Armaan Ahmed, Photographer

From the very beginning, I’ve always been a sort of serial disciplinarian. In the first grade it was origami, and in succeeding years yo-yoing, photography, and the saxophone. Raised in Springfield Ohio, I have always been, in a word, curious.

Throughout the beginning of my time at Gallatin, searching for what it was I was inclined to investigate, something curious happened: the search itself held my fascination. Seemingly unrelated classes began to collide, and the process of ideation itself became my concentration: “The Experience of Creativity,” which investigates such questions as what is creativity? How does it work? Is it unique to humans?

Lauren Balser, Editor

I am a junior at Gallatin from northern Virginia. My concentration is digital sociology, with a particular emphasis on how being a member of a digital society informs our sense of self and community. I also minor in media, culture, and communication. In addition to being an editor of The Literacy Review, I am also a peer writing assistant at the Gallatin Writing Center and a co-editor in chief of Embodied, Gallatin’s arts and culture magazine. I am also a member of the Dean’s Honor Society and a freelance fact checker. I will also be taking over as Editor in Chief for LR22. In my spare time, you can find me playing Dungeons & Dragons or trying to find the world’s best iced coffee.

Michelle Capone, Editor

I am a senior at Gallatin concentrating in “Female Characters: Their Relationships to Self and to Each Other,” which explores the ways in which female characters form de-essentialized identities separate from the constraints of conventional womanhood. My work has been published in both Confluence and The Gallatin Review, and apart from my roles in NYU literary student life, I’ve interned at Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books and HG Literary. I currently work as an editorial assistant at Melville House Publishing where I try not to drown in manuscripts and copy and focus meetings. I have a Siamese cat named Hope Mikael-Kitty who loves me very, very much, and in our shared free time, we like to watch TV shows of varying quality making sure to exclusively focus on female characters (so I can stay on brand.)

Hollie Fitzhenry, Editor

Originally from New Orleans, I moved to NYC a decade ago, hoping to expand my life experiences and better understand the world around us. After graduating from BMCC with an A.A. in sociology in May 2022, I discovered my passion for questioning oppressive societal structures. As a non-traditional transfer student and a junior at Gallatin, I am pursuing studies in patient advocacy, focusing on facilitating care for those with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Since attending Gallatin, I’ve been a student teacher at University Settlement’s Advanced Writing Class for adult ESOL students. As an accomplished bartender at some of New York’s most celebrated bars and restaurants, I have advocated for service workers’ rights while exploring the city’s rich culinary culture. In my spare time, I cuddle with my cats, Frank Ocean and Teena Marie, watch too much reality TV, and eat through the city every chance I get with my husband, Blake.

Yasmine Marie Garay, Editor-in-Chief

I am a Miami, Florida, native but now that I’ve finally (somewhat) mastered the subway system, I consider New York my home. I am a current senior with a concentration in Child Development and Public Policy with a CAMS minor, and I am particularly concerned with how systems of power affect child welfare, especially in multicultural and multilingual communities. While at Gallatin, I’ve been a student teacher in the University Settlement Advanced Writing Class for adult ESL students, a High School Writing Mentor, a Great World Texts Mentor, the Training Director of the Gallatin Research Incubator, and a member of the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 Americas Scholars cohorts. In the greater NYU community, the experience closest to my heart has been serving as a leader, captain, and co-chair of Welcome from 2020-2023. Outside of school, my favorite thing to do is take photos and pair them with bits of poetry. In the fall, I will be attending Columbia University to obtain my Masters in Public Administration.

Olivia Ontiveros, Editor

Karen Santos, Editor

I was born and raised in Cuba. My concentration examines Human Rights, feminism and artivism in Latin America and the Caribbean. I have worked with Mixteca Organization (Brooklyn, NY) and with HASER (Vieques, P.R.), an NGO focusing on food sovereignty issues. At Gallatin, I’ve also worked as: Cuban American Student Association’s Community Engagement Chair; researcher (Gallatin Research Incubator); Editorial Board Member for Literacy Review # 20; and Literacy Review # 21 Editor. I am a Gallatin Global Human Rights Fellow, a Changemaker Fellow and an NYU Undergraduate Humanities Fellow. This Fall, I will pursue my Ph.D. in Latin American, Iberian and Latino Cultures at the CUNY Graduate Center. In my free time I love to bike, grow my own tomatoes, and to try out jokes for my improbable stand-up career.

XY Zhou, Designer

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a graphic designer– I’m more of a dabbler, of sorts. I’m graduating from Gallatin with a concentration in “Translations Between Mediums;” I’m curious about the nebulous overlap between different mediums and disciplines and I’m insistent that all disciplines are merely different approaches towards understanding the world at large. Outside of designing The Literacy Review, I use painting, ceramics, sculpture, and writing to thoroughly interrogate and investigate my ideas and the people around me. Alongside artmaking, conversations with my friends, walking briskly between two places, and late nights at work are important aspects of my studio practice which seeks to understand and represent the “truth,” in all its seriousness and its whimsy.
 

LR21 Editorial Board

Armaan Ahmed, Ella Anderson, Allison Argueta Claros, Jurnie Auguste, Kristian Burt, Pilar Cerón, Jimmy Chen, Nathan Cheng, Isabelle Chiao, Natasha Cicogna, Emmie Colby, Tara Cooney, Ben Cresto, Martine Handelman Duffy, Dagny Edwards, Benjamin Galloway, Trinity Garlick, Lisa Gayhart, Arun Jaxon George, Mimi Gewirtz, Anabel Godsoe Giacobbi, Alexis Henry, Hannah Foppoli Hernandez, Vivian Holland, Amelia Horrell, Nayoung Ko, Sajini Kodituwakku, Olivia Krivitsky, Eleanor Macagba, Michael Saul Marom, Lucy Moraleda, Mychal Pagan, Sai Panguluri, Neptune Peterson, Daniella Pineda, Victoria J. Princi, Sawyer Gouw Ranzetta, Nayeli Yazmin Rodriguez, Leana Rutt, Addison Ryne, Trish Sachdev, Amna Sheikh, Hazel Singh, Tara Lynn Smith, Ploy Tanomvorsin, Sammy Tavassoli, Meredith Wade, Gabriella Walker, Angela Wang, Sab Wilder, Nick Zelle, Yijing Zheng, Yiting Zhou