University Writing Center

Robert Cochran is the Program Director of the Writing Center. He holds a BA in International Relations from Harvard University's Extension School and both an MA and a Ph.D. in History from Brandeis. Additionally, he has received training in writing pedagogy from Brandeis. He has been an active member of the Brandeis Writing Center since 2018, serving first as a Writing Consultant, then as a Senior Writing Consultant and a Graduate Assistant Director.

At Brandeis, Dr. Cochran plans and implements all of the Writing Center's programming for undergraduate and graduate students, including one-on-one consultations, workshops, writers' workspaces, and dissertation writers' retreats. He conceives of the writing center as a vital pedagogical space in which all writers, regardless of their background or ability, can meet to engage in the tough yet rewarding process of becoming stronger, more confident writers.

As an academic writing instructor, he enjoys working with and learning from individuals of all linguistic backgrounds and skill levels. He has extensive experience in the university classroom and takes a keen interest in matters of learning experience design (LXD). Apart from his work in academic writing support, Dr. Cochran also conducts research in the field of colonial history, focusing on the modern British Empire and the Caribbean. In his 2024 dissertation, he problematizes commissions of inquiry into nineteenth-century systems of Asian indentured labor throughout the British Empire, arguing that these public spectacles largely served political and plantocratic ends rather than the subaltern Indian laborers about whom they were supposedly concerned.

Manning is a sociology & health policy doctoral student in the joint PhD program in the Department of Sociology and Heller School. She is currently working on her dissertation research on fitness organizations in Greater Boston. Manning’s mother tongue is Mandarin, and she is learning French, Cantonese, and Spanish. While her mentoring strength is helping students build up research skills (such as brainstorming ideas, critical writing, searching for information, etc.) in social sciences, Manning is welcoming everyone who is struggling with writing and seeking improvements.

Jillian is a second-year master’s student pursuing an MA in Sustainable International Development at the Heller School and holds a bachelor’s degree in Professional and Technical Writing from Youngstown State University. Currently, Jillian serves as a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) intern with USAID’s Bureau for Latin America & the Caribbean and is conducting research on ecological justice and LandBack initiatives in the renewable energy transition across the Americas. Jillian is a cross-genre writer, with essays and poetry published in the Adirondack Review and YO Magazine. Whether working on academic essays, creative projects, or application materials, Jillian is eager to support students in refining their writing voice and building confidence in their work!

Jade is a second-year MS student studying Computational Linguistics. Topics of study include Natural Language Processing, Machine Translation, Large Language Models, and Annotation. She holds a BA in Spanish and International Studies with a minor in French from UNCW and has a passion for language learning. She also enjoys traveling and cooking. She is especially excited to see what interesting topics students will bring to the Writing Center this year!

Grace is a first-year MA student in Anthropology. Her research interests include economic and corporate anthropology, corporate culture, and performance. Grace is fluent in Korean, English, and is brushing up on her French. She is passionate about helping students improve their writing skills, and as a Brandeis alumna she is familiar with the writing expectations that Brandeis has for its students. In her free time, Grace enjoys going to the gym, reading, and golf.

Iana is a PhD student in the Department of English. Their research interests are in Victorian literature, new formalism, and philosophy and literature. Iana earned their BA in French and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality studies at Tufts University, having also spent a year studying in Paris during their time as an undergraduate. Iana looks forward to collaborating with students at the writing center and helping students feel more confident expressing themselves in whatever writing medium they are working in.

Ishan is a first-year PhD student in the English department. His work is at the confluence of Environmental Humanities and Postcolonial Studies. In 2024, he graduated with an MA in English from Vanderbilt University, where he wrote a thesis on a translated eco-disaster novel. His experiences in critical and creative writing and his former career as a professional writer and copy editor exposed him to a multitude of writing styles. He is curious to learn more about the Brandeis student community and help them brainstorm and develop their writing. Outside of work, you will often find Ishan on the tennis courts or watching sports.

Jacob is a first-year MA student in the Philosophy department. His research interests include the philosophy of science, metaphysics, and epistemology—especially of the social variety. He graduated from Fort Lewis College with a BA in Philosophy and a minor in Mathematics. Jacob is passionate about working with writers as they develop their voice and learn to clearly express themselves through their writing. In addition to his academic pursuits he enjoys rollerblading, cycling, and trail running.

Jarem is a first-year Master’s student studying Computer Science. He previously studied Linguistics at the University of Utah and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is interested in the intersection of Computational Linguistics and Machine Learning, and wants to study ways to make language generation tools more accurate and efficient. His published research includes studies of ways to generate portmanteaus (like “brunch” or “Barbenheimer”) and he has also worked on Natural Language Understanding tasks in the tech sphere. Jarem has taught English as a second language in Laos, Thailand, and his home state of Utah. He speaks English natively, as well as fluent Thai and Laotian, and has experience studying/speaking Spanish, German, and Mandarin.

Joseph is a fourth-year doctoral student in the History Department. He has worked as a Writing Consultant since 2022 and enjoys reading the wide range of papers that come through our doors. His experience providing feedback on writing includes working with students, peers, and mentors in other capacities at Brandeis. As a writer, he has experience working on projects intended for academic and popular audiences. When he is not in the Writing Center, Joseph is working on his dissertation about Jews’ relationship to slavery. Before he came to Brandeis, Joseph received a B.A. in history and Spanish from Haverford College.

Lianne is a second-year doctoral student studying transracial adoption from China to the United States. Although affiliated with the History Department, her research is interdisciplinary, bringing together fields such as Critical Adoption Studies, Asian American Studies, and Critical Race Theory. She holds a BA in English from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts as well as a joint MA in English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Brandeis University. In her free time, she enjoys reading poetry, playing ukulele, and spending time with her cat, Oliver. She looks forward to working with students across all stages of the writing process, from brainstorming to final drafts.

Carving paths in dentistry, public health, and leadership, Lily is a trailblazing public health practitioner from Southeast Asia. Driven by an unwavering passion for health equity, community development, and women’s empowerment, she is equipped with extensive project experience spanning grassroots initiatives to regional impact. With over two years of clinical practice as her foundation, she has woven seven years of immersive fieldwork in some of the most challenging corners of Myanmar.

She is a proud alumna of the YSEALI Women’s Leadership Academy (WLA) and has made history as the only Country Lead from Myanmar to spearhead regional projects for two consecutive years, equipping young women with 21st-century leadership skills at the ASEAN level. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of YSEALI WLA, she was spotlighted as one of the 10 outstanding alumnae and recognized as the grant winner for 11 pioneering Alumnae Innovative Solutions projects.

Recognized as a distinguished Fulbright Scholar, she is currently refining her expertise in global health policy, economics, and management at Brandeis University, propelled by her commitment to advancing health equity and empowering underserved communities.

Liv is a first-year sociology PhD student interested in the intersections between culture, knowledge, and education. During their undergraduate years at Bard College, Liv pursued their bachelor’s in music (ethnomusicology) and sociology, culminating in a research project about popular music museums in the United States. Questions about meaning-making and pedagogical processes were core to Liv’s research, which complemented her work as a peer tutor supporting fellow students on writing and academic skills, and later as one of the administrative associates at Bard’s Learning Commons, where she led pedagogy training workshops while continuing to advise students. As a first-generation college student, Liv’s tutoring approach is collaborative and skills-based, recognizing that writing and thinking are processes shaped by our individual experiences. Liv is looking forward to working with students at the Writing Center as they develop their own writing process.

Riagan is a sociology doctoral student with a joint MA in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies (WGS) at Brandeis University. With an emphasis on sociocultural theory and trends, she is interested in topics related to identity, perception, neurodivergence, gender, sexuality, class, capitalism, culture, and media, with current research focusing on neurodivergence as a sociopolitical category. Prior to beginning her PhD program, Riagan was a communications and PR director leading efforts in brand communications, media strategy, and creative storytelling. She holds an MA in sociology from The New School for Social Research and a BA in communication and sociology from SUNY Geneseo.

Sreemoyee is a first year English P.hD. student, and is interested in postcolonial poetry, elegies, children’s literature, and the significance of material culture in literary texts. She is motivated by questions about the way words loiter on the page through the line breaks in poems and the overall shapes of these poems. A question that fascinates her is: How do poems hold quietness, flow and reverie? She has a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Ashoka University (India) and a Master’s in Children’s Literature from Trinity College Dublin. Before coming to Brandeis, she used to work as a Communication Center Fellow at an undergraduate engineering college in India where she curated and taught close-reading and creative writing workshops. In her free time, she enjoys making pots and writing poems in them. She looks forward to working with students at the Writing Center!

Weichen is a first-year master’s student in the Computer Science Department. Before Brandeis, she studied at Kenyon College and then lived in Northern California. Even though she received most of her professional and academic training in STEM (first in the life sciences, now in computer science), she enjoys dabbling in many facets of writing, including fiction and memoir-style non-fiction. Chinese is Weichen’s native language; English is her second, and she also speaks a tad of Japanese. Over the years studying and working in the U.S., Weichen learned intimately the power a strong piece of writing holds for moving ahead in this country. As a writing consultant at Kenyon, she has helped many science writers and English-language learners on their writing journey: brainstorming ideas, crafting thesis, polishing resumes and cover letters, etc.. She is excited for the opportunity to continue to write and grow with the diverse student population at Brandeis University.