The PhD in Educational Neuroscience (PEN) Program opened its doors to the first class of Ph.D. students in Fall 2013. The ground-breaking program is thrilled to recognize the students who have graduated and/or successfully defended their dissertation and are on the way to graduation.
Athena Willis, a first year PEN program student, works with Dr. Quandt (Primary Advisor) in the Action & Brain Lab (ABL) at Gallaudet University.
Willis is from Indianapolis, Indiana, where she was mainstreamed from P-12. After a few forays into different hearing work environments as a signing deaf person, she entered Gallaudet University and earned a Bachelor of Art degree in Psychology.
As an undergraduate, Athena also worked as a research assistant on studies related to cognitive neuroscience and accessible technology.
Building on her life experiences and irresistible curiosity, Willis is currently interested in investigating embodied learning, information behaviors, and spatial and affective information, with a focus on deaf community and accessible multimodal visual information and technology.
Secondary Reader (Advisor): Dr. Poorna Kushalnagar (Gallaudet University)