Faculty Type: Graduate Fellows

Kiersten Hasenour is a Ph.D candidate in Sociology at Duke University. She received a B.A in Sociology and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Evansville in 2018. Through her research, she seeks to better understand how others’ identities impact our understanding and response to interaction with them. Her work primarily focuses on gender identity and often takes place in the legal sphere.

Kaylie Page is a candidate in the Graduate Program in Religion, concentrating in Christian Theological Studies. Her dissertation research compares four pre-modern theologians on the theme of Christ as the Mediator between God and Man, considering how this theme speaks to modern debates about Trinitarian theology and how theological language signifies; her broader research interests are Trinity, Christology, and pre-modern interpretation of Scripture. Kaylie grew up homeschooled along with her nine younger siblings, and she maintains a keen interest in the philosophy of education broadly conceived. In addition to her teaching roles at the Divinity School, she has led reading groups for undergraduates and Bible studies for various populations.

Jonathan Colen is a Ph.D. candidate in the University Program in Ecology. His research interests focus on how species may stay distinct despite the homogenizing effects of hybridization. As an educator, Jonathan believes that teaching is an act of empathy and that the best teachers are those that foster kindness and compassion in the students that they instruct. His prior teaching experience includes teaching labs as a Teaching Assistant in introductory biology courses (Bio 201 and 203) and leading guest lectures for Bio 263. Prior to graduate school, Jonathan served as a tutor for UNC-Chapel Hill’s Academic Support for Student Athletes Program. He graduated from Stanford University with a B.S.H. in Biology in 2016.

Jessica Reif is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Management + Organizations area at Fuqua. Her research explores social networks and social influence at work, as well as the role of technology in shaping the future of work. Prior to starting her Ph.D., Jess was the Director of Research & Development for a consulting firm in Washington, DC.

Jacob Little is a Ph.D. candidate in Duke’s Political Science department with a specialization in political theory. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Houston. He studies the history of political thought broadly, with particular interest in ancient, early modern, and American political thought. His dissertation is on how regimes can manage the promise and the peril of political ambition.

Ivy Flessen is in her third year in the Political Science Ph.D. program. She is a budding political theorist whose work lies at the intersection of the history of political thought and moral psychology. She writes primarily on ancient Greek and early modern political thought, with a focus on the political mechanization of “sub-rational” passions. She has many working papers at the submission stage, including a piece on the rhetoric of Plato’s Republic, co-authored with Michael Gillespie and Mike Hawley. While, administratively, she is spending this year leading a funded Franklin Humanities reading group and running the Duke Political Theory Graduate Conference, she is also developing her dissertation topic. Her project will explore the political value of indignation in the history of political thought.