Meet Our Staff

Alissa Antilla (she/her) is a second-year M.S. student in the Marriage & Family Therapy program at USC Rossier. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Whitman College, a small liberal arts school in Walla Walla, Washington. Before coming to USC, Alissa worked in publishing as an Assistant Editor at W. W. Norton & Company in New York City, explored journalism as a reporting intern for various newspapers, and led her college newspaper as Editor-in-Chief. Alissa sees writing as a central part of her life and believes that psychology and the writing process go hand in hand. Coming from a liberal arts background, Alissa has experience working with subjects such as English, history, art history, religion, philosophy, classics, political science, and of course, the social sciences. She is also passionate about supporting students with application materials, such as personal statements and cover letters. As a Midwestern native, Alissa enjoys soaking up the Los Angeles sun and exploring all the art, hiking, and eateries the city has to offer.

Amelia “Amy” Cruz (she/they) is a Ph.D. candidate in the English Department at USC Dornsife. She earned her B.A. in English Literature and Women’s and Gender Studies from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Amy’s work sits at the crossroads of literary, disability, neurodivergence, and queer studies. Her dissertation interrogates the “leaky” boundaries of the human/inhuman binary, and the subversive potential of the autistic way of being. Amy served as an Assistant Lecturer in the Writing Program, so she has lots of experience with the ins and outs of Writing 150. Feel free to ask for tips on how to thrive in college or graduate school while neurodivergent (i.e., a person with one or more learning and/or cognitive disabilities, such as autism, ADHD, OCD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, etc.)! Amy’s favorite part of teaching is working with students to find solutions that work with their brain, rather than against it. In her free time, Amy enjoys seeing Ghibli movies at the New Beverly Cinema, rewatching Criminal Minds for the fourteenth time, and cross stitching with a fuzzy orange cat on her lap.

Briana Maytee García (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in the English department. She received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English from Stanford University. Within her broad focus of Latinx Literature, Briana is interested in concepts of forgiveness and vergüenza in addition to representations of hair texture and skin tone. Aside from literature, she is also passionate about college access for first-gen/ low-income students of color like herself. Briana enjoys watching Disney movies and crafting for fun. Her experience tutoring at the Hume Center for Writing and Speaking at Stanford has underscored Briana’s passion for building writers’ confidence and making the writing process feel more accessible.

Carolina Muñoz (she/her) is a second-year Ph.D. student studying English Literature at USC Dornsife. She earned her BA in English and minor in Education at the University of California, Riverside. Carolina has served as the Assistant Editor-in-Chief for the UC Riverside Undergraduate Research Journal, where she aided in publishing student research articles from various disciplines. Additionally, she has tutored community college students and taught undergraduate students, helping scholars’s develop reading and writing skills and providing mentorship on topics related to navigating higher education. Through her mentorship, she also has experience building and editing resumes. Carolina’s research lies in the field of Chicanx and Latinx studies. Her interests include hiking, cooking and baking, crocheting, and exploring taco trucks around Los Angeles.

Cory Elizabeth Nelson (she/her) holds a PhD in English and American literature and is an Associate Professor (Teaching) in the Writing Program.  Cory has been teaching writing for over ten years and has particular experience working with graduate students on papers/articles, dissertations, and job-application materials.  However, she is also eager to work with undergraduates and is familiar with writing conventions in a wide range of disciplines.  Outside of USC, Cory enjoys sketching and painting, playing board games, and cheering on her favorite sumo wrestlers.

Devony Hof (she/her) is a first-year Master’s student in the Screenwriting division at USC’s School of Film and Television. She earned her BA in English Literature and Theatre from Northwestern University, where she received the Edward Shuman Award for her thesis on W. B. Yeats’s and Eavan Boland’s doll poems. Her poetry has appeared in Fahmidan, Right Hand Pointing and RockPaperPoem, among others. She can assist with creative writing, literary analysis and application materials. Though she grew up in the Bay Area, she has spent two years in Chicago, acting, writing and complaining about the weather. Outside of work, she enjoys embroidery and dissecting the ending of Game of Thrones.

Janet Song (she/they) is a Ph.D. student in the English department. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Media Studies at Vassar College in 2019. Her research interests are centered around American literature, focusing on the 19th century and on Asian American literature. She can assist in academic essays, graduate school applications, and works of creative writing.

Josh Olivier is a second-year Ph.D. student in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California. He earned his MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan, where he also worked as an assistant editor for Michigan Quarterly Review. A native of California’s Inland Empire, he often draws on the region’s cultural and economic landscape in his writing. His novel-in-progress, Goodness, explores themes of class, masculinity, memory, and survival, following a young writer as he navigates poverty, artistic ambition, and the fractures of family and friendship. The work confronts underrepresented narratives of male vulnerability and abuse, while also capturing the textures of Southern California life: its driving culture and freeways, the constant negotiation between ambition and precarity. When he isn’t writing fiction, he works on twee anthems and heartbreak songs for his band, No Better. He also loves running, reading, and Lakers basketball. At the Writing Center, Josh enjoys working with students at every stage of the writing process. He especially values the chance to talk through structure, clarity, and voice, and to help writers discover the questions and patterns driving their work.

Mahnoor Ali (she/her) is a Ph.D. student studying Comparative Media and Culture at USC Dornsife. Her work operates on the intersection of literary and museum studies and explores themes of spatiality, communal memory, and cultural identity. She is interested in how these themes shape visual and literary narratives of displacement and diaspora. Mahnoor completed her B.A. in Comparative Literature at Harvard with a secondary field in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. She also has an MPhil in English Criticism and Culture from the University of Cambridge. She has done ethnographic research in France and literary research in Turkey and can advise on fellowship and internship application materials (personal statements, cover letters, etc.) in addition to essays across disciplines. She also enjoys writing fiction and would be happy to discuss your creative projects! Outside of the classroom, Mahnoor has made significant progress in her quests to find the best pain au chocolat on the West Coast and to prove that Los Angeles is, contrary to popular opinion, a walkable city.

Matthew Aaron Hernandez (He/Him) is a Ph.D. candidate in the English Department at USC Dornsife. He earned his B.A. in English Literature with a Certificate in Creative and Professional Writing from CSU Dominguez Hills. During his Undergrad, he won first place in the CSU Statewide Research Competition in Arts and Letters and worked as a Writing Center Consultant. Matthew’s current work explores the position of tabletop roleplaying games in fostering transmedia storytelling and the cross-mediatic movement of narrative. His dissertation examines game and narrative world-building, adaptation, narrative architecture, and using play to engage with the positive and negative legacies of Fantasy and Speculative Fiction. Matthew’s previous work includes examinations of Comics and Graphic Novels, the intersections of Beer, Spirits, and Witchcraft, Children’s and YA Literature, Game Play as Pedagogy, and the impact of Generative AI (LLMs) on Academic writing. Outside of Academia, he is a tinkerer, an avid player of analog and video games, a musician, camper, and a voracious reader.

Max Berwald (he/him) received his B.A. in Cinema from San Francisco State University and is a doctoral student in the School of Cinematic Arts. He has taught English as a second language at a variety of levels, led workshops on screenwriting and memoir, and worked professionally in copywriting and public relations. Areas of writing expertise include literary analysis, film studies, history, professional writing, and creative writing. His fiction has appeared in Blackbird, the Massachusetts Review, Chicago Quarterly Review, as part of  Tin House’s online flash fiction series, and elsewhere.

Morgan Lynch (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the Clinical Science area of the Psychology Department in Dornsife. Her research explores the various factors that contribute to why and how people age differently, spanning from the cellular level to the individual and broader community levels. She is passionate about the strength of social connections in preventing or delaying neurodegeneration. Morgan has worked in psychology, neuroscience, and biology research for about 10 years. During that time, she has built expertise in reviewing essays for academic courses and manuscripts for journals, as well as résumés/CVs, cover letters, graduate school personal statements, and conference/fellowship applications. Outside of work, Morgan enjoys taking her dog to the park, hiking, and trying new ice cream flavors.

Robert Waller (he/him) is Director of the Writing Center and an Associate Professor (Teaching) in the Writing Program. Professor Waller received his bachelor’s degree from Duke University, where he studied oral history and music, and has a degree in creative writing from USC.   Robert has over 20 years of experience teaching writing with a particular focus on using writing as a tool to explore and reveal the creative process. At USC, he developed the popular Special Topics WRIT 340 course, Writing for Visual and Performing Artists, that aims to help students articulate their own aesthetics and through this process expand their understanding both of writing and the meanings and purposes driving their work.  In addition to his work at USC, Waller is also an active performing songwriter and musician who has toured internationally and had his songs appear in TV and film. Robert lives in Highland Park with his wife, three children, and two cats.

Roberto Diaz (he/him) is a J.D. candidate in USC’s Gould school of Law. He received his B.S. in Foreign Service with a minor in French from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 2019. He taught several high school social studies courses, including AP government and AP microeconomics, at a public charter school in Texas for three years. Additionally, Roberto spent a year as a publicist for the economics department of a Washington D.C. think tank, where he edited op-eds and pitched them to major news publications. Roberto is interested in researching and writing about numerous topics at the intersection of economics, law, and policy.  Outside of his studies, Roberto loves to run and watch Lakers basketball games.

Stephanie Mullings (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in Creative Writing and Literature. She received her B.A. in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Michigan and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Boston University. Her main areas of writing expertise include creative writing, social sciences and humanities, history, and academic writing. Stephanie’s fiction writing has appeared in various literary magazines, including Boulevard, Catapult, the Los Angeles Review, and elsewhere. She is originally from Chicago, an avid WNBA and N.B.A. fan, and a proud sneakerhead.

Yousef Alghawi (they/them) is a third year Ph.D. in the Division of Cinema and Media Studies in the School of Cinematic Arts. They received their B.A. in Political Science and English, with a minor in philosophy, from the University of Florida and an M.A. in Cinema Studies at New York University. Yousef is a cross-disciplinary writer who works throughout a range of discourses, subjects, and mediums, including political science, literature, film, theory, sociology and anthropology, among others. Yousef has also worked many years in non-profit, political, and activist spaces, with a wealth of experience with CVs, applications and résumés. Yousef’s research revolves around film as philosophy, ethics, postmodernist literature, audio-visual decay, phenomenology, gender, and political ideologies.