Johanna Avila, Ph.D. student, Teacher Education

Peacebuilding Education through Critical Multimodal Literacy in the EFL Classroom

Johanna’s This research explores the integration of Peacebuilding Education into Critical Multimodal Literacy in the English as a Foreign Language classroom (EFL) in public schools in Barranquilla, Colombia. Using a mixed-methods approach, it examines EFL teachers’ and high school students’ perceptions of the role of peacebuilding education in the EFL classroom and the strategies they use (or not) for decoding and transforming violent multimodal texts.

Sarah Whitaker, MFA student, Jazz Studies

Sarah studied intensive Portuguese in Rio de Janeiro to advance her interest in Black protest musics in Brazil. She will build on her language and cultural studies in Brazil for her final public lecture and recital to complete her MFA.

Melanie N. Rodríguez Vázquez, Ph.D. student, English

Melanie was awarded a FLAS fellowship to study intensive Haitian Kreyol at Florida International University to advance her scholarship on Afro-Caribbean Literature.

Jennifer Mojica Santana, Ph.D. student, English

De norte a sur, de este a oeste: Tracing Puerto Rican Activism through Artistic and Communal Resistance

Jennifer’s project focuses on Puerto Ricans' use of art and community organizing to resist and survive colonial and state violence. The research considers visual and performance art, Afro-Puerto Rican music, and ecological-educational initiatives as case studies of resistance, survival, and world-making in the archipelago. In doing so, the aim is to trace Puerto Ricans' ability to transform art and kinship into pathways for liberation.

Mariana Romero Serra, Ph.D. student, Choral Conducting

Pedagogical Pathways to Representation: A Guide to Teaching and Performing Colombian Folk Musics in Choral Spaces

Mariana’s research explores ethical and pedagogical approaches to choral adaptations of Colombian folk music. By engaging with conductors and culture bearers in Colombia, she aims to create accessible, culturally responsive teaching resources that support more representative choral practices in North America. Her research in Colombia will shape her doctoral document, which will contain these pedagogical materials paired with research on historical and ethical considerations on the repertoire.

William Sclabassi, Ph.D. student, History

Fútbol & Politics in 1970s Buenos Aires

William’s research focuses on the Argentine dictatorship’s use of the 1978 FIFA World Cup. During summer 2026, he traveled to Buenos Aires to identify and access print media archives that house sources relevant to this study and to seek potential interlocutors for ethnographic interviews.