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Dr. Michael Kightley is an associate professor and co-director of graduate studies in English. Their research focuses on medieval English literature and medievalism — the study of modern re-imaginings of the medieval period.

The Graduate School has selected Kightley as a recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Master’s Mentor Award.

“In addition to department-level mentoring work, which they have done diligently, they previously served on the Graduate Council and were active on subcommittees in that body,” says Clancy Ratliff, professor and assistant department head for the Department of English. “They care very deeply about mentoring students and supporting students’ work.”

Kightley’s record of service includes serving as the first co-chair of the Graduate Council’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion standing committee and running workshops on inclusive graduate admissions practices with the Graduate School and the Office for Campus Diversity.

Knightley’s philosophy of mentorship centers on “how helping the community helps the individual and how helping the individual can help the community.”

To this end, they are guided by the principle that graduate students benefit from “multiple mentors of multiple kinds.”

In addition to graduate coordinator duties, Kightley took the opportunity to redefine the role of the department’s Placement Committee Chair, improving training and mentoring for students as they transition into the job market by providing a year-long series of workshops.

“Not being needed as a direct supervisor isn’t a reason not to be a mentor: rather, it is a reason to find (or invent!) other avenues to contribute to a healthy community of mentorship,” they note.

Kightley also uses their students’ experiences to improve departmental and University systems, such as implementing a hearing and committee review system within the English department for graduate student issues.

Promoting inclusivity and equity is key to their sense of responsibility towards graduate students. 

“A graduate community that fosters access to students from underrepresented communities, as well as their success once they are here, enriches the program for all students, regardless of background,” Kightley says.

“Equity for one is equity for all, so place extra focus on the least privileged and everyone will benefit.”