Celebrating the School of Media Studies Class of 2025 and Honoring Our Award Recipients
As the academic year comes to a close, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Class of 2025. Your dedication, creativity, and resilience have led to this momentous achievement, and we could not be prouder.
We also take this opportunity to recognize the outstanding accomplishments and contributions of our students, faculty, and staff throughout the year. Below is a list of special honors and awards presented during the School of Media Studies Recognition Ceremony and related events:
School of Media Studies Recognition Ceremony Awards
Student Speaker & Student Service Awardee
B.A. Williams
B.A. Williams is a Media Studies graduate who began their academic journey at The New School through the Documentary Media Studies Graduate Certificate Program, where they wrote, directed, and edited their first film, If I’m Being Honest, a personal documentary about the impacts of estrangement and generational hurt, which made its world premiere at DOC NYC 2024. Before The New School, they were a stay-at-home parent developing novel and poetry manuscripts. B.A. is currently in production on an experimental film examining the burden of performing Black womanhood through religious indoctrination and surveillance. They are also developing two short narrative scripts, Launderland and Lady, and a feature-length screenplay, No Exit. Their work explores Blackness, motherhood, and longing, with a strong emphasis on queer perspectives and emotionally resonant storytelling. They hope to see If I’m Being Honest at more festivals and start production of a short film this year.
Media Studies Distinguished Thesis Awards
Joshua Goodstein
Joshua Goodstein is a Media Studies graduate studying film musicals, camp, stardom, intersectional queer theory, and classical Hollywood. His thesis “No Requiem” argues that movie musicals survived the crash of the studio system in the 1960s in part due to how queer artists used camp sensibility to innovate the mode’s generic, aesthetic, and star conventions. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Evita” serve as case studies, illustrating how post-classical camp musicals deconstruct, subvert, and celebrate monstrosity. Joshua will begin their Ph.D. in Film & Moving Image Studies at Concordia University in Fall 2025.
Maggie Meyer
Maggie Meyer is a Media Studies graduate who researches the intersection of food, labor, and capitalism in the United States. In her scholarship, Maggie prioritizes storytelling and accessibility, informing these elements with her background in food service, social advocacy, and design. At the New School, Maggie was the 2024-2025 Media+Migration Lab Research Fellow and the Academic Food Writing Editor for the Inquisitive Eater (the New School’s food-writing literary magazine.) In the fall, Maggie will begin her PhD in American Culture at the University of Michigan. Outside of the university, Maggie loves the Great Lakes, strawberry-flavored lip gloss, and open-toed shoes.
Janay Joseph
Janay Joseph is a Media Studies graduate who focused her program on film and Black feminist media methods. She completed her undergraduate degree in History at Nova Southeastern University and directed and edited two documentary short films: “She Had a Dream” and “The Halls of Power”. Last year, she wrote and directed the narrative short film “…Please Leave Your Message,” which premiered at the Big Apple Film Festival. For her thesis, she researched labor movements on sugar plantations in South Florida during the mid-20th century. She plans on continuing her research on this region in a forthcoming documentary film.
Media Management Outstanding Capstone
Chatwan Mongkol
Chatwan Mongkol, a media management graduate, writes about student journalism for The Nutgraf, a nationally recognized newsletter he founded. His four years of journalism experience include stints at Hearst Connecticut Newspapers, Connecticut Public, GBH News, NBC Universal, and The Quinnipiac Chronicle. His previous reporting on higher education has delayed controversial zoning changes and sparked federal and state probes.
Student Service Awards
Media Management
Lucia Romero
Lucia Romero is a driven and passionate fashion professional with over three years of experience in luxury sales and merchandising. Currently, she is a Wholesale Coordinator at Coach. Fashion Merchandising graduate from The School of Fashion at Kent State University and a Media Management graduate at The New School. She is always looking for opportunities and new ways to learn more and broaden her skills in the fashion and media industry. Her Capstone project, “Expressive Luxury: Coachtopia” explores how sustainable fashion can evolve through technology-driven personalization and innovation.
Sooraj Toopalli
Sooraj Toopalli is a Media Management graduate and entrepreneur from Hyderabad, India. With a background in communication design, they built a thriving coffee brand that quickly became a local favorite. During their master’s, they focused on using media and storytelling to drive innovation. Sooraj is passionate about creating authentic brands that go beyond the product to create a lasting impact on their consumers.
Media Studies
Alissa Xhixhabesi
Alissa Xhixhabesi is a recent graduate of the Media Studies program, where she specialized in documentary storytelling, media archiving, and digital strategy. She has worked with the Albanian Institute of New York and the United Nations Development Programme, producing social media videos, managing communications campaigns, and creating multimedia content aligned with global development goals. As a filmmaker and photographer, she works primarily with analog formats such as 16mm film. She is currently an intern at the Filmmakers Cooperative and plans to continue working with avant-garde film while producing and distributing her own work.
Yu-Hsuan Wei
Yu-Hsuan Wei (Froggy) is a creative strategist and content creator with over five years of experience in digital marketing, artist management, and branding, with a strong focus on the music and entertainment industry. Her expertise spans influencer marketing, community building, and cross-cultural communication. Froggy has collaborated with global brands and media outlets, using her platform to amplify underrepresented voices and inspire international creatives. She is currently pursuing her M.S. in Media Management at The New School.
Vaishanavi Raul
Vaishanavi Raul is a Media Studies graduate with a background in filmmaking and story production. She brings over five years of experience as a Story Producer into her work as a Stage Manager and Production Photographer. Her credits include “Alexa, Play” (Edinburgh Fringe), the off-Broadway production of “Time Share” by Tanner Forbes, and an upcoming debut at the New York Theatre Festival. Vaishanavi is excited to continue stage managing and producing both theatrical and multimedia work in New York City after graduation.
Vismitha Yaji
Vismitha Yaji is a Media Studies graduate with a focus on content marketing and brand management, particularly within the publication industry. Prior to pursuing her Master’s degree, she gained a wealth of creative experience—working in retail design, contributing to a publication company, and serving as a writer and editor for various magazines. She plans to carry this passion forward after graduation, with the goal of establishing herself as a strategist and marketer, while continuing to explore creative writing opportunities.
Ruff Cuts SLI Team Award
At the 23rd Annual Narwhal Student Leadership Awards, the Ruff Cuts/Fine Cuts team was honored with the Outstanding Student Organization or Group of the Year distinction. Congratulations to all the team members for their exemplary leadership and commitment to collaborative storytelling.
Fine Cuts Annual Film Awards
A round of applause to the winners of the Fine Cuts Annual Film Awards, celebrating innovation, artistic excellence, and the cinematic voices of tomorrow.
Impact Entrepreneurship Initiative & ELab
We also celebrate the winners of the Narwhal Tank 2025, part of the Parsons Festival: Impact Ventures Showcase. These emerging changemakers are reshaping the future with vision and purpose.
Flaherty X The New School Fellowship
Congratulations to the recipients of the Flaherty-TNS Fellowship, a prestigious opportunity fostering critical dialogue and creative media practice.
Commencement Ceremony 2025 – Conferral of Honorary Degree
We are proud to announce the conferral of the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa, to esteemed filmmaker and 2024 Dorothy H. Hirshon Artist-in-Residence Christina Vachon, in recognition of her visionary contributions to the cinematic arts.
Stay tuned for updates on upcoming opportunities, including the Sinha Fellowship, Charlie Warner Fellowship, Media Studies Student Travel Grant, and new Course & Research Assistantships for Fall 2025.
A sincere thank you to the many student-led teams and working groups whose exceptional efforts helped shape this vibrant academic year:
CA/RAs, Red Dog, Ruff Cuts, Film Office, Communication and Events, Media Smart Citizens, Show and Sell, Peer Advisors, Front Desk Staff, and the Student Advisory Group.
Congratulations again to all! We look forward to all you will continue to accomplish.
Check out the appreciation posts on the SMS social media page!