CCT Student and Alumni Ambassadors

CCT is filled with talented, motivated, and dedicated students and alumni.  To show their enthusiasm for the program, some of them have offered to be ambassadors for the program.  These people have been actively involved in many organizations within the CCT and Georgetown community as well as worked in some exciting careers and internships.  They have volunteered to be a resource for current and prospective students so please, if you have questions about anything CCT student related, don't hesitate to e-mail one of them and ask!

Student Ambassadors

 Kristin McNally - Kristin is a first year student in the CCT program. Prior to relocating to Washington D.C., she worked in advertising at Arnold Worldwide in Boston, MA where she developed an interest in brand strategy and promotion. At CCT she is focusing her studies around building a greater understanding of how organizations can communicate strategically and effectively, both internally and externally. Interested in pursuing a career in brand development, she is learning how organizations decipher whom they need to target, what techniques they're using to relate best to different audiences, and how they are using new media to reach their consumers. While studying full time, she is also interning for the year at New Media Strategies, where she works with their Sales and Marketing department to conceive ways to leverage social media to fulfill their clients’ marketing needs and to draft proposals that outline customized social media campaigns for potential clients.

 Jacky Ahn - Jacky is a second year student in the CCT program. Jacky is also pursuing an Asian Studies Graduate certificate. Her academic focus is in Information Technology Policy and its implications on international development. Though Jacky was born in New York, she was raised in Seoul, Hong Kong and other Asian countries before coming back to Big Apple's Columbia University for a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering with a minor in Political Science. Her interest in technology and the social sciences led her to join the CCT program, and has been loving it ever since. She's a food-lover (but not a snob!) who enjoys learning about other cultures, and a gadget-nerd who's trying to become the next geek-chick icon. She'd love to talk to anyone interested in the program about her adventures in DC so far.

Corey McKeon - Corey began his studies with CCT in Fall 2010 and has developed an interest in Internet Policy and Globalization. He is actively involved in CCT and the Georgetown community. He is a part-time student and works in the Office of Admissions at Georgetown Law during the day. His passion for the CCT program and how malleable the degree is, has helped him to express why others would find freedom of expression in this program. Corey is open to and encourages contact from prospective students. Upon completion of the CCT master’s program, Corey hopes to remain in higher education and continue to integrate his professional work with the knowledge gained from Communication, Culture & Technology.

 Stephanie Vineyard - Stephanie joined the CCT program because of the opportunity to study the intersection of technology and marketing communications. Previous to joining Georgetown, she worked at AED in Washington, DC developing international visitor programs and UBS Investment Bank London creating internal and external marketing materials. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina business school. Her interests and research while in CCT are in social networks and their ability to foster cultural change.

Somaiya Sibai - Somaiya joined the CCT program in Fall 2011, and is doing a combined concentration in Art & Media studies, Technology & Society Studies, & Cultural Studies. She is interested in studying how art, in all its forms (photography, music, graphics…etc.) combined with the power of communication technologies, particularly social media, can bring cultures together & promote understanding & universal values. The opportunity to pursue such a diverse, unique program, along with the quality of academics, is what led her to choose CCT.

Somaiya considers herself a true global citizen, and aspires to make the world a better place through her art. Originally from Syria, she was born in the United States, where she spent her early years. Later, she moved to the Middle East, and lived in several cities there. This allowed her to form an appreciation for cultural differences. Somaiya holds a Bachelors degree in Marketing from Abu Dhabi University. She worked for five years as a Creative Project Coordinator in Al-Bashair Private School in Abu Dhabi. She is an environmental & human rights activist, and also works as a freelance photographer and graphics designer. In her free time, Somaiya enjoys a variety of interests including but not limited to art, photography, design, entrepreneurship, languages, music, travel, soccer, archery, cooking, & cultural cuisine.

 Josh Hubanks - Josh is a second-year graduate student in the Communication, Culture & Technology (CCT) M.A. program at Georgetown University. A native of Seattle, Josh graduated with honors from the University of Washington in 2009, earning a B.A. in Communication with concentrations in politics and rhetoric. At CCT, Josh is studying the emerging intersection between politics, rhetoric and social media, paying particular attention to issues of persuasion and audience manipulation. Josh also serves as a blogger and the Outreach Coordinator for gnovis, CCT’s online academic journal. In his spare time—which is scant but beloved—he enjoys sleeping, eating and watching totally radical movies.

  Gong Wanwen-- Wanwen is a first year Master’s student in CCT, focusing on communication and business. Prior to studying in Georgetown University, she studied journalism in School of Journalism and Communication, Peking University and had a dual major in International Studies. She had interned in Feature Department of China Daily, Ten-cent micro blog department, where she developed her interest in analyzing how corporations use social media to promote their brand. She is also the executive secretary of GU-CSSA.

 Jeremy Pesner - Jeremy is a first year student in CCT. Unlike many other students, he comes from a technical background, graduating from Dickinson College with a BS in Computer Science in 2009. He has found CCT to be an excellent complement to his programming knowledge and is conducting research in Technology Policy, Human-Computer Interaction, Video Games, and more. He hopes to bring them together in a thesis he is currently developing. He is also involved in several organizations including gnovis, the Internet Society and the Music, Arts and Gaming Festival. In his limited spare time, he explores the various events and organizations around DC and composes electronic music.

Katerina Girginova - Katerina came to the CCT program after graduating from The George Washington University with a BA in communication studies and working at the National Geographic Channel for a year. Originally a native of Bulgaria, Katerina spent many years in the UK and has traveled and lived in several other countries prior to arriving in the States. Currently, Katerina works as the Assistant Editor-in-Chief for CCT's academic journal, gnovis, and she teaches a group fitness class at Georgetown University's Yates Field House. Katerina's academic interests include innovation, intercultural communication, rhetoric and media and outside of her studies she enjoys hearing good ideas and meeting great people.

Nida Ahmad is a first year CCT student. She is focusing her studies on media and international affairs. Her academic interests include cross-cultural communication, new media, and digital divide particularly in the developing world. She also plans to participate in the Arab Studies Certificate program. Prior to joining CCT, she worked at World Learning developing exchange programs for the U.S. Department of State.

Ashley (Meng) Wei - Ashley is currently a first-year M.A. Candidate in Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture & Technology program. She has a bachelors’ degree of Software Engineering received in Beijing, China. Now she is specialized in web designing and interactive application designing with experience of implementing websites and apps for college programs and student organizations. She has focused her interests on creating engaging, eye-catching designs with an emphasis on usability and web standards. She expects to help companies and non-profit organizations to build better communication bridges to reach their audiences. She wants to work in a design company after she graduates from CCT, and will eventually go back to China to start her career on culture and arts.

 Taylor Berry - Taylor comes to CCT after double-majoring in Sociology and Spanish at Wake Forest University with the intention of heading to law school after graduation. After working in the legal industry, however, she chose to pursue a CCT degree because it allowed her to follow a more customizable path than law school would, combining her background in cultural studies and strong writing abilities with her desire to learn more about the international marketplace and globalization issues. Taylor's first CCT course was International Trade and Development with Professor Singh - in Geneva, Switzerland! From this point on, her courses have mainly focused on topics related to international business, ranging from intercultural communications, to global governance, to outsourcing studies. The fact that she can take these classes not only through CCT but also through Georgetown's School of Foreign Services and McDonough School of Business has proved to be incredibly valuable. Further, the opportunity to attend various events around DC - from lectures on the current global economic climate at leading agencies to talks with leading social media movers and shakers - has made the Georgetown graduate school experience much more valuable to her. Having lived in DC for 3 years before starting CCT, Taylor also considers herself to be an expert on the happenings of the city. Please feel free to reach out to Taylor if you have any questions about CCT or life in DC. She would love to hear from you!

 Josh Margolin - I'm a first year student at CCT. I recently graduated from the University of New Hampshire, where I received my B.A. in communication and business integration. I was unnerved about attending graduate school directly after undergraduate because of my lack of full-time professional experience. However, upon arriving I have found that it isn't necessarily a disadvantage. CCT has opened doors and shaped new perspectives that I was previously unaware of. I've become profoundly interested in management consulting and organizational structure, including nearly all of the nuances that influence the two. As such, my coursework will focus on a vast array of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, practical communication theories, and collaborative problem solving projects. Upon completion of my M.A. I wish to enter industry, ideally, a consulting firm like Deloitte, Sagent Advisors or Boston Consulting Group. I urge any and all prospective student to reach out and contact me with questions regarding Georgetown University itself, the CCT program, the community, etc.

Alumni Ambassadors

  Lydia Kelow-Bennett - Lydia's background is in Communication with a minor in Psychology. She also has background in black feminist theory and women of color feminisms. Lydia came to CCT after 7 years in the professional world, working primarily in higher education with a focus on diversity initiatives. She also spent 2 years at a charter high school here in Washington D.C. She decided to come to graduate school because she would like to eventually pursue a Ph.D and teach at the college level. Lydia chose the Georgetown CCT program because of the variety of classes and clusters, as it is a great fit for her interests in media studies and cultural studies. Lydia’s CCT Focus/Concentration: Her main clusters of interest are Cultural Studies, and Media and Representation and her areas of study are race and representation, media and power, black feminist theory, and black cultural productions. She is particularly interested in representations of black women in the media, and news media representations of race. Currently, Lydia is watching blaxploitation films and attending spoken word open mics in preparation for her thesis. While here at CCT Lydia is actively involved as the Editor-in-Chief for gnovis, CCT’s peer-reviewed journal, a teaching assistant for CCT 505, she is completing the CNDLS Apprenticeship in Teaching program and worked in the Georgetown Center for Nonprofit Leadership last year.

 Lakshmi Padmanabhan - Lakshmi, like many of our students, is very active within both the CCT program and the Georgetown community. Lakshmi is an RA and TA for Professor JP Singh, works with Gnovis (the CCT peer-review journal), works at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown and is also the CCT representative for the GSO (Graduate Student Organization).  Her areas of interest and concentration while here at CCT incude: critical theory, cultural studies, globalization/cultural hybridity, and media, art and representation.

 Xiaosong Chen, graduated from the Communication University of China, majoring in TV Broadcasting and Anchoring with minor in TV Programming. My concentration at CCT are in the direction of media and communication studies. I am also interested in cultural studies, Politics, cross-culture communication and media policy.

Brennan Gamwell - While in CCT,  Brennan wants to look at cultural studies, communication theory, and journalism. He is most interested in the qualitative effect language has on communication within and between linguistic communities. Additionally, during Brannon's time at Georgetown, his interests have expanded to include computer-mediated communication theory and mediology, or what Regis Debray calls “technoculture”—the inextricability of technology and culture within society.

 Jessica Schlacter - Jessica's focus/concentration at CCT seems to be moving in the direction of networks and media. She says she finds social media fascinating, and how people use various forms of it to make a variety of decisions. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of California, San Diego, where she was a Communications major, and Music minor.  Jessica also currently works at the front desk for the CCT program and also at the Graduate School.

 Meredith Clements -  Born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, Meredith is a graduate of The University of Alabama from the School of Communication and Information Sciences, majoring in Communication Studies with a focus in rhetorical criticism. Here at CCT, her academic interests include: Pedagogy, Rhetorical Criticism, Sexual Communication, Technology Use and Implementation in the Classroom, The Creative Process, Regional Bigotry.

Kasia Podbielski - Kasia's interests fall mostly into the Media and Politics cluster with a specific interest in Cultural Diplomacy. She comes from an International Political Economy background.

Kara Hadge - Kara's focus in CCT has centered around the media and politics cluster of courses, and she is writing her master's thesis on hyperlocal digital media and its influence on community engagement. While at Georgetown, she has served as a peer reviewer for gnovis, CCT's peer-reviewed journal, and as a teaching assistant for Professors Diana Owen and Kimberly Meltzer. Originally from the Boston area, Kara received her B.A. in English and art history from Wellesley College and spent time working in journalism and publishing before coming to CCT. Off-campus, Kara has worked in media policy and as a freelance writer since beginning grad school.

Rohan Shanbhag - Rohan's focus while at CCT is in business technology and development. He also plans to participate in the IBD (International Business Diplomacy) certificate program.

Isaac Pacheco - is focusing his studies on Media and Politics. His academic interests include New Media, multimedia development, cross-cultural communication, global affairs and politics, globalization and news content delivery systems.

Luke Hillman – Luke’s focus at CCT is Human-Computer Interaction, a subject that has recently taken him to such exotic locations as Georgetown’s Computer Science department and George Mason’s Department of Software Engineering. Here at CCT, he has found classes on usability, synthetic worlds, and semantic web applications to be particularly useful. Within HCI, Luke is primarily interested in UI design: he is currently writing his thesis on the effects of synthetic worlds’ interface design conventions on inworld interactions using Second Life as a case study. Much of Luke's research, including datasets, can be found on his site, lukehillman.net. Luke also works full-time on campus as a systems administrator (visitors welcome).

 Siyang Wu - For me, CCT equips me with an interdisciplinary view. We are not studying culture, communication, and technology separately, but researching our world with a synthetic perspective. Communication in different fields, and influence new media put on communication are my interests. I am interested in how communication happens in different contexts, especially in commercialized fields. I am fascinated with advertising, marketing and communication. Moreover, I am focused on how new media, such as the Internet, affect people's communication. I would love to work for an advertising company or a marketing department after graduation.

Rami Khater - Rami is pursuing studies in technology policy, international affairs and economics at CCT with an emphasis on the application of technology and related issues in an interdisciplinary manner. He has a background in computer science and business, and is currently working full-time in the area of cybersecurity/privacy.

Helen Cho - Helen's research interests center around the politics of media representations and span media & politics, globalization studies, and cultural studies. She is particularly interested in the role of media frames in socializing the public and minority representations in the media. Helen is also pursuing an Asian Studies Graduate Certificate, with a focus on East Asian politics.

 Colva Weissenstein - Colva is a second year Master's student at CCT and will be working on a thesis this semester. Her work is generally focused on cultural and film studies, specifically relating to horror, monster media and sexuality. She also works as a TA for American Studies. Colva received her BA in English with a concentration in Poetry from George Mason University, in Fairfax, VA, and has lived in the DC area for the past 6 years. She principally interested in film, visual art and various creative pursuits. She can be found in the CCT lounge - almost all the time.

For admissions questions, please contact Shane Hoon, Admissions and Communications Manager.