Constance Cummings is eager to bring an interdisciplinary perspective to her exploration and discussion of literature through the UChicago Master of Liberal Arts (MLA). With a background as a former project director at the Foundation for Psychocultural Research, an academic nonprofit, she was drawn to the program’s vibrant and diverse community.
Her professional journey has been instrumental in inspiring her desire to broaden her perspectives. Constance has co-edited three significant volumes with Cambridge University Press: Formative Experiences: The Interaction of Caregiving, Culture, and Developmental Psychobiology (2010), with Carol Worthman, Dan Schechter, and Paul Plotsky; Re-Visioning Psychiatry: Cultural Phenomenology, Critical Neuroscience, and Global Mental Health (2015), with Laurence Kirmayer and Robert Lemelson; and Culture, Mind, and Brain: Emerging Concepts, Methods, Applications (2020), with Laurence Kirmayer, Carol Worthman, Shinobu Kitayama, and Robert Lemelson.
Holding a PhD in Theoretical Linguistics from NYU, Constance’s extensive scholarly work has deepened her desire to expand her intellectual horizons even further. She’s now looking to enter a new phase of her educational journey that will challenge and broaden her academic experience.
“I hope to incorporate a more interdisciplinary approach into how I read, think about, and discuss literature, my area of interest,” she says.
For those considering the MLA program, Constance offers this advice: “Be prepared for a challenging but ultimately deeply fulfilling journey.”