Hobart's three faculty members play an important role in fostering student-staff connections and supervising college activities.
The faculty chair performs all duties prescribed by Northwestern University, advises Hobart's residents and serves as an ex-officio (non-voting member) of the executive board. They also serve in an advisory capacity in all aspects of the college. The assistant chair is a graduate student in the University and the associate chair is an affiliated Northwestern scholar. They both perform duties as prescribed by the University and work closely to assist the faculty chair. |
Jeanine Casler
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Kyla Knauf
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Diamond jones
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Since 2002, Jeanine Casler has taught courses in writing, literature, and engineering communication in Northwestern University’s Cook Family Writing Program and the School of Professional Studies. Her degrees are from Rosemont College (BA), the University of Pennsylvania (MA in English literature), and the University of Georgia (PhD in English literature). Her doctoral dissertation, the first modern edition of English writer Clara Reeve’s 1791 novel The School for Widows, was published by the University of Delaware Press in 2000. She has also published articles on the eighteenth-century British novel, satire, editing theory, representations of aging in literature, and issues of race in 20th century women’s writing.
Jeanine enjoys teaching her freshman McCormick students in Design Thinking and Communication (DTC) a course that course that embeds communication instruction in the context of design, putting students to work on real design problems submitted by individuals, non-profits, entrepreneurs, and industry members. She was invited to be a Hobart Fellow by one of her DTC students many years ago, and has been involved with Hobart in some capacity ever since—in the past few years as Chair, focusing on increasing support for (and representation of) undergraduate women in STEM. Her current project is a book on women writing satire during the long eighteenth century, with a particular focus on Jane Austen, Maria Edgeworth, and Frances Burney. In her spare time, Jeanine plays the violin with the Evanston Symphony, enjoys long distance running, nags her two kids to do their homework and music practice, and takes care of her (third child) boxer Laila. |
Kyla began her PhD journey in 2022, and is in the Plant Biology and Conservation joint program through both Northwestern and the Chicago Botanic Garden. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Biology and minor in environmental studies from the University of San Diego in 2021. Currently, Kyla's doctoral research focuses on climate change impacts on the timing of wildflower reproduction in the Rocky Mountains. To do this research, Kyla gets to spend her summers up in Colorado, and does greenhouse and laboratory trials at the Chicago Botanic Garden during the rest of the year.
Alongside her studies, Kyla also supports Hobart as assistant chair. Here, Kyla serves as an open resource to residents and faculty chairs in helping Hobart continue to be a thriving, eventful, and respectful community. Kyla also likes to connect residents to the outdoors through her firesides about plants, hiking, and nature. Outside of her research and role at Hobart, Kyla loves to fill her time with outdoor activities and crafts. In between undergraduate and graduate school, Kyla hiked, biked, and camped in over 25 US national parks, as well as a few international parks. When she's not outside, she's usually playing piano, crocheting (or excessively trying new crafts), taking care of her houseplants, or visiting her parents' nearby home to cuddle with her two goldendoodles. |
Diamond has been a part of Northwestern since 2017, when she began her bachelor's degree in Japanese Languages & Cultures (WCAS’21). She enjoys learning and growing from others and has served in roles committed to long-term community development from being a Peer Adviser to a Health Educator for Peer Health Exchange. She was also an exec board member for CCS res college throughout undergrad. She is a fellow for Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. Her research focused on “vengeful ghosts” and representations girlhood in Japanese horror video games.
Diamond currently works as the Education Program Manager with the Office of Undergraduate Research, advising and supporting students through all stages of the research process. During an outreach Class Visit for the office, she was invited to be a Fellow. Fueled by her own personal experiences with - and shameless adoration of - res colleges, she is ecstatic to serve as Associate Chair and assist in cultivating the community present at Hobart. In her spare time, Diamond loves being a homebody! She loves playing, creating, and watching video-essays about video games. She enjoys reading and writing stories alongside her two cats, Mustard & Custard. Her two current passion projects include learning more about the intersections of fatphobia, ableism, and identity creation, and creating instructional materials on physical media ownership & internet privacy. |