Graduate Fellow Montë Murphy won a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship for pursuing a course of study which requires advanced foreign language and area studies training. An Ethnochoreologist, Choreographer, Dance Educator, Filmmaker, Screenwriter, Healer, and Artist-Activist native of Raleigh, NC, Murphy leads his work with the voices and stories of his ancestors. He engages youth, underserved, and communities through creative art mediums to underserved communities and various indigenous wellness techniques. He is an archivist and preserver of Africanist cultural practices and traditions, a creator of safe spaces for artistic exploration through dance education and amplifies inclusivity of the the voices of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities.

Graduate Teaching Associate Jiara Sha won a Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme (GAHDT) Fellowship that recognizes the cross-disciplinary aspirations and academic accomplishments of graduate students in the Division of Arts and Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences. Sha specializes in contact improvisation, somatic-based dance-making, site-specific performance, participatory audiencing and dance~ecology~technology.