Jordan Traut-Jellad '20 & '22, English Alum Spotlight

Jordan At A Glance

Education

  • Ph.D. English with an advanced certification in Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, expected 2028 (Binghamton University)
  • M.A. English with a writing certificate, 2022 (Millersville University)
  • B.A. English, 2020 (Millersville University)
  • B.A. Anthropology, 2020 (Millersville University)

On-Campus Achievements 

  • Coordinated the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Red Dress Exhibit displayed in McComsey Hall & hosted the University Reception on May 5th, 2022.
  • Developed and led a musical and museum program in Oklahoma City for the world premiere of Distant Thunder, an All-Native Musical for English graduate students in Spring 2022. 
  • Recipient of the Richard Cecil Todd and Clauda Pennock Todd Graduate Fellowship Award. 
  • First recipient of the AHSS College Fellowship & McCollough AHSS Summer Research scholarship. 
  • First English major to receive a MUSE (Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience) grant for her scholarship on Native American language and oral literature. 

International Education

  • MAPS: Music of Ancient World Cultures in Spain, Morocco, and Portugal, Summer 2022
  • Asian Culture Studies program at Kansai Gaidai University, Hirakata Japan, Fall 2019
  • Central European Studies program at Jagiellonian University, Krakow Poland, Summer 2019

Read more about Jordan's interdisciplinary take on education and learn about how she says the English and World Languages Department helped her develop diverse coursework focused on her research goals and love of travel. 

“Contact with these people and places is something that cannot be found in just any classroom. ”

- Jordan Traut-Jellad | B.A. '20 and M.A. '22

 

Career Highlights:

"I am currently Adjunct Faculty in the Department of English and Modern Languages at Marywood University as well as Cornell University’s Special Events Senior Administrative Assistant at the Lab of Ornithology. This year I am leading an alternative spring break to Guatemala having previously coordinated student service learning trips to the Cheyenne River reservation in South Dakota for Penn State. I will be presenting an aspect of my dissertation research, "ReMatriating Space for the Sacred Woman: Indigenous Feminism as a Return to Traditional Leadership in the United States and Canada," at IAFOR's annual International Conference on Arts & Humanities in January 2026. This paper is currently in revisions for publication with Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies."

“You would be surprised how much people are willing to do for you if you just ask them for help. Want to do an independent study on your favorite tv series? Ask a professor. Want to study an exhibit at an international museum? Ask Sponsored Programs for help writing a grant. College is the best time to try everything, with support from the department and funding from the university. ”

- Jordan Traut-Jellad | B.A. '20 and M.A. '22

Current Pursuits

"I am a doctoral fellow in English at Binghamton University where I research Indigenous Feminisms, Moroccan women’s literature, and material culture. I currently teach two sections of Inquiry and Academic Writing as well as winter/summer courses. I am obtaining an advanced certificate in Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention. In addition, I am the Founding Editor of JOTSS (The Manuscript: Journal of Taylor Swift Studies), the first peer reviewed academic journal committed to advancing Taylor Swift Studies through rigorous interdisciplinary inquiry."

What drew you to Millersville?

"I actually toured the university in 2017 as a prospective undergraduate student because the university mailed me a free meal voucher! I met Drs Katerzyna Jakubiak in English and Elizabeth Thyrum in the Honors College. I decided to attend because I wanted to take courses with Dr. Jakubiak and apply for the Summer Honors Study Abroad Program under Dr. Thyrum. Both professors became lifelong mentors in my research and also my personal development. In fact, Dr. Jakubiak served as my Master's thesis advisor and helped me prepare my PhD application materials."

How did Millersville’s English department help you achieve your goals?

"Millersville English never said no to whatever new study abroad request, grant proposal, or creative research project I dreamed up and needed a departmental signature on. This taught me to ask for what I need and go after what I want. MU English well prepared me to attend Binghamton University, an R1 research institution where my program's national ranking is 59th! Whenever I feel out of my league (...and it happens a lot!) or feel like I've heard "no" too many times, I think back on the support I received from Millersville English and push through. Dr. Justin Mando's Discourse Analysis course was especially helpful even though it was HARD. Drs. A. Nicole Pfannenstiel and Kaitlin Mondello helped me receive my first large grants for an art display I was working on, and I use those same templates for the grants I write today."

What advice do you have for current and/or prospective students?

Try everything and say thank you!

You mentioned your dissertation research. What led you to choose your area of focus?

"My dissertation isn’t far enough along yet for a title but it looks at Amazigh Moroccan Carpet Weaving as feminist archives of family and cultural memory. When I first studied abroad in Morocco, I loved the handmade carpets and wanted to learn more about the women who make them."

 

What is the inspiration behind JOTSS (The Manuscript: Journal of Taylor Swift Studies)?

"I actually attended a symposium where many female scholars shared their excellent and timely work in Taylor Swift Studies, but I noticed so many of the presenters began their papers with an explanation of why their research had academic merit. I wanted to create a space where these voices could exist without the need to qualify or be qualified because very few male identifying scholars feel the need to justify the existence of their research."