STRC Cohorts 2026-2027

​​​​​Each year, the STRC selects a theme that is both timely and lends itself to humanities inquiry. For 2026-2027, the theme was The Art of Change.

Faculty Cohort
faculty Symone Johnson
Faculty Research Fellow
Dr. Symone A. Johnnson
African and Black Diaspora Studies
"Making the Marvelous: Experiments in Spiritual and Political Homemaking"
faculty Julie Moody-Freeman
Faculty Research Fellow
Dr. Julie Moody-Freeman
African and Black Diaspora Studies
"'Lifting as We Climb': Contemporary African American Romance and Racial Uplift"
faculty Susana Martinez
Faculty Professional Development Fellow
Dr. Susana S. Martínez
Modern Languages
“Voices of Chicago’s Public Sanctuary Movement"
Postdoctoral  Faculty Cohort
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Camila Gavin
Taurean Webb
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Taurean Webb
Student Cohort
Graduate Student Fellow
Michelle Cisneros
Graduate Student Fellow
Dom Keith-Maher
Graduate Student Fellow
Emmanuel Flores
Graduate Student Fellow
Jabari Scott
Graduate Student Fellow
Joel Halexander-Johnson
Graduate Student Fellow
Leon Friedrich
Graduate Student Fellow
Thawng Hmung
Graduate Student Fellow
Zhi Qing Yaw
Undergraduate Student Fellow
Charisse Conrad
"TikTok, Hip-Hop, and K-Pop: The Question of Authenticity"
Undergraduate Student Fellow
Grace Fitzgerald
"Bayanihan, Politics, Power, and Marcos: An Examination of Filipinos in Chicago through Community Sponsorship and Mutual Aid, 1972-1986"
Undergraduate Student Fellow
Virginia Edwards
"Existential Liberation: Inner Purpose and Decolonial Potential"
Undergraduate Student Fellow
Nel Afenya
"Grief, Trauma, and Healing for Older Black Women"
Undergraduate Student Fellow
Jackelyn Garcia
"The Lure of Staying, Dreams of Return: Mexican Immigration and Problematizing the American Dream"
Undergraduate Student Fellow
Olivia Hanif
"What Worked, What Didn't, How to Move Forward: Learning from the Original Rainbow Coalition"