PhDs at Work: Diverse Careers for Humanities & Arts Graduates

This is an Archive of a Past Event
Did you know that a faculty position at a university is only one of many possible career paths you could take with a doctorate in the humanities or arts? Join us for a lively conversation with four humanities PhDs who have found rewarding careers in a variety of organizations. Dinner will be served.

This event is part of Pathways for Humanities PhDs, a professional development series sponsored by the School of Humanities and Sciences.

RSVP required

Speakers:
Neal Benezra
Helen and Charles Schwab Director, SFMOMA
PhD in Art History, Stanford, 1983
Neal Benezra became the director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) in 2002. A Bay Area native, he leads one of the first museums in the United States to focus on modern and contemporary art, offering a world-class exhibition program, a distinguished collection of more than 30,000 works, and award-winning educational and public programming. Benezra formerly served as deputy director and Frances and Thomas Dittmer Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, a dual position he assumed in 2000. Previously, he spent eight years at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where he was assistant director for art and public programs (1996–99) and chief curator (1991–96). Throughout his career, he has also served on a variety of professional panels and advisory committees, including the Pew Fellowships in the Arts; the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Art Advisory Panel of the Internal Revenue Service; and the Smithsonian Institution Council. He currently serves on the Acquisition Committee for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the Advisory Board of Istanbul Modern. Benezra holds both a PhD and an MA in the history of art from Stanford University.
Anaïs Saint-Jude
Student Engagement Manager, Stanford Technology Ventures
PhD in French, Stanford, 2011
Anaïs Saint-Jude is Student Engagement Manager at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship education center of the Stanford School of Engineering. She designs and runs initiatives and programs that teach the attitude, knowledge and skills necessary for engaging in the world as an entrepreneur. Anaïs collaborates closely with leaders at Accel Partners, Citi Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Stanford, and at some of the hottest startups and firms in Silicon Valley. She co-leads the Stanford Entrepreneurship Network with the Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Previously, Anaïs cofounded and ran BiblioTech, a program connecting Stanford humanities PhDs with the Silicon Valley ecosystem. Her research interests include seventeenth-century French literature, humanities education, social media, information overload, leadership, entrepreneurship, and the intersection of humanities and technology. She holds an MA in French and Humanities and a PhD in French from Stanford University.
Jeff Schwegman
Humanities and Arts Initiatives Coordinator, School of Humanities and Sciences Dean’s Office
PhD in History, Princeton, 2008
Jeff Schwegman is the Humanities and Arts Initiatives Coordinator for the School of Humanities and Sciences Dean’s Office at Stanford University. He oversees School initiatives to raise the profile of the humanities at Stanford, increase undergraduate engagement in these fields, and develop career exploration resources for majors and doctoral students. Jeff works for the Senior Associate Dean for the Humanities and Arts, Debra Satz, and collaborates with a variety of offices across campus, including the academic departments, Admissions, the Visitor Center, BEAM Stanford Career Education, the Vice Provosts for Graduate and Undergraduate Education, and the Graduate Schools of Business and Education. Prior to joining the Dean’s Office in 2014, Jeff served as an Instructional Consultant for the Center for Teaching and Learning and taught in Stanford’s freshman Thinking Matters and IHUM programs. He also held a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Max Plank Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. Jeff has a PhD in History from Princeton University (2008) and a BA in History from Stanford (2001).
Nader Shabahangi
CEO, AgeSong – From Assisted to Community Living; President, Existential Humanistic Institute; Founder of Pacific Institute for Counseling, Education and Research; Editor and Author for Elders Academy Press; Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
PhD in German Studies and Humanities, Stanford University, 1995
Nader received his Doctorate from Stanford University, is a licensed psychotherapist, and is cofounder of AgeSong. His multicultural background has fueled his passion for becoming an advocate for marginalized groups and for creating programs with the purpose of caring more comprehensively for elders. As CEO, Nader ensures that the company's vision drives its decisions and plans for elder care services. In 1992, Nader founded the Pacific Institute (PI), a nonprofit organization that defines its mission as one of helping elders live meaningful lives. Nader next became President of the Existential Humanistic Institute, a program of PI that aims to teach psychologists an existential humanistic approach - nonpathologizing, accepting attitude - to psychotherapy, in 1997. Nader has also edited and authored books for Elders Academy Press, another PI program, which seeks to encourage people to approach aging with appreciation and awareness so that aging is understood as important for our continued maturation in becoming elders. Nader is a frequent guest lecturer and presenter at international conferences focusing on aging, counseling, and dementia.
Russell Berman (Moderator)
Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities, Professor of Comparative Literature and German Studies