Rice Graduate Student Ambassador Nina Cook

WEBSITE(S)| English Department | Humanities GSA | Nina's LinkedIn | Nina's Twitter | Nina's Instagram

Nina Cook (she/her) is a PhD candidate at Rice University. Her dissertation project, tentatively titled “Engaging Frames and Absorbing Names: The Interpolation of the Subject in Visual and Verbal Art,” explores the techniques that painters and prose writers invented at the turn of the nineteenth century to make their artworks feel real and to immerse their audience into a diegetic world. She is also interested in the Public Humanities.

Following her time with the Civic Humanist Program, an interactive program in which PhD candidates create and present Humanities-based content at local high schools in order to teach students about the relevance of the Humanities to their everyday lives, she has worked in various capacities to translate humanistic knowledge to a wider audience. In 2021, she served as dramaturge for the Rice University production of On the Verge and worked with a “Big Questions” course entitled “What is Religion?” which sought to expand and elucidate the practice and purpose of religious studies for a variety of fields.

Nina has has also held multiple interdepartmental roles on campus, including working as a Graduate Representative for the English Department and serving as a consultant and co-rep in planning recruitment events for the departments of English and Art History. She served as the Humanities Graduate Student Association President for the 2021-22 academic year, in which she advocated for graduate students interests and worked to create a space for cross-departmental collaborations and conversations. The interdisciplinary nature of her work means that she has strong connections with graduate students in other fields across the university, including within the departments of Art History, History, Philosophy, Economics, and Chemistry.

Nina loves talking about the opportunities at Rice University and the various ways in which the school strives to support its students.

Fun Fact:

I used to be a dance major during my undergrad!

Favorite thing about Rice:

The graduate student community has been super welcoming.

Favorite thing about Houston:

Super diverse city with a wide array of things to do!

Why did you decide to go to graduate school?

I decided to go to grad school because I wanted to continue expanding my knowledge through research and work on challenging problems.