MA in English

Shuzon Talukdar, 2025

George Mason introduced me to a diverse set of students, professors, and thinkers that have challenged my limited view of the world and expanded it far beyond what I could have imagined. George Mason is a campus in Virginia, but a university of the world. 

What was your specific area of study and how did you choose it? 

My specific area of study was English. I switched to this from Computer Science after having done it for about three years. Despite English being the name, this field was more of a study into the mechanisms of the very way that we in the present and those in the past think about and engage with the world. English spans into geopolitics, sociology, economics, and psychology, and for that reason I wanted to study the ribbon that ties them all together. 

How did your academic experiences in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences impact you? 

It is hard to describe how massive an impact they've had. My perception of myself and the world has been completely and utterly transformed. A humanities education is not something I acquired, but something I absorbed. 

The humanities have taught me that the marker for human excellence is not technology, but culture. The way we speak to one-another, think about one-another, help one-another, or oppress one-another is what defines the quality of person that we are, and the quality of society that we live in. 

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel" -Maya Angelou 

Are there faculty or staff members who made a difference during your George Mason career?  

There are many who have made a difference; in fact, all of them have. The English department at George Mason is full of some of the most passionate, curious, learned, and kind people I've ever met. What I’ll miss most at George Mason are the teachers I’ve had, and I regret not getting to know the others. 

I would specifically like to give my thanks to Professors Amal Amireh, Hatim El-Hibri, Eric Anderson, David Kaufmann, Jackie Burek, Eric Eisner, Tamara Harvey, Jessica Hurley, Debra Shutika, Samaine Lockwood, Kyoko Mori (and her cat), Helon Ngalabak, Stephanie Rambo, Stefan Wheelock, and Jennifer Wood. A special thank you to Laura Scott for inducting me into the dark side (the humanities). 

Why did you choose George Mason for your graduate studies? 

Aside from being close by and being as affordable as American higher education can be, I chose George Mason almost entirely because the English faculty are incredible. 

I hope that this institution may adequately treasure this vanguard of human excellence. 

Which accomplishments during your time at George Mason are you most proud of? 

Every semester I would be given several final papers to write which pushed my intellectual limits, and often I honestly did not often think that I had the capability of writing them to a standard I was satisfied with. I don't know if I, or any other peer I've had, could ever say that they were proud of papers they've written. Despite being qualified and recommended, English graduate students never seem to feel like they really belong in the program, and I am no different. 

But I always felt a twinge of accomplishment when a peer or professor read over my paper, or even a draft, and told me I was approaching something interesting. 

What advice would you give to an incoming cohort of graduate students? 

Be especially forward in getting to know your peers. The people in the graduate program are fellow students with the same unique color of flame in their engines as you, so don't squander the opportunity to learn about what kind of people they are. 

What are your current career plans following graduation? What are your long-term career goals? 

I'd like to teach at a community college just as the teacher who first inspired me to pursue English did. I have absolutely no desire to pursue a PhD. 

But perhaps if the cards play out in the future...