Brice Nordquist, A&S Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement, Associate Professor of Writing & Rhetoric

Brice is a community-engaged writing and rhetoric researcher and teacher. He works through participatory research and humanities- and arts-based programming to study and support students’ movements across contexts of learning and stages of education. He is the co-founder and co-director of the Narratio Fellowship, a storytelling program for resettled refugee youth, and the founder and director of the College of Arts & Sciences’ Engaged Humanities Network.

Lauren Cooper, Engaged Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow

Lauren Cooper (she/her) received her PhD in English from Syracuse University in May 2024. She is currently working on a book project, Climate Justice Before the Anthropocene: How Inclement Weather Shaped British and Irish Romanticism, which uses climate history to trace emergent conceptions of environmental justice in canonical and lesser-known works of British and Irish Romantic literature. Her research examines colonialism and the slave trade, class, gender, landscape aesthetics, changing conceptions of wastelands and wildernesses, and crucially, early discourses of environmental justice. She serves as a Community Program Director for Write Out programming at Girls Inc. and a collaborator with Environmental Storytelling Central New York.

Miryam Nacimento, Engaged Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow

Miryam Nacimento's doctoral dissertation, "Coca Mestiza: Small Farmers, Multiculturalism, and the War on Drugs in Colombia," provides the basis for her first book project, exploring the political struggles of impoverished small farmers who cultivate illicit coca in Colombia. Specifically, Nacimento follows these farmers as they advance their demands for cultural recognition, resist state criminalization, and attempt to survive the Colombian agrarian crisis. Nacimento’s future research will continue exploring illicit agrarian economies by focusing on how the expansion of illicit coca affects the Ticuna people, an Indigenous group living in the Peruvian Amazon. She aims to shed light upon the different experiences of dispossession the Ticuna must endure as international organized crime spreads into the Amazonian Forest, threatening Ticunas’ ancestral lands and territories.

Curtis Jewell, Engaged Humanities Graduate Research Assistant

Curtis J. Jewell is a CHamoru rhetorician and PhD student from Composition and Cultural Rhetoric (CCR). Centering Guahan (Guam), Curtis's scholarship navigates how Indigenous identity and sovereignty develop in contemporary and diasporic settings. Both his research and work with the EHN prioritize storytelling as knowledge production and an invaluable resource when working to serve our communities.

Olutoyin Grace Green, Engaged Humanities Undergraduate Research Assistant

Toyin is a junior majoring in Political Philosophy, Health Humanities, and Law, Society, and Policy. Her multidisciplinary research attempts to dissect the intersections of health access, social welfare systems, equitable resource allocation frameworks, and theories of change and revolution in marginalized communities. As a research assistant working with Southside Connections (SSC), Toyin assists in the connection of community programs throughout the Southside of Syracuse. Similar to Toyin’s interests, SSC works to address racial and socioeconomic inequities through community connection, engagement, and restoration.

Luwam Ghebremicael, Engaged Humanities Undergraduate Research Assistant

Lulu is a senior studying Political Science and Policy Studies. Her experience in the summer of 2024 with Write Out inspired her to work with the EHN. Write Out is an EHN program that works with youth in the Syracuse community to encourage creative writing. Lulu also serves as the student representative to the Board of Trustees, Director of Multicultural Affairs, President of the African Student Union, Women of Color mentoring program: Dimensions intern, and a Peer Educator for STOP Bias.

Olivia Fried, Engaged Humanities Undergraduate Research Assistant

Olivia is a junior pursuing dual majors in International Relations and Magazine Journalism. She works with Environmental Storytelling CNY and has been developing a digital and social media presence for the organization, aiming to expand its reach. Her larger research interests include Indigenous studies, multimedia storytelling, and global environmental studies. She approaches her work with the goal of amplifying and platforming marginalized voices that have systematically been ignored.

Christy Joshy, Engaged Humanities Undergraduate Research Assistant

Christy is a sophomore pursuing a dual major in International Relations and Accounting. Her research interests include international business, human rights activism, and fostering cross-cultural partnerships. In line with her focus on arts management and passion for empowerment through storytelling, she currently serves as an Undergraduate Research Assistant for the Narratio Fellowship.

Rayan Mohamed, Engaged Humanities Undergraduate Research Assistant

Rayan Mohamed is a junior majoring in film and media art with a minor in anthropology. She is interested in expanding access to filmmaking, and redefining who filmmakers are and what stories they are expected to tell. She is a 2020 Narratio Fellow and has cycled back to the program to facilitate. Additionally, she serves as a facilitator of Teens with a Movie Camera.

Justo Antonio Triana, Engaged Humanities Undergraduate Research Assistant

Justo is a junior majoring in Classics. He is a poet, and a passionate advocate for free speech on and off campus. He has published articles on the dangers of political extremism and destructive ideological tendencies. As a former Narratio Fellow and current Narratio Facilitator, he has provided support and feedback on the fellows' creative projects and exhibitions. He is the founder and director of the Symposium, a campus organization that focuses on having open, honest discussion on various interesting/controversial topics.

Aamna Khan, Engaged Humanities Undergraduate Research Assistant

Aamna Khan is a junior pursuing triple degrees in Environmental Geoscience, History, alongside Environment, Sustainability, and Policy. Her current research involves monitoring the surface water quality of nearby freshwater streams in the Valley neighborhood of Syracuse, with regards to the current I-81 highway construction along the streams. She has worked as an undergraduate research assistant since Spring 2024 and hopes to continue working on this research to better protect communities in Syracuse.

Ella Roerden, Engaged Humanities Undergraduate Research Assistant

Ella is a sophomore majoring in Anthropology and International Relations. She is working with the Southside Connections (SSC) project for the EHN. Her research includes data collection on the Southside Connections partners, working with them to collect information on what they do, how they do it, why they do what they do, and what their plans and goals are for their organizations. She hopes to further her research to learn more about how the Southside Connections partners interact with and engage with their communities.

Maeve Ryan, Engaged Humanities Undergraduate Research Assistant

Maeve is a sophomore pursuing a double major in History and Law, Society, and Policy. Her research and areas of interest include understanding systemic barriers in refugee communities and building cross-cultural relationships. She has worked with Deaf New American’s Advocacy Inc. in their CODA educational support program since her freshman year. Her work involves improving communication skills, building community relationships, and creating a positive learning environment.

Ilhy Gomez Del Campo Rojas, Engaged Humanities Undergraduate Research Assistant

Ilhy is working in the Community Stories Initiative of the Environmental Storytelling Series, and serves as an editor for Project MEND. He is a senior undergraduate Writing and Rhetoric major, with minors in Psychology and Creative Writing. He is interested in research regarding green criminology, LGBTQ+ visibility, Latine representation, and media studies.

Kaylee Ramirez, Engaged Humanities Undergraduate Research Assistant

Kaylee is a senior majoring in Writing and Rhetoric with a minor in Information Management and Technology. She serves as an editor and social media manager for Project MEND. Passionate about digital media, Kaylee is dedicated to exploring ways to engage audiences and connect diverse communities through storytelling. Her research interests include immigration, urban poverty, and the intersection of technology and society.