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Professional Writing Minor Capstone Seminar Colloquium
4th annual Professional Writing Minor Capstone Seminar Colloquium
“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.”
-Anne Lamott
About The Event
UCLA Writing Programs and the Department of English cordially invite you to our fourth annual Professional Writing Minor Capstone Seminar Colloquium, organized as part of Undergraduate Research Week 2025. In this series of panels, students from the Professional Writing Minor (PWM) will present an exciting array of capstone seminar projects.
A new and growing minor with just eleven graduating seniors in 2020, forty-three of the PWM’s eighty-one graduating seniors in AY 24-25 will present on a rich diversity of topics that exemplify the range, depth, and individualized paths possible within the Professional Writing Minor. From Rachel Zegler to the Armenian diaspora, urban planning to the effects of SSRIs during pregnancy, students from diverse majors will share their original work in a range of genres including memoirs, websites, zines, research articles, and digital marketing campaigns.
The colloquium is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Friends, family, faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend. Join us to experience writing as an act of both communication and exploration as these emerging writers and soon-to-be graduates share their insights and discoveries.
Schedule
| Presenter | Presentation Title |
| Annika Anbiai-Fard | The Bluest Eye: Past and Present Plight |
| Matthew Beymer | A Young Actor Prepares |
| Madison Browning | Moving Puppets: Dance Theater and Vocalization |
| Angelica Catalan | Echándole Ganas: A Memoir |
| Natalie Chapin | Rags to Riches: Investigating the American Masterplot |
| Leila Chiddick | Cookbook of Memoirs |
| Danielle Cho | In Between Worlds: A Memoir |
| Naomi Chou | Across Borders, Beyond Myself |
| Jonathan Cohn | Persuasive Messaging in Hillel at UCLA’s Instagram Paid Social Outreach |
| Natalie Denhardt | Codification of Stories: Preserving and Promoting Native Hawaiian Culture Through the Legal System |
| Emmy Etlin | Shifting Gears: Reflections on Graduating College |
| Delia Falliers | Necessary Research: Long Term Effects of SSRIs in Utero |
| Miranda Fogel | From Concept to Cocktail: A Strategic Business Plan for My Alcoholic Beverage |
| Luciaceleste Garcia | Why I Wake: A Personal Search for Purpose |
| Sarah Gauger | Dreams, Seizures, and the Veil Between |
| Roxanne Ha | Persona: A Journey to Discovering My Authentic Self |
| Lucy Herlihy | The Potential of a Child |
| Micah Hoffman | Deconstructing Plot: Alternative Approaches to Storytelling |
| Ada Jack | Choosing a Major: Investigating UCLA Students’ Motivations |
| Olivia Johnson | 45 Days as a Powell’s Bookseller |
| Amariyah Lane-Volz | A Dog Returning To Vomit: A Memoir of Text Messages, Abuse, and Media Consumption |
| Sophie Lattu | Pirating and Ownership in the Arts |
| Sophia Manos | Acetabular Labral Tears in Female Collegiate Rowers: A Case Study from UCLA’s Division I Program |
| Alex McCullough | Don’t Let Me Forget: A Memoir |
| Jacob Mora | A Sexual Health Guide: Mental Health, Attitudes, and Access |
| Autumn Morgan | Black Diamond Series Bible |
| Kimberly Muro | What’s Next?: Reflections on Life After High School |
| Nicole Pacheco | Guardian Angel: A Memoir |
| Isabella Orr | Isolation Increase: An Essay Investigating the Loneliness Epidemic |
| Kristen Perez | Unbound: A Feminist Literary Review |
| Valerie Prado | Disentangling Disneyland from Anaheim: The City Beyond the Park |
| Maya Rego | 75 albums in 75 days |
| Isabel Rodriguez | From Classrooms to Sidewalks: Accessibility at UCLA & Beyond |
| Oluwadamilola Salami | Self-Discovery & Becoming Through Writing |
| Diana Sargsyan | Homeland: A Matter of Identity |
| Leah Snyderman | East and West: Place Identity in Fiction and Reality |
| Jane Sonnichsen | BADLANDS: Rise of the Female Gunslinger |
| Janelle Soriano | The Female Persona in Hollywood: Crafting Acceptable Femininity in the Age of Social Media |
| Citlali Tejeda | Beyond the Skyline: Stories from an Unseen L.A. |
| Soraya Tofighrad | An (Impolite) Lesson in Self-Empathy: A Middle Eastern American Memoir |
| Taylor Wallace | Push Your Luck: A Look into Film |
| Siena Wong | The New Yorker by Siena Wong |
| Esther Zhang | A Middle School Curricula: Writing in the Age of AI |
The PWM Capstone Seminars are led in Sp25 by Writing Programs faculty, Drs. Amber West, Dana Cairns Watson, Laurel Westrup, and Maja Manojlovic.