Current Fellows
CLASS OF 2024
Eli Andrade
English
Eli Andrade is a proud first-generation, low-income, Mexican-American student at Columbia University. As an English major, they enjoy devouring books—anything from classic literature to young adult novels helps satiate their cravings for knowledge. Indeed, their research centers on youth literacy and the power YA novels have to craft discourse surrounding queer relationships, race, and ethnicity. When they’re not writing essays for class, they enjoy eating delicious tamales, listening to rock music, and petting fluffy cats. In the future, they hope to become an academic who champions education accessibility for all.
Hoda Elsharkawy
Middle Eastern Studies; Political Science
Hoda Elsharkawy is a rising junior double majoring in Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science. She was born and raised in Jersey City and is of Egyptian, Palestinian, and Moroccan descent. Her research—while in its early stages—engages with literature to explore the conception and actualization of prison and its application in the US and Middle East. After graduation, Hoda hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in (drum roll, please) Arab and Islamic Studies.
Roberta Hannah
African American and African Diaspora Studies; Psychology
Roberta Hannah is an African American and African Diaspora Studies and Psychology student from Massachusetts. She is interested in studying the spread of gang culture through social media and its impact on consumers.
Dale Mcenany
Education Studies; Sociology
Dale is from San Diego, California (by the border) and studying sociology and education. Besides majoring in Education Studies and Sociology, Dale is trying to learn Arabic and how to take care of my plants.
Kennedy Winslow
Urban Studies
Kennedy is a fan of rap (and its many forms) and is interested in engaging with the genre academically by examining the importance of place and experience in rap music to create a geography of carceral trauma in Black American communities. She is also interested in working with GIS technologies and qualitative sources to better represent marginalized people and places not served by a reliance on quantitative data. When she is not thinking about maps or music, she is keeping busy baking, knitting, or roller-skating.
CLASS OF 2023
Elizabeth Clark
Classics
Lizzie is a proud queer, Mexican, and first-generation/low-income student studying Classics and Art History at Columbia. In her research, Lizzie is particularly interested in looking at applications of postcolonial scholarship and gender theory when studying ancient mythology, identity-formation in the Roman provinces, and the later reception of Classics by cultures beyond the Mediterranean. In addition, Lizzie is invested in researching how anti-racist and queer-inclusive pedagogy can make Latin and Greek curricula more accessible and inclusive for beginning language students. When Lizzie isn’t scratching her head over a page of Latin or Greek, Lizzie enjoys maintaining her art portfolio with paintings and multimedia collages, meandering through art museums, and volunteering as a debate coach at various public schools in NYC.
Runnie Exuma
Comparative Literature and Society
Brooklyn born and bred, Runnie is a Haitian-American cultural worker, organizer, and abolitionist committed to spreading love the Brooklyn way. She is interested in studying decolonial thought, Caribbean literatures, Black feminist scholarship, as well as creole languages, cosmopolitanism, memory, and revolution in the Caribbean and Latin America, to explore how they can help shape and inform abolitionist imaginaries and practices. Additionally, she is interested in doing translation work in Haitian kreyòl, cultivating mutual aid practices, helping develop political education curriculums, and transnational organizing. She is a dual degree student at Columbia and Sciences Po, majoring in Comparative Literature and Society. Runnie believes in the power of a good bacon ,egg, and cheese, and loves cooking, listening to music, travelling, and taking long walks.
Harry Foster
English; Creative Writing
Harry Foster is a Marine veteran in the School of General Studies with a passion for heroic literature. He's excited to take an academic approach with his childhood fascination of comic books and superheroes. He hopes to extrapolate a new perspective on the make up and portrayal of black heroes in both conventional African-American literature and in modern storytelling mediums.
Astrid Liden
Human Rights; Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Astrid Liden is a Columbia College student from Minnesota studying Human Rights, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies, with a focus on political science and migration. She is a first-generation Venezuelan in this country, and her academic and personal interests center on the Venezuelan migration crisis, specifically on children and vulnerable communities. She hopes to pursue research that looks at the evolution of adolescent migration from Venezuela and how the migratory family in a political, historical, and societal form transforms over time and the impact this migration crisis has on the future of the region.
Sebastian Preising
Political Science
Sebastian is an undergraduate at Columbia College ('23) studying Political Science and Mathematics. Sebastian is interested in researching the use of narratives in early 20th century European governments to influence voting behavior and direct public opinion. In his free time, Sebastian loves going to used bookstores, playing chess with friends, and exploring New York City.
MMUF Alumni
Class of 2022
- Jaala Alston
Ethnicity and Race Studies; Economics - Diogene Artiles
Comparative Literature & Society - Tyler Campbell
African-American Studies; Creative Writing - Ariana Orozco
Ethnicity and Race Studies; Medicine, Literature, and Society
CLASS of 2021
- Yosan Alemu
Comparative Literature & Society - Cassidy Nichole Gabriel
Political Science; History - Abigail Hickman
Political Science; Anthropology - Payton Johnson
Sociology - Isabel Sepulveda
English; Ethnicity & Race Studies
CLASS OF 2020
- Keziah Trine Anderson
History - Nicole Leon Elvir
Political Science; Drama and Theatre Arts - Samuel George Hennison Powell
Classics - Angelo Miguel Hernandez-Sias
English; Creative Writing - Alan Burnett Valverde
English
CLASS OF 2019
- Sofia Nina-Bernardes Martins
- Jorge Antonio Ochoa
- Donovan Redd
- Andrew Joseph Suarez
Class of 2018
- Maia Collins
- Mamasa Dukureh
- Alyssa Mendez
- Sydney Pickens
- Migueyli Rivera
Class of 2017
- Ashleigh Cartwright
- Carmen Ervin
- Breanna Leslie-Skye
- María Muratalla Maes
Class of 2016
- Ashley Casiello
- Lorenzo Gibson
- Isabel Iturrios-Fourzan
- Elan Pochedley
Class of 2015
- Kelly Luis
- David Luna
- Lauren Rangel
- Giovanna Sánchez-Esquivel
- Shondrea Thornton
Class of 2014
- Keyanah Freeland
- Marvellous Iheukwumere
- Tamar Nisbett
- Marlen Rosas
Class of 2013
- Jennifer Alzate
- Maryam Aziz
- Rebecca Clark
- Gerard Ramm
- Devyn Tyler
Class of 2012
- Daniel Alonso
- Louisa Levy
- Michelle Rosales
- Nataly Sauceda
- Daniel Valella
Class of 2011
- Juan Lamata
- Alex Moll
- Albert Rigosi
- SaraEllen Strongman
Class of 2010
- Destin Jenkins
- Paige Johnson
Class of 2009
- Maria Abascal
- Courteney Ervin