Melissa Stevenson

Bio

Melissa Stevenson (Stanford Class of '96) is a Lead Undergraduate Advising Director in the office of Academic Advising at Stanford, where she serves as an academic advisor for undergraduates. Her advising conversations with students include academic planning, exploring interests, identifying goals, choosing majors, assessing academic progress, connecting with faculty, enhancing study habits and other academic skills, finding opportunities for research and service, applying for grants and fellowships, navigating university requirements and policies, and other aspects of students' academic endeavors. As the first in her family to attend a four-year college, Melissa is particularly sensitive to the concerns of other first gen students.

Prior to joining Academic Advising in 2011, Melissa was a teaching fellow in the Introduction to the Humanities Program here at Stanford where she served as a teaching fellow for classes like World History of Science, Humans & Machines, and Technological Visions of Utopia. She has also designed and taught courses at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California Santa Barbara.

Melissa earned her PhD in English from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2005. Her dissertation "Conversations with Ghosts and Machines: Encounters with Technology & the (Re)definition of the Human in 20th Century Science Fiction" explored evolving definitions of the human through the lens of Science Fiction Literature and Film.

While the concern of Melissa's dissertation is science fiction, her professional interests and teaching experience include contemporary American literature, cultural studies, film theory, new media studies, short fiction, graphic narratives, and children’s and young adult literature.

Current Role at Stanford

Lead Undergraduate Advising Director

Honors & Awards

• 2016 Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award, Stanford University (2016)

Education & Certifications

• B.A., Stanford University, English (1996)
• Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, English (2005)