Catherine Pabalate is a junior double-majoring in English and comparative literature and biology within the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. She studies how responsibilization — a rhetorical phenomenon where practitioners deem their patients knowledgeable enough to make appropriate medical decisions — can strain the doctor-patient relationship and influence patient mental health.
Q: How did you discover your specific field of study?
A: Before attending college, I believed I wanted to go into public health research, though I was also interested in studying English and rhetoric. During my first semester at UNC, I enrolled in ENGL 268: Medicine, Literature, and Culture with Jane Thrailkill. This class was focused on studying health-based narratives and sociocultural issues within health and medicine. Through this course, I learned about a subdiscipline of English known as health humanities — a field dedicated to pursuing issues in medicine through humanities methodologies.
I fell in love with the course, as well as the broader field. I was able to participate in conversations about health while also focusing on literature. In the following year, I joined the health and humanities lab, called HHIVE, where I met a team of ambitious, dedicated researchers who were involved in similar fields of study. Through HHIVE, I felt as if I had a physical space that nurtured and encouraged my academic interests.
Q: Academics are problem-solvers. Describe a research challenge you’ve faced and how you overcame it.
A: At the beginning of my undergraduate research fellowship, I was reaching out to academic libraries for guidance. My research required commercials and video advertisements as primary sources, so I was looking for a library aide who could help me scour archives for materials. Because my research focused on a preventative medication that was FDA-approved in 2012, the librarians returned my emails with apologies, explaining that my sources weren’t available within their archives on account of their recent release dates. As a result, I was left to my own devices.
Using my prior research on pharmaceutical companies that produced the medication, I acquired my sources through the internet. The process was tedious, but I eventually retrieved what I needed to conduct my rhetorical analysis. I’m glad I was able to face the challenge on my own, but in the future, I plan to seek out research materials collaboratively to make sure I form the most accurate, holistic database of sources.
Q: Describe your research in five words.
A: Medicine has a voice too.
Q: Who or what inspires you? Why?
A: My English professors and their dedication to their research. As an English major, I’ve had people tell me that English is a “useless” major, and since I’m at the beginning of my academic career, these comments can make me insecure. But my professors have demonstrated the beauty, complexity, and synergy of humanities research.
Through my coursework, I’ve discovered a true passion for learning that has encouraged me to pursue higher education. I’ve learned about numerous avenues of English research, from comparative literature to digital rhetoric, each with dozens of devoted academics. My professors remind me that my field is still flourishing with innovative research questions and scholarly conversation, which motivates me to follow my desired career path.
Q: If you could pursue any other career, what would it be and why?
A: My ultimate career goal is becoming an English professor, but if I had to choose another pathway, I would become an author. I’ve always enjoyed writing stories, mainly as a means of giving a tangible body to my rambling ideas. If I had the opportunity, I would publish mystery and thriller novels.