Engineer crunches literary data to seek truth about fiction

by Eric Quiñones
Katy Milkman found inspiration for her senior thesis by exploring the roots of American fiction, but thinking like an engineer.

Milkman, who is concentrating in the Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering and pursuing a certificate in the Program in American Studies, took a course last spring on American short stories. Elaine Showalter, now an emeritus professor of English, emphasized to the students that fiction writers often use themselves as models for their characters.

Searching for a thesis topic that would combine her interests in engineering and literature, Milkman was intrigued by Showalter's theory. "As someone who is used to thinking about things analytically and using statistics, the question arose in my mind whether this was something that could be quantified: Could you test the hypothesis that short fiction is autobiographical?" she said.

Based on Showalter's advice, Milkman decided to pursue the question by researching stories published in The New Yorker magazine, which she described in her thesis as "arguably the world's compass for defining the best modern short fiction." She broadened the scope of her research to include questions about whether fiction published in The New Yorker is affected by editorial changes at the magazine and which segments of society are represented in the stories.

"I always have wanted to do things that use both sides of the brain, and I don't think I could have chosen a better topic," said Milkman, a native of Washington, D.C., who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in business. "It's been perfect, in that it contains challenging math and challenging literary analysis."

Read the full story in the Weekly Bulletin.