Current Co-Editors
Elizabeth E. Hansen
Elizabeth Hansen is a 3rd year PhD student in Communication studies at the University of Iowa, specializing in interpersonal communication. She received her M.A. in communication studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her M.A. thesis explored one-sided parenting and the stress/communication implications that accompany child-rearing alone. Since attending the University of Iowa, Elizabeth’s research has explored navigating conflict, support types, and support gaps between various relationships (partners, aunts/nieces). Her research focuses on expanding how individuals provide and receive support, while identifying how communication can impact individuals’ abilities to accept provided support. When she is not teaching or researching, Elizabeth enjoys coaching speech and debate teams in and around Nebraska.
Sophia Musoki
Sophia is a second-year MA student in Geography at the University of Iowa. Using food as a medium to explore economic, social, and cultural influences on human-environmental interactions, her research explores knowledge production, formation, and transfer. Sophia found herself frequently returning to the Department of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies to explore how Political ecology is gendered. She joined Tell because she enjoys reading and writing. She believes that research should extend beyond academic circles and that it needs to be effectively disseminated to the broader public and Tell Magazine is the ideal place for her to practice these beliefs in the co-editor capacity! In her free time, Sophia enjoys listening to music, podcasts, cooking, and crocheting.
Xinyue Tao
Xinyue is a PhD student in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa. Her research uses rhetorical approaches to examine issues of global culture, public memory, and the intersections of race, gender, and national identity. She approaches these topics mostly with a focus on materiality, archival research, and experiential methods. Xinyue joined Tell Magazine because she wanted to be part of this feminist community, contributing to this space-holding, as well as maintaining and practicing holding space for every author to narrate their unique stories and share critical knowledge of feminist inquiry via various forms.
Miao Zhao
Miao is a second-year PhD student in Higher Education and Student Affairs at the University of Iowa. Her research interests are shaped by her diverse international experiences, having studied English Literature in Mainland China and completed academic programs in Taiwan and Japan. Drawing from her experience as a secondary school English teacher, she explores the intersections of educational access, international student experiences, and feminist pedagogy. She joined Tell Magazine to contribute to interdisciplinary conversations about education, gender, and cross-cultural understanding while making feminist scholarship more accessible to broader audiences. When she's not immersed in her research, Miao stays active through volleyball and jogging and unwinds with mystery novels and thriller movies.
Founders and Past Co-Editors
Kaity Lindgren-Hansen (she/her)
Kaity is a PhD student in the Religious Studies Department at the University of Iowa. Her research explores 19th-century American spiritualists and women's literary contributions to the movement. She joined Tell because she wanted to be part of an interdisciplinary team that uplifts students' work and makes scholarship accessible. When Kaity isn't researching and teaching, she enjoys reading novels, painting poorly, and spoiling her dogs, Maple and Ginkgo.
Michelle Flood (she/her)
Michelle Flood is a PhD candidate in the Communication Department at the University of Iowa. Her research analyzes the intersections of celebrity and feminism, particularly as it manifests as a component of popular feminism. She decided to join Tell because she believes it's important for graduate students to have a space where they can explore ideas outside of the conventions of academic publishing. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, hiking in the Seattle area, and chilling with her cat, Flash Flood.
Lindsey Allemang (she/her)
Lindsey Allemang is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at the University of Iowa. She researches and teaches about how gender and war co-constitute each other. Her most recent research projects examine how the deployment of women in combat roles shapes civil war duration and dynamics, including support for rebel movements and reproductive violence perpetrated within rebel groups. Lindsey joined the Tell editing team because she values the interdisciplinarity of spaces like Tell and is excited to be part of a team that encourages feminist inquiry across all academic fields. When she’s not deeply entrenched in her own studies, Lindsey enjoys doing yoga, reading novels, and finding new favorite craft beers. After moving to Iowa from Arizona, she also loves experiencing the (warmer) Midwest seasons by spending time outside with her partner and their adorable pitbull, Booger.
Jordan R. Ismaiel (they/them)
Jordan R. Ismaiel is an MFA in Painting & Drawing and obtained a certificate candidate in Gender, Women’s, & Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. They received their BA in Studio Art and Philosophy & Religion from Hastings College in rural Nebraska. Ismaiel’s practice examines desire, longing, and emotional safety through processes of self-portraiture and composite imagery, staging moments of intimacy through self-provided partnership. The broader scope of their research analyzes the intersections of race, queer theory, and contemporary art.
Aimen Hameed (she/her)
Aimen (pronounced as 'Amen' in Hozier's "Take Me to Church") is a PhD student majoring in Educational Leadership with a certificate in K-12 Equity and Inclusion and a certificate in Gender Women and Sexuality Studies (GWSS). Her academic journey has been diverse, from excelling in Sciences to experimenting with Economics to now being an Education Leadership student. One thing that remained common throughout was her passion and focus on gender. Growing up as a woman in a predominantly patriarchal society of Pakistan and navigating the global landscape as a brown woman, Aimen considers herself on a mission that extends far beyond the pages of a magazine; it is about pushing for equality and equity not just for women, but for all marginalized communities. Aimen wants the phrase "fight like a girl" – to reinvent itself, to mean the unwavering passion and effort she embodies when it comes to moving towards a just world.
Andrés Restrepo-Sánchez (he/him)
Andrés is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at the University of Iowa. His research explores reproductive justice, obstetric violence, and birth reform in Medellín, Colombia. Andrés joined Tell because he believes in the transdisciplinary work of gender and sexuality studies and in making academic writing more accessible to broader audiences. When he is not doing interviews, transcribing, or digging into old documents, he enjoys watching movies, knitting, and reading fantasy novels.
Brittany Bahl (she/her)
Brittany is a PhD student in the Communication Studies department at the University of Iowa. She studies rhetoric and public culture and her research focuses broadly on toxic rhetorics in the workplace. More specifically, she is interested in topics like the internalization of messages like “earn a living” and their implications. Her main goal in life is to build a world centered around love and kindness, in which every person knows their value is not predicated on what they produce and no one is exploited. Brittany is an idealist and genuinely believes such a world can be made possible through feminist projects and ethics. To build her own knowledge and better prepare herself to help create this world, she started working on the Graduate Certificate in Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, which is how she learned about Tell. Brittany became a co-editor because she believes in Tell’s Collective Principles. Care, kindness, and empathy are the core principles of her everyday ethics as a person, as well as her ethics as a co-editor for this magazine.
Amanda Kozar (she/her/hers)
Amanda is a PhD student in the Department of History at the University of Iowa. She is interested in U.S. feminisms of the 1970s and 80s, post-WWII political history, and the Midwest. Amanda joined Tell because she enjoys reading and editing her peers’ work and aims to contribute to an innovative and intersectional feminist campus. Outside of graduate studies, Amanda is fond of watching foreign films and television, listening to opera and early music, and visiting bookstores.
Editor-in-Chief & Associate Editors
Past and Current Peer Reviewers
Dr. Emerson Cram
Dr. Susan Birrell
Dr. Lisa Heineman
Dr. Meena Khandelwal
Dr. Marie Kruger
Dr. Ellen Lewin
Dr. Teresa Mangum
Dr. Maryann Rasmussen
Dr. Patrick Dolan