MMUF Fellows and Alumni

Current Fellows

CLASS OF 2027

Peyton Morgan Johnson
Linguistics

Peyton Morgan is a Black Creole New Orleanian majoring in Linguistics and Anthropology. She is interested in the sociolinguistics of New Orleans and Louisiana Creoles and languages of Black folks, as well as Afrofuturist theory, and Black and Indigenous life ways. When she is not working on a messy conlang, she enjoys painting, gaming, and spoiling her cat.

Jayna Kanoholani
Ethnicity & Race Studies

Jayna, born and raised in Wailuku, Maui, is an undergraduate student majoring in Ethnicity and Race Studies with minors in Political Science and Music at Columbia College. Drawing on her identity as a Native Hawaiian, she aims to center her research around finding solidarities in histories among Indigenous communities, with particular emphasis on language revitalization and Indigenous land practices. Jayna hopes to utilize her research and pursuit of knowledge for advocacy within the Native Hawaiian community and communities alike.

Elaheh Khazi
History

Elaheh Khazi, a current sophomore at Columbia College, is majoring in History and Middle Eastern Studies and minoring in Religion. She is interested in conducting research on the Afghan American community, building off her previous work at WashU, specifically focused on reclaiming the narrative associated with her community. In the future, she hope to pursue a PhD focused on Afghan History, especially in terms of migration and the consequences of war.

Theo Martien
Creative Writing; Sociology

Theo Martien (he/they) is a transmasc student studying Sociology and Creative Writing. Their research interests include social movements, political patterns, political identity formation, and the queer/trans community. Right now, he is especially curious about the trans community’s social and political reaction to being scapegoated and the mounting threat of repression.

Michael Shavelle
English

Michael Shavelle is a sophomore in Columbia College majoring in English. He is interested in scholarship related to African American literature and analyzing its intersections with Black life and art. He is particularly interested in dance academic work and the contributions of Black artists in classical ballet.

CLASS OF 2026

Nicholas Brown
African-American and African Diaspora Studies; Sociology

Nicholas (he/him/his) is a community organizer and sophomore at Columbia College studying African American Studies and Sociology. His work interests include advocacy and scholarship centered in prison abolition, Black queer history and rights, and education reform. He is currently working as a research assistant in the Columbia Institute for Research in African American Studies.

Breanna Ellison
English; Creative Writing

Breanna is a life-long learner and creative, who, when not in dance rehearsal or listening to music, can be found working in the library, reading a book, or planning in her journal. She is an aspiring author and professor impassioned by the power of literature to capture the complexities of human experience. She is excited to explore literature as a form of personal artifact in conversation with social and historical changes.

Naomi Flowers
Political Science; African-American and African Diaspora Studies

Naomi Flowers, raised in Avignon, France and Orlando, Florida, is a second-year Kluge Scholar at Columbia University studying Political Science and African-American and African Diaspora Studies. She is particularly interested in scholarship in American politics, liberation studies, racialized space and capitalism, the Black francophone diaspora, and social movements. Alongside academia, Naomi enjoys community organizing, running, djing, and traveling.

Josiah Keys
African-American and African Diaspora Studies

Josiah is an undergraduate student majoring in African-American Studies with a concentration in History/Sociology. His research and personal interests are centered around Queer & Trans Black Political and Performance History, The role of race in the U.S Carceral/Policing system, The history of Voter Suppression laws, and Black Radical Political Thought and Movements. Josiah aims to pursue a PhD and become a professor specializing in African-American Studies, particularly in Black Queer Studies.

Ari
Ethnicity and Race Studies; English

Ari is a Chinese American student majoring in Ethnicity & Race Studies and English. They are curious about the politics of music and sound. Ari is currently interested in the role of music in Toni Cade Bambara's fiction, sonic histories of 20th-century labor organizing, and Nina Simone's piano musicianship.

MMUF Alumni

CLASS OF 2025

  • Xavier Amaro
    History
  • Asher Baron
    Sociology
  • Korrin Lee
    Ethnicity & Race Studies
  • Renee Morales
    English
  • Colin Roedl
    Urban Studies

CLASS OF 2024

  • Eli Andrade
    English
  • Hoda Elsharkawy
    Middle Eastern Studies; Political Science
  • Roberta Hannah
    African American and African Diaspora Studies; Psychology
  • Dale Mcenany
    Education Studies; Sociology
  • Kennedy Winslow
    Urban Studies

CLASS OF 2023

  • Elizabeth Clarke
    Classics; Post Colonial Studies
  • Runnie Exuma
    Comparative Literature & Society
  • Sebastian Preising
    Political Science; Mathematics
  • Harry Foster
    English; Creative Writing
  • Astrid Liden
    Latin American and Caribbean Studies

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

CLASS OF 2024

  • Eli Andrade
    English
  • Hoda Elsharkawy
    Middle Eastern Studies; Political Science
  • Roberta Hannah
    African American and African Diaspora Studies; Psychology
  • Dale Mcenany
    Education Studies; Sociology
  • Kennedy Winslow
    Urban Studies