Elliana Given

Aunspaugh Fifth Year Fellow

Elliana Given is from Chicago, Illinois and graduated from the University with a double major in the Distinguished Majors Program in Media Studies and American Government, as well as a minor in Studio Art. Her work is inspired by histories of social and political protest and is heavily rooted in feminist theory, critical race theory, and postmodern cultural critique, including the works of Walter Benjamin, Sarah Banet-Weiser, bell hooks, and Sianne Ngai. She explores themes of memoir, amateurishness, and digitization in order to highlight the ways in which contemporary American culture impacts ideas of truth, understanding, and storytelling, while also having fun with the absurdities and contradictions which she sees constantly popping up around her.