Area of Research Inquiry:  How do we address translation and the role it plays—past, present, and future—within the struggle for social justice and equity?

Department: Comparative Literature

Jason Araújo is Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Comparative Literature at UCLA. A first-generation college graduate, he holds a B.A. in History, summa cum laude, from the University of San Diego. Upon graduating Jason spent a year teaching kindergarten in Oakland, CA. He was then hired by the Department of Navy and moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked closely with the Office of the Secretary of Defense to execute then-President Obama’s Veterans Employment Initiative (Executive Order 13518.) After several years with the federal government, he moved to New York City where he worked on undergraduate education initiatives at Barnard College/Columbia University, specifically the role-playing curriculum Reacting to the Past. Prior to arriving at UCLA, he completed an M.A. in French and Francophone Studies at San Diego State University.

Jason is currently writing a dissertation tentatively titled “Transatlantic Triangulations” that examines the capacity for literature and culture to resist in times of war. Using three literary magazines, two French language publications and one Spanish, during the years leading up to and just after WWII he examines a network of writers and publishers producing work that was committed to the anti-fascist cause. During his time at UCLA, he has felt tremendous honor to receive various awards and distinctions including the Cota V. Robles Fellowship, the Lenart Travel Fellowship, and the university-wide Distinguished Teaching Award (2021).

Area of Research Inquiry: How do race and socioeconomic factors impact marginalized students of color in higher education?  

Department: School of Education and Informational Studies  

Xiong Her is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Higher Education and Organizational Change (HEOC) Program in the School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California-Los Angeles. His current research focus on mentoring relationships between faculty of color and graduate students of color, institutional efforts to diversifying the professoriate, DEI issues, increasing access and support for low-income and/or first-generation students, affirmative action policy, and Hmong students’ experiences in higher education. He earned his M.S. Ed. in International Educational Development from University of Pennsylvania and BA in International Affairs and Political Science from Marquette University. 

Area of Research Inquiry: How do queer folks use performance to move closer to a sense of belonging? 

Department: English

Nicole Prucha is a PhD Candidate of English at UCLA and an interdisciplinary scholar of affect theory, queer of color critique, and performance studies. Her research explores the role of loss and loneliness in queer kinship formations. In her dissertation, she turns to bits of ephemera—unrecorded live performances, newspaper clippings, handwritten letters, and even DJ sets—as evidence of how people of color, especially queer and trans folks, create community through and with absence. Nicole’s care for community, however, is clearest through her teaching and mentorship. While at UCLA, especially working for the Undergraduate Research Center, she has worked with and learned from some incredible students. They have not only inspired her work and made her a better educator, but given her some of the best music recommendations. Outside of the classroom and apart from her research, Nicole is a poet, runner, barista, plant lover, and can always be found listening to music.

Area of Research Inquiry:  How do movements on- and off-line shape social justice projects?

Department: World Arts and Cultures/Dance

Sammy Roth is a dancer, educator, and Ph.D. candidate in Culture and Performance at UCLA. Her research examines popular performance, white settler violence, and technologies of circulation. Sammy's peer-reviewed writing can be found in Performance Matters journal, the Dance in US Popular Culture volume published by Routledge, and is forthcoming in Transformative Works and Cultures journal (2025). As a dancer, she has performed at Highways Performance Space, St. Mark’s Church, Basilica Hudson, The Kennedy Center, and the European Capital of Culture Festival, among others. Sammy has held a variety of administrative positions, including producing performances at the Museum of Modern Art. She has a B.F.A. in Dance from Ohio University, M.A. in Performance Studies from New York University, and was awarded the Dance Studies Association’s Selma Jeanne Cohen Award in 2018.