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From June 2022 to December 2022, the Professional Development department at GSAS saw a total of 169 Brandeis students and alumni in appointments!

Jonathan Anjaria
Jonathan Anjaria
Faculty Director of Professional Development in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
781-736-2221

Jonathan has taught at Brandeis for nine years, served as director of Graduate Studies of Anthropology for three years and was recently awarded an ACLS Scholars & Society Fellowship, which focuses on changing the culture of doctoral pedagogy. He works with MA and PhD students in the Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts on career exploration, planning and general graduate school survival skills. Meet with Jonathan to learn about career options for people with your PhD and how to plan for them, how to network with people in your field, how to get an internship and how to manage doing PhD research while keeping diverse career options open.

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Marika McCann
Marika McCann
Associate Director, Professional Development and Employer Outreach
781-736-3402

Marika has over 15 years of experience in higher education, marketing and recruiting. She works with MA, PhD students and alumni on resume and CV development, personal branding, social media presence, networking and interview preparation. Marika also focuses on building relationships with employers and plans on-campus networking events. Before Marika's time in GSAS, she worked in the Career Strategies office at the International Business School at Brandeis and in other career and development positions at the University of Michigan. Marika enjoys working collaboratively with students to teach them how to tell their personal story, from writing details about their skills and accomplishments on their resume or CV, to being able to articulate strengths and background in networking and in interviewing.

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Ayla Cordell
Ayla Cordell
Career and Professional Development Student Assistant
Pronouns: she/her/hers

Ayla (eye-luh) is so happy to start her graduate career working in Career and Professional Development and looking forward to all the skill-building, networking opportunities and career options she'll receive in the department. She earned her bachelor's degree in sociology with a minor in women's and gender studies from a small liberal arts college in the mountains of New Hampshire. After contemplating the meaning of life, dyeing her hair hot pink and walking aimlessly around her hometown during a global pandemic, Ayla has returned to the field of study that first jolted her consciousness and empowered her in the community — women's, gender and sexuality studies. She hopes to further define her passion and strengthen her voice through the program, and is interested in creative nonfiction, the intersection of embodiment and culture, feminist theory, women's and queer literature, food studies, and many things in between. 

Ayla is in the joint MA program in English and women's, gender, and sexuality studies, and her pronouns.