Antara Das  

A graduate of India's Delhi University, with degrees in both English Literature and Education, Antara Das recently received her M.A. in Liberal Studies (2008). Her project, "Corporate Social Responsibility Communication on the Internet: Assessing Socially Responsible Messages on Corporate Web Sites," was written with the supervision of Dr. Alan Freitag of UNC Charlotte's program in Communication Studies. Antara's project drew on her skills in cultural and social analysis, and wove them together with an analytical review of how corporations profile their "socially responsible" activities. The thesis thus considers issues of new media, of advertising/communication, and of cultural resonance in a manner that is uniquely suited to M.A.L.S.

Donya Lucas  

Donya Lucas, who was born in Vernon, British Columbia, received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from UNC Charlotte (and completed a minor in Women's Studies as well). Donya continues her creative work and her work has been exhibited at The ArtHouse Gallery (3103 Cullman Avenue, 704.577.4587).

Donya has worked at CPCC, teaching ESL and Family Literacy, as an instructional lab facilitator and instructor.

Having completed her M.A. in Liberal Studies, Donya is now pursuing a Ph.D. in "conflict management" at UNC Greensboro.

While many of her interests are in the creative arts, including painting and mixed media visual arts, her artistic pursuits are closely tied to environmental and social issues. Her artwork thus reflects a cross-disciplinary approach to expression and and social activism.

For her M.A. thesis Donya drew on her many courses in philosophy in an effort to explore how existentialism might be form a useful component in the education of recent immigrants and students at the margins of conventional social structures.

Manabu Yoshinaga  

Manabu Yoshinaga was born in Tochigi, Japan, a city about 25 miles north of Tokyo. She received her BA in English at Kanda University of International Studies (sometimes abbreviated as KUIS) in Chiba, Japan.

Before coming to the United States, Manabu was an event director and an English-Japanese translator in Tokyo. While in North Carolina, Manabu has been an "Au Pair" and eventually began the MALS program in Fall 2004.

Manabu's wide ranging interests include gender studies and humor. Her approach to humor is an a very engaged one. She began performing stand-up comedy in Charlotte in June 2005 and has been performing regularly since that time at venues like Charlotte's SK NetCafé on Elizabeth Avenue.

The "mechanics" of comedy and gender are at the core of Manabu's thesis, which explores the differences in the delivery and reception of comedy.

Manabu has worked for AISIN Automotive Casting, Inc. in London, Kentucky since her graduation, but she frequently returns to Charlotte, particularly for gallery shows of her photography.