Life after Stanford
Thinking of Law School? Grad School? Let three alums of Stanford’s American Studies Program help you figure it out.
Sarah Sadlier (B.A. American Studies ’15) is a JD Candidate (’22) and a History PhD Candidate (’23) at Harvard University, specializing in Native American History with a certificate in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. She quadruple majored in American Studies (with Honors), History (with Honors), Iberian and Latin American Cultures, and Political Science (secondary major) with Distinction. She completed her master’s in Modern Thought and Literature (Stanford '17) her master’s in History (Harvard '19). She is the recipient of Harvard Law School’s fully-funded merit fellowship and Harvard University’s Presidential Scholarship and Presidential Public Service Fellowship. Her work has been published in the Harvard Law Review, Harvard Law Review Online, and Tribal Law Journal. Currently, she is Vice President of the Harvard Law Review, Co-President of the Native American Law Students Association, Student Liaison for the Disability Law Students Association, Co-Director of HLS Talks, ACS Director of Professor and Practitioner Engagement, and an Admissions Fellow at Harvard Law School.
Carlos Valladares (B.A. American Studies ’18) is a writer, critic, and film scholar. He is currently in his second year as a PhD student in the departments of film and media studies and history of art at Yale University. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a joint degree in American Studies and Film and Media Studies. As the main film critic and Arts editor of the Stanford Daily, he interviewed cinematic luminaries such as Julie Dash, Steven Spielberg, Kelly Reichardt, Kate Beckinsale, Whit Stillman, and Terence Davies. As a junior, Valladares curated and wrote the wall texts for an exhibition, “Abstraction and the Movies,” at the Anderson Collection, which placed movies in dialogue with paintings from the Anderson’s permanent collection of 20th century American artists. In 2018, Valladares received the Deans’ Awards for Academic Achievement. Valladares currently has a column on film for Gagosian Quarterly. He has written for the Criterion Collection, n+1, the San Francisco Chronicle, Film Comment, and MUBI Notebook. Valladares is currently embarking on his directorial debut, a documentary on the U.S. photographer and director Jerry Schatzberg, as well as developing a screenplay inspired by the cinema of Alain Resnais. He is also writing a book on film noir. His video essay on the classical Hollywood director Vincente Minnelli was screened in competition at the 54th Pesaro Film Festival.
Professor Kathryne M. Young (B.A. American Studies ’01) teaches evidence, law and society, social psychology, and policing and surveillance at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she was a recipient of the university’s Distinguished Teaching Award. She holds a JD from Stanford Law School (2011) and a PhD in Sociology from Stanford University (2014). Professor Young’s research interests include criminal procedure, parole, legal education, access to justice, and legal consciousness. Her work has been published in the Harvard Law Review, California Law Review, Law & Society Review, Social Forces, and many other journals, and has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and Washington State Supreme Court. Her first book, How to Be Sort of Happy in Law School, was released in 2018 and was named one of Above the Law’s Distinguished Dozen Legal Reads of the year.