English Careers

What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?

Or perhaps the better question would be, “what has been done?”

Here’s a list of just some of the accomplishments of Butler English alumni.​

Paige Dempsey ’18 is working for the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee in Nashville doing their online communication and assisting nonprofits.

Jeff Stanich III ’16 has worked as an English teacher at Exodus Refugee Immigration Inc, and now works as a speech writer for the Mayor of Indianapolis.

Julie Spoehr ’16 is in NYC working as a Production Assistant at Penguin Books for Penguin Random House in the Reprints Department.

Sarah Tietz ’16 received her law degree from Washington University in St. Louis, MO and is currently doing a clerkship with federal district court judge, Jim Sweeney in Indianapolis, IN.

Madison Chartier’ 15 went on to graduate school and received her Masters in Library Science at Indiana University ’18 and is currently working at Oklahoma State University as the Metadata Librarian, tenure track, in Stillwater, OK.

Emily Kile Maxwell ’14 received her Juris Doctor degree from Indiana University Bloomington after graduation from Butler, and now works as Judicial Law Clerk for the U.S. Courts of Appeals.

Joe Wadlington ’11 has worked as an editor for Slingshot SEO (now Relevance) and has recently become a Marketing Copywriter for Twitter.

Ros Lederman ’11 went on to receive her Master of Interdisciplinary Arts in Nonfiction at DePaul University. She currently works as a writer and editor at CareContent, a healthcare digital marketing company. She has an unusual fascination with Justin Timberlake and is hoping to fulfill her goals of one day becoming a writer and professor.

Joe Pittman ’10 has worked at The Daily Journal, a newspaper based in Johnson County, IN. Joe was named 2011 Hoosier State Press Association Sales Person of the Year for Indiana. He now works as the Communications Director at Emmanuel Church in Greenwood, IN.

Betsy Shirley ’10 went on to receive her Master of Divinity at Yale University. She is now the Associate Editor at Sojourner’s Magazine, based in Washington, D.C.

Cassandra Book ’10 went on to receive her Master in English with a certificate in Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of Louisville and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies at Old Dominion University. She has served as the Director of the Writing Center and Director of Parent Communication at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, and is now the Associate Director of the University of Louisville’s Writing Center.

Eric Kokonas ’09 completed a semester-long internship with Dittoe PR, and was offered a full-time position with the company. After working there as Partner and Vice President of Strategy for seven years, he now works as the Directory of Marketing for Rook Security in Indianapolis.

Michelle Skinner Brown ’09 went on to receive a Master in Education Policy and Management at Harvard University before founding CommonLit, a free, online compilation of literary and teaching resources for teachers to improve adolescent literacy. Now the CEO of CommonLit, Brown was named a Forbes 30 under 30 Change the World Finalist in 2016. She also recently received a 3.9 million dollar federal grant to expand her company.

Paige Sealy ’08 has worked as a Neuroscience Sales Representative for Eli Lilly and Company. She has also served as Territory Manager for both Thoratec, a medical device corporation focused on patients with acute to chronic heart failure, and St. Jude Medical. She is now the Territory Manager at Abbott in New York City.

Mike Meginnis ’08  went on to receive a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction Writing from New Mexico State University. He has worked as freelance writer, designer, and editor. He now works at the University of Iowa as the Continuing Education and Outreach Coordinator.

Elizabeth Orr ’08 received $40,000 to attend Cornell University’s Master program, where she earned her Master of Professional Studies in Africana Studies. She is currently pursuing a law degree at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology.

Ashley Caveda ’07 obtained her Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Non-Fiction from Ohio State University. She worked at Butler as an FYS instructor and now works as the Creative Engagement Coordinator for Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic.

Michelle Maloney ’07 has received her Ph.D. in English at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, with a teaching fellowship worth $19,000 a year. Michelle is interested in pursuing her love of Irish literature, and she currently works as a Student Success Advisor at IUPUI.

Anna Wolack ’07 went on to receive her Master of Arts in New Arts Journalism at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is now the Director of Adoption Recruitment at Children’s Bureau, Inc in Indianapolis.

Ted Stone ’06 has worked for J.P. Morgan Chase in Senior Client Services in Indianapolis, Indiana, and has taught writing at Southside Community School in Tucson, Arizona. After serving as the Senior Community Relations Manager for Sony Online Entertainment in Austin, Texas, he is now Senior Community Relations Manager at Daybreak Game Company. He was involved in the creation of DC Universe Online.

Lisa Battiston ’06 went on to receive her Master of Fine Arts in Nonfiction Creative Writing from Emerson College. She has worked as a copyeditor and columnist at the Broad Ripple Gazette and as a writing evaluator for the Annual Writer’s Digest Book Awards. She now works as the Deputy Press Secretary for MassDOT/MBTA.

Laura Navratil ’05 is a newly published poet whose work has appeared in such journals as Little Red Leaves.

Annie Stultz ’04 is a Central Saint Martins M.A. fashion journalism student who recently won the Vogue.com writing competition. She traveled to Paris to review Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel collection for Vogue.

Josh Kaminski ’04 went on to receive his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Purdue University. He has worked as an Instructor at Purdue University, and now works as a writer for Improve.com.

Jonathan Sundheimer ’03 received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has taught English at Shelby High School in North Carolina and has worked as an Exceptional Education Teacher at Rosman High School in North Carolina. He is now an attorney for Barnes & Thornburg LLP.

Megan Hunter ’03 attended the University of the Arts London and earned a Master in book publishing. She saw an ad for the CIA and applied on a whim. Six months later, Megan started her first day at the George Bush Center of Intelligence in Washington, D.C., as Publications Officer. She is now the Director of Communications and Marketing at Brownell-Talbot School in Omaha, Nebraska.

Matt Yeager ’02 has been published in New York Quarterly and Best American Poetry 2005 for his poem “A Big Ball of Foil in a Small New York Apartment.” He also transformed the poem into a screenplay that led to the production of the short film by the same name.

Aaron Shackelford ’01 received both a Master of Arts in American Literature and a Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has also worked as an instructor there, teaching courses in the subjects of Film Analysis, Fiction, Major American Authors, and Rhetoric & Composition. He now works as UMass Fine Arts Center’s Director of Programming.

Laura Yoo ’01 received her Master of Art History from the University of Cincinnati. She has worked at F+W Media, Inc., providing content and editorial leadership to the Design Community’s online education brands. She is now a freelance writer, editor, and proofreader.

Lori (Godich) Bievenour ’00 went on from Butler to graduate from the Boston University School of Theology and is now an associate pastor of United Church of Christ.

Holly Flint ’99 is an Assistant Professor of 20th-Century American Literature and U.S. Ethnic Literature and Cultural Studies at University of Alabama in Huntsville. Her essay, “Toni Morrison’s Paradise: Black Cultural Citizenship in the American Empire,” appeared in American Literature.

Rob Seidler ’98 attended law school at the University of Notre Dame, practiced with the labor and employment department of the law firm of Frost Brown Todd in Cincinnati for several years, and in 2005 returned to Indianapolis to practice law with the firm of Ogletree Deakins.

Arianne Michalek Aughey ’96 is a freelance research attorney in St. Louis, Missouri, after graduating from the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.

Doug Schaak ’90 is a Professor of English at Multnomah Bible College as well as the founder/past president of the Evergreen Curling Club.

Michael Martone ’76 is Professor of English and Director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Alabama, as well as a prolific writer. He has won multiple awards, including the AWP Prize for Creative Nonfiction for The Flatness and Other Landscapes, a collection of his own essays about the Midwest. In 2014, he gave Butler University the gift of a grant that allows English majors to travel around, research, and write about Indiana.