflections” for Communications of the ACM. He is the lead author of A New History of Modern Computing (MIT, 2021) and ENIAC in Action (MIT, 2016). Learn more at www.tomandmaria.com/tom.
Nadine Kozak (Library and Information Sciences)
Nadine I. Kozak is an Associate Professor in the School of Information Studies at UW-Milwaukee. She is an interdisciplinary scholar with degrees in history, communication, and science & technology studies. Kozak’s research is in the areas of information policy and information history. She is currently a co-editor of Library & Information History, published by Edinburgh University Press. Kozak was a C21 fellow in the 2016-2017 academic year and she is delighted to again be a Center fellow.
Amanda Seligman (History)
Amanda Seligman has been teaching at UWM since 1999. She is the author or editor of multiple historical projects, including Block by Block: Neighborhoods and Public Policy on Chicago’s West Side (2005), Chicago’s Block Clubs: How Neighbors Shape the City (2016), and the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee. During her time as C21 fellow, she is working on a project about her service on jury duty.
Anika Wilson (African and African Diaspora Studies)
Anika Wilson is an Associate Professor in the Department African and African Diaspora Studies at UW-Milwaukee. She earned her doctorate in Folklore and Folklife Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and specializes in the gender, narrative, and spirituality in southern Africa. Her book Folklore, Gender, and AIDS in Malawi: No Secret Under the Sun (2013) was awarded the Elli Kongas Maranda Award for feminist scholarship in folklore in 2014. She teaches courses in African and African Diasporan cultures and societies, spirituality, and gender relations. Her current projects involve the analysis of legends related to sacred sites central and southern Africa, covid-19 conspiracy theories, and the narration of marital conflict in Malawian courts.
Graduate Fellows 2022-2023
Randolph Marcum (English)
Randolph Marcum is a PhD. candidate in Literature and Cultural Theory at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His current research interests include science fiction, media studies, and affect theory. Beyond this, Randolph works at his university’s writing center as a peer tutor, as well as at UWM’s Center for 21st Century Studies as a graduate fellow. In his capacity as a graduate fellow, Randolph helps put together various C21 publications, including blog entries and edited collections.
Elaina Nelson (History / Library and Information Sciences)
Elaina Nelson is a Wyoming transplant and graduate student in the Coordinated Public History MA and MLIS programs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her current research interests include the intersection of public memorialization, LGBTQ spaces, and how they are documented. In her free time she is a fiber artist who enjoys mixing historical and modern clothing styles.
Joshua Rutherford (Library and Information Sciences)
Joshua Rutherford is an art historian, educator, and current library and information sciences student. His research in Art History privileges community reception, collective representation, and political activism using methodology rooted in performance studies, affect psychology, and media theory. He is currently studying information technology, security, and web development. In his free time, he enjoys walking through forests and studying mycology.
Undergraduate Interns (Spring 2023)
Maxwell Friedl (Digital Arts and Culture)
Maxwell is currently in his 4th year at UWM. He studied Film for two years before switching to Digital Arts and Culture with a Minor in JAMS. He will be graduating in May. Maxwell is a research assistant for C21, investigating social media content strategies and asissting with content creation. He is also a part of the DAC Student Council, an on-campus internship where DAC students help coordinate ideas for how to expand and advertise the program. Some of his interests include gaming, livestreaming, and creating Thumbnails for YouTube content.
Bridgit Schmitt (Literature and Cultural Theory)
Bridgit Schmitt is currently an undergraduate student studying Literature and Cultural Theory at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She hopes to become an editor after college. Her interests include reading and writing, astrology, and being grounded in nature.
Wren Stevens (Rhetoric & Professional Writing)
Wren Stevens is an undergraduate senior majoring in Rhetoric & Professional Writing at UW-Milwaukee. He is currently interning at the Center for 21st Century Studies with a focus on copyediting and archival work. In his free time he enjoys reading and lounging with his Bernese Mountain Dog, Prudence.