---

Pronouns:
She/her

---

Education:
B.S.Ed. in secondary education and English at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

---

Field of Interest:
Nineteenth century literature

---

Biography

Aj Sommer (she/her) is an English literature student and graduate teaching assistant in the M.A. program at USC. Her special interests include nineteenth century literature, psychology in literature, and gender studies. She has a background in teaching secondary education in Pennsylvania and is extremely passionate about providing an equitable learning environment for all students. In 2023 she presented work titled “The purpose of social infrastructure: Designing culturally responsive bridges in secondary classrooms,” at the “Critical Questions in Education Conference”, presented by the Academy for Educational Studies in San Diego, CA. She has also presented this work at a few local conferences in Pennsylvania. During her time at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, she won the John & Sadie Award, the Walter Nott Award, and the C&J Kutz-Wehr Award for various academic achievements in both English and education. As a first year M.A. student at USC, she is now working as a graduate teaching assistant for SEU 390 and as a graduate instructional assistant at the Writing Center. Outside of academia, she enjoys working out, practicing and performing in aerial acrobatics, and reading romantasy novels.