This event features three Classics alumni who have gone on to work in a wide-range of occupations.
From graduate student to law student, from Google employee to government and non-profit work, these three former students have covered a lot of territory!
Bryce Carpenter is a committed education reformer. He currently works as a senior program officer and manager of Veterans Legacy Program for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In his present capacity, he promotes and supports scholars in creating innovative humanities research opportunities for graduates and undergraduates. Prior to joining VA, Carpenter served on faculty in the Montana State University Department of Education for twelve years, where he advanced research and professional practice for educational professionals at all levels with a focus on surpassing the challenges of rurality. Carpenter also worked as a K-12 teacher of Latin, Greek, and History. Carpenter earned his BA in History from the University of Washington and his MA and PhD in Classics from the University of Wisconsin—Madison.
Phoebe Kasdin is a George Kaiser Family Foundation Women's Justice Fellow at Still She Rises, Tulsa. Still She Rises is the first public defender office in the country dedicated exclusively to the representation of mothers in the criminal justice system. She graduated from UCLA School of Law in May 2018 where she was a student in the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy. Prior to law school, Phoebe was an Americorps member at an elementary school in San Francisco for one year and then worked for two legal services organizations – OneJustice in San Francisco and Legal Action of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Phoebe was first drawn to public service during college. She had the opportunity to intern for both a state senator in Madison and a U.S. senator in Washington, D.C. These experiences were inspiring and motivated her commitment to give back to others.
Ben Emmrich worked for nearly ten years at Google in a variety of sales, operations and business development roles. He recently joined a start-up called Shippo as their Director of Strategic Partnerships. Ben credits the work ethic he honed through his education at UW as what has enabled him to achieve his goals. His efforts learning challenging languages like Latin and Greek inspired persistence and creativity which he also cites as contributing to his success.