Thirteen Florida State University graduate students distilled years of research into just three minutes at the annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT™) competition on April 8 in the College of Medicine Peaden Auditorium.

Developed at the University of Queensland in Australia, 3MT is a research communication competition designed to enhance participants’ skill in articulating their research clearly to an audience that may not have specialist knowledge in the subject area.

“This competition gives graduate students a chance to practice the way they think about their research and how to package it for a variety of different audiences,” said Keith McCall, acting director of the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards. “It’s critical because our graduate students are doing amazing work on a lot of groundbreaking things, and we want people to know about that work. We want our graduate students to be able to go out and talk about their work, feel comfortable doing that and feel empowered to do that.”

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Florida State University recognized graduate student achievement and leadership at the Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence, sponsored by The Graduate School and the Congress of Graduate Students, on April 6 at the FSU Alumni Center.

The celebration honored graduate students who have earned external fellowships and grants and those who have excelled in teaching, mentorship, leadership, participation in public discourse, and research and creative activity. Faculty mentors were also recognized for their work with graduate students.

“Florida State has attracted some of the top graduate students from Florida, from around the United States and from around the world,” said Steve McDowell, interim dean of The Graduate School. “Graduate students are central to undertaking FSU’s important missions of education, research and creative inquiry, and service.”

So far during the 2025-2026 academic year, FSU graduate students have won 135 national fellowships and grants, higher than last year’s near record of 131. That number is expected to grow and includes recognition and funding from the National Science Foundation, the American Heart Association, the National Institutes of Health, the Fulbright Program, the Florida Legislative and Gubernatorial Fellows programs and the McCain Global Leaders Program.

“Graduate funding opportunities are competitive by nature, and so it is a testament to the strength of FSU’s graduate programs and, most importantly, our graduate students, to have this number of externally funded students in a year,” said Keith McCall, assistant director of the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards.

The event kicked off Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week, a national observance FSU celebrates with a series of events focused on recognition, professional development, wellness and community connection.

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Florida State University earned national recognition for its online graduate programs in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs rankings, with 13 degree-granting distance-education programs receiving “Best” status when the rankings were released Tuesday.

FSU’s strongest results remain concentrated in education and information technology, where several programs ranked among the nation’s Top 10 overall and among public universities.

The School of Information continued to post one of the university’s strongest showings. The online master’s program in information technology ranked No. 8 overall and No. 5 among public universities, while also earning a Top 5 ranking for veterans, placing No. 5 nationally and No. 4 among publics.

Education programs in the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences again earned multiple Top 10 rankings. The online master’s program in curriculum and instruction ranked No. 3 nationally, maintaining its position among both public and private institutions. Special education ranked No. 7 overall, as did educational and instructional media design.

The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering also earned national recognition for its online graduate offerings. The online graduate engineering program ranked No. 38 among all universities, while the online graduate engineering program for veterans ranked No. 22 nationally.

The College of Criminology and Criminal Justice also remained a national leader. Its online graduate program ranked No. 12 overall and No. 7 among public universities, keeping the program firmly within the top tier nationwide.

Online graduate business programs in the Herbert Wertheim College of Business earned continued recognition, ranking No. 18 overall in the Best Online Graduate Business Programs category. The online MBA program ranked No. 21 nationally and No. 16 among programs serving veterans. The graduate business category includes a range of non-MBA master’s degrees, including programs in accounting, business analytics and supply chain management.

FSU also performed well in rankings for military-affiliated students, earning Top 10 and Top 25 placements across information technology, education and business disciplines.

The U.S. News & World Report rankings assess online programs based on student engagement, faculty credentials, academic services and peer evaluations.

More information about Florida State University’s online graduate programs is available at distance@fsu.edu.

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Florida State University’s College of Fine Arts and the Department of Art Education have announced a new fully online Master of Arts program in arts administration, launching in fall 2026. 

Home to the nation’s oldest arts administration program, FSU has long been an innovator in the field. By combining rigorous coursework with close collaboration with FSU’s Askew School of Public Administration and Policy as well as its world-class arts programs, the program offers a wealth of experiential learning opportunities and the ability for students to design a framework for their degree that fits their unique professional goals. 

“The online MA in arts administration is designed to serve the rising generation of leaders in the arts no matter where they are, helping them reach the next level in their professions and advancing the skills they need to make a strong and lasting impact on the industry and in their communities,” said Trevor Meagher, assistant professor and director of the new program. “We’re incredibly excited to welcome our first cohort of online arts administration master’s students this fall.” 

This new online program was designed with working professionals in mind, offering students the opportunity to study with FSU’s world-class faculty while continuing their work and furthering their careers in museums, orchestras, theaters or other arts institutions throughout Florida and around the world. 

Courses in this interdisciplinary program build the essential skills for tomorrow’s arts leaders, covering cultural policy, development and grant writing, leadership, financial management and more. 

Applications for the program’s inaugural class are now open, and prospective students are encouraged to apply by Feb. 1, 2026. 

To learn more about this program and others offered by FSU’s Department of Art Education, visit arted.fsu.edu/programs.  

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The Graduate School at Florida State University and the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards have announced the winners of the annual Graduate Student Op-Ed Competition, an initiative designed to spotlight the written communication skills of graduate students across disciplines. 

This year’s competition, funded by the Congress of Graduate Students, drew 51 submissions from students representing a wide range of academic programs. Five students were recognized with top awards in categories such as “Best Explanation of a Complicated Subject” and “Best Use of Evidence,” while five others received honorable mentions for their outstanding work. 

“The Op-Ed Competition is about empowering graduate students to share their research and perspectives with a broader audience,” said Keith D. McCall, acting director of the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards. “It’s encouraging to see so many students step up to the challenge of translating complex ideas into accessible, persuasive writing. Their voices are vital to public discourse.” 

2025 awardees: 

Best Explanation of a Complicated Subject  

Savoya Simone Joyner

Doctoral student in the Department of Psychology; Program in Neuroscience 

“The Key to Solving Sex Differences in Obesity Lies in Women’s Brains — If We Choose to See It” 

Joyner argues that understanding women’s brain biology could transform approaches to obesity research and treatment. The piece calls for a shift in scientific priorities to address sex-specific factors that influence weight and health outcomes.  

A Raleigh, North Carolina native, Joyner chose Florida State University for its interdisciplinary training and strong mentorship culture. She works with Lisa Eckel, director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology, whose research on sex differences and ingestive behavior, estrogen signaling and obesity, aligns with Joyner’s interests in how estradiol shapes feeding circuits and metabolic outcomes. 

“Science hasn’t always felt accessible to me — I grew up without scientists around me,” Joyner said. “Winning this award is not just recognition for an op-ed — it’s affirmation that taking a complicated scientific idea and making it clear, human, and accessible truly matters. It means I get to be the voice I wish I had growing up: breaking things down and showing that science is something anyone and everyone can understand and belong to. It validates that communication is just as essential as experimentation, and that making science accessible isn’t optional — it’s necessary.” 

Best Use of Evidence 

Suzy Ji 

Doctoral student in the Department of Educational Psychology & Learning Systems; Counseling Psychology and School Psychology (Combined Ph.D.) 

“Stop Treating Asian American Students as a Monolith” 

Ji emphasizes that Asian American students are far from a single, uniform group. Drawing on research, the op-ed calls for educators and counselors to recognize cultural and individual differences to better support academic success and mental health. 

Originally from Qidong City, Jiangsu Province, China, Ji chose Florida State University for its combined Counseling Psychology and School Psychology Ph.D. program, which offers research-driven and practice-focused training. She was especially drawn to working with advisers Lyndsay Jenkins and Elaine Luo, whose research interests align closely with her own. 

“I’m grateful for the chance to share a perspective that often goes unheard — that Asian American students are not a monolith,” Ji said. “Many young people feel unseen behind stereotypes, and being able to use evidence to highlight our experiences felt deeply important to me. Writing this op-ed reminded me why I care so deeply about this work, and I hope it encourages others to think critically about how we support students.” 

Best Call to Action 

Sarah Lovins Bacani 

Master’s student at the College of Social Work; Social Work.  

“The Hidden Curriculum of Care” 

Lovins Bacani calls attention to the overlooked aspects of undergraduate student development viewed through the lens of social work, advocating for a stronger focus on empathy and human connection. The op-ed argues that these elements are essential for effective practice and should be embedded in professional preparation. 

Originally from Chipley, Florida, Lovins Bacani chose Florida State University because of its strong commitment to student success and community engagement.  

“FSU is home,” she said. “I earned my undergraduate degree and met my husband here. I also work for the Department of Undergraduate Studies and have been honored to dedicate a significant portion of my professional career to the success of our undergraduate students. Continuing my academic journey at FSU felt like a natural extension of that commitment.” 

Best Organized Op-Ed 

Rachel Flemming 

Doctoral student in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics; Spanish Linguistics. 

“Research-Based Teaching Helps Students Get the Most from Language Requirement” 

Flemming argues that evidence-based teaching methods transform language requirements from a checkbox into a meaningful learning experience. The op-ed highlights strategies that boost engagement and long-term proficiency. 

A Tallahassee native, Flemming chose to attend FSU because of its commitment to excellence in research methodology. After graduation, she plans to pursue a teaching position to continue teaching Spanish and Linguistics and continue to research effective language teaching methods. 

“Winning this award is an honor that reflects the efforts I have made to communicate clearly about my research,” she said. “Writing in this style was definitely outside of my comfort zone, but I value being able to help people understand why research on language teaching is needed. This was a rewarding experience that helped me to refine my communication skills, and I hope other graduate students will be inspired by this piece, and will try it in future years.” 

Most Persuasive Op-Ed 

Athena Thai 

Doctoral student in the Department of Psychology; Clinical Psychology. 

“Social Media Isn’t Perfect—But It’s Not the Villain” 

Thai challenges the narrative that social media is inherently harmful, pointing to its role in supporting relationships and community. The op-ed calls for a nuanced perspective that weighs its positive and negative impacts. 

Thai, originally from Morris Plains, New Jersey, chose to attend Florida State University for its plethora of resources for research and mentorship from distinguished professors. After graduation, Thai aspires to become a tenure-track professor, achieving a balance between teaching, research and clinical practice. 

“This experience has been really valuable to me because one of my goals as a researcher is to make our findings relevant and accessible to the public,” she said. “My hope is that people will increasingly rely on science to inform their stances on the issues that matter to them.” 

Honorable Mentions 

Best Use of Evidence 

Coreine Rainford 

Doctoral student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning; Urban and Regional Planning 

Most Persuasive Op-Ed 

Gallage Ariyaratne 

Doctoral student in the Department of Biomedical Sciences; Biomedical Sciences. 

Best Call to Action 

Md Sazzad Mahmud Shuvo 

Doctoral student in the School of Communication; Communication. 

Best Explanation of Complicated Subject 

Rimil Guha Roy  

Doctoral student in the Department of Biological Science; Neuroscience. 

Best Organized Op-Ed 

Tzu-An Chiang  

Doctoral student in the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy; Public Administration and Policy 

“We hope this competition continues to grow and encourages more students to share their stories and solutions,” McCall said. “Congratulations to all who participated. Because of the research and perspectives shared in this competition, we are all better informed.” 

For more information, contact the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards at ogfa.fsu.edu. 

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Two Florida State University graduate students have earned scholarships from an international women’s organization recognizing academic excellence by high-achieving doctoral students.

Clinical psychology doctoral student Morgan Robison and history doctoral student Danielle Wirsansky, both from the College of Arts and Sciences, have received 2025-2026 Scholar Awards from the Philanthropic Educational Organization, or P.E.O., a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting women through education.

“Morgan and Danielle’s success reflects the caliber of their work and the strength of FSU’s graduate programs,” said Adrienne Stephenson, director of FSU’s Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards. “By investing in these women scholars, P.E.O. empowers individual success while driving meaningful progress in research, leadership and innovation across disciplines.”

Founded in 1869 by seven female university students, P.E.O. has helped more than 125,000 women worldwide pursue their goals by providing upwards of $435 million in educational assistance. First awarded in 1991, P.E.O. Scholar Awards are highly competitive merit-based scholarships providing up to $25,000 for one year of study and research by women who will make significant contributions in their fields. Of the 776 women nominated by local P.E.O. chapters this year, Robison and Wirsansky are among only 100 honorees nationwide.

Robison, a rising fifth-year doctoral student in the Department of Psychology, conducts research on suicide risk, intervention and prevention in the Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Suicide-Related Conditions and Behaviors under the mentorship of Thomas Joiner, Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology and the director of FSU’s Psychology Clinic.

“The award brings valuable visibility to our work, which is an essential step in advancing suicide prevention research,” Robison said. “Receiving this generous scholarship is humbling and exciting. It will directly support my research and ease the financial transition into my clinical internship year.”

Robison’s work suggests that one’s perception of themselves — shaped by how they psychologically and neurobiologically interpret external, interpersonal experiences such as social exclusion — influences mental health outcomes more than the interactions themselves.

Suicide prevention research and identifying those most at risk is increasingly critical as suicide rates have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for minorities, with 2024 marking the highest rate of suicide in the U.S. since 1941, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“This work is deeply informed by philosophy, social psychology, history and neuroscience with each field offering a distinct lens on how we define and express our humanity as well as how that humanity can be diminished or denied,” Robison said. “I apply these perspectives in clinical psychology to better understand how we can foster belonging through our shared human experience, ultimately preventing serious mental health outcomes.”

“By investing in these women scholars, P.E.O. empowers individual success while driving meaningful progress in research, leadership and innovation across disciplines.”

– Adrienne Stephenson, director of FSU’s Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards

Also entering the fifth year of her program, Wirsansky is a doctoral student in the Department of History working under the mentorship of Nathan Stoltzfus, an FSU emeritus professor of history.

Wirsansky’s dissertation explores the experiences of World War II spies and focuses on women who served in the British Special Operations Executive and were captured by Nazis. By examining how gender shaped their recruitment, training, treatment in captivity and postwar memory, Wirsansky’s work illuminates how female spies navigated and challenged the gender norms of their time.

“Every time I uncover a letter, a photograph or a personal story, I feel like I am restoring part of their legacy,” Wirsansky said. “I want the public to recognize and honor the courage and contributions of these often-overlooked women, many of whom risked everything in service of freedom and resistance.”

Wirsansky also earned a 2024 Fulbright Study/Research Award from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, funding her present archival research on female World War II spies at the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem, Israel. This work not only expands upon existing knowledge of the past, but it also informs current and future understanding of how gender plays into wartime dynamics.

“I was thrilled and honestly a little stunned when I found out I received the P.E.O. Scholar Award,” Wirsansky said. “Graduate school can be financially and emotionally demanding, especially in the final stages of dissertation writing. This award helps me begin my career on solid footing with fewer obstacles and greater momentum.”

For more information about graduate fellowship and award opportunities, visit the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards at ogfa.fsu.edu.

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Florida State University’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy (COSSPP) and College of Communication and Information (CCI) now offer a graduate certificate in Digital Applied Social Science (DASS) to address complex social science questions using cutting-edge digital tools and ethical frameworks. Graduates of the DASS program will be uniquely prepared for impactful careers at the intersection of data science and social science, with opportunities in various fields including social research, public policy, marketing, communications, business intelligence and academia.

“The Digital Applied Social Science graduate certificate provides students with insights into and hands-on experience with AI and big data on issues central to the social science and policy fields,” said Tim Chapin, dean of COSSPP. “This new certificate ensures that students are well-equipped to work on social and policy problems using the latest tools and frameworks, and that they enter the modern workforce with the skills and confidence to tackle these challenges.”

This 18-credit graduate certificate includes four core courses and two electives, teaching students how to gather data from databases, crowdsourcing and application programming interfaces (APIs). It also builds essential skills in data management, analysis and visualization to ensure accurate and efficient results.

Hands-on training in computational tools, such as network analysis, natural language processing and artificial intelligence (AI), prepares DASS students to engage with social challenges thoughtfully and effectively.

“This new certificate ensures that students are well-equipped to work on social and policy problems using the latest tools and frameworks, and that they enter the modern workforce with the skills and confidence to tackle these challenges.”

– Tim Chapin, dean of FSU’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy

The program embraces an “ethics as practice” approach, which embeds ethical reasoning throughout the research process and emphasizes responsible use of digital data and tools.

The coursework equips students with the skills and knowledge to navigate information policy issues, with special attention to information ownership rights, privacy rights and public access to information. The approved course electives are offered by both COSSPP and CCI.

“Collaboration among disciplines provides the opportunity for students to gain more knowledge from more sources, and in ways they may not otherwise have imagined, to approach an issue or a topic,” said Dean Michelle Kazmer of the CCI. “We are proud to partner with the COSSPP for this certificate and thrilled to be able to provide students with a multidisciplinary approach that will inform their worldview as they enter the modern workforce and society.”

Admission is competitive, with applications for this cycle due by April 1, 2025. Students must apply in the spring each year for admission to start the certificate program in the fall semester or wait for the next application cycle.

Eligible applicants are graduate students with a 3.50 GPA currently enrolled in select colleges: Communication & Information, Social Sciences & Public Policy, Criminology & Criminal Justice, Social Work or Business. Students from other colleges and non-degree-seeking students are not eligible at this time.

To learn more about the Graduate Certificate in Digital Applied Social Science (DASS) and specific course requirements, visit cosspp.fsu.edu.

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Last week, Florida State University’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs celebrated National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week with a fall symposium that highlighted the invaluable contributions of postdoctoral scholars.

The event featured a poster session and a five-minute oral competition.

“The National Postdoctoral Appreciation Event at Florida State University is a testament to the dedication and technical creativity of our postdoctoral scholars,” said Debra Ann Fadool, professor, associate dean and director of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. “Their innovative research and curiosity in the discipline of their chosen fields creates the foundation of a research-intensive university such as FSU, and they are happy to share their pursuits with the campus and local community.”

A postdoctoral scholar, often referred to as a postdoc, is an individual who has completed their doctoral studies and is engaged in advanced academic or professional research. They work under the mentorship of experienced researchers to deepen their expertise, develop new skills and contribute to their field of study.

“This period is crucial for gaining the experience needed to pursue independent research careers or other professional paths,” Fadool said.

The event kicked off with students presenting their research through poster presentations. A $500 award was given to the postdoc who best explained their research discipline to fellow scholars and attendees. This interactive session provided a platform to receive valuable feedback, network with peers and inspire future collaborations.

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A graduate student in Florida State University’s Department of Biological Science and her faculty advisers were chosen for a highly competitive fellowship recognizing outstanding research in their respective fields.

Doctoral candidate Monica Paniagua Montoya and her graduate advisers, professors of Biological Science Nora Underwood and Brian Inouye, are recipients of the Gilliam Fellowship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The science nonprofit and philanthropic entity supports individuals as they advance science through research and science education and make discoveries that benefit humanity.

The Gilliam Fellowship provides graduate students and their advisers with an annual award of $53,000 for up to three years of funding, totaling $159,000. Montoya, a population biologist, and her advisers are among 50 graduate students and mentors selected for the award this year and FSU joins eight first-time awardee institutions. The fellowships were awarded Sept. 1 during a ceremony at HHMI headquarters, in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

“It’s great to have FSU among this year’s cohort of top graduate programs that were awarded these prestigious fellowships,” Inouye said. “We have a strong ecology and evolution graduate program and Monica is a leader within that group.”

The Gilliam Fellows Program, named for businessman and civil leader James H. Gilliam Jr., a charter member of the HHMI Board of Trustees, was founded in 2004 with the mission to continue Gilliam’s legacy of promoting inclusivity and diversity by preparing exceptional students from underrepresented groups to become leaders in science.

Montoya is among the fellowship recipients working to answer major questions in the fields of health and science. She conducts her research locally at the FSU Mission Road Greenhouse, focusing on how variation among individual insects in a population can affect their interactions with the flora and fauna around them.

Working with the Carolina horsenettle, a native weedy plant, and false potato beetles that feed on the plant, Montoya seeks to identify how variations in insect size and the plant’s own defense systems affect other elements of the ecosystem.

“What excites me most about my research is deciphering the complexity of our natural world,” Montoya said. “At first glance, the interaction between a plant and an insect may seem simple. But under the surface, we can explore why an insect was drawn to a plant or how a plant responds to damage from the insect by activating chemical defenses. It is very rewarding to grasp these interactions and consider their implications.”

Receiving the Gilliam Fellowship alongside Underwood and Inouye is significant for Montoya because it highlights the importance of her work in the field of ecology and recognizes her mentors’ contributions.

“Nora and Brian are very prominent in the plant and insect world and working with them the past few years was special,” she said. “They’re very kind and challenge me both as a biologist and researcher. Receiving the fellowship has been greatly affirming to my work and has made me feel that I’m on the right path.

In addition to providing student-adviser pairs with financial resources for pursuing research, the Gilliam Fellowship offers advisers professional development opportunities, including participation in a yearlong mentorship development program. Underwood and Inouye will attend monthly webinars and two in-person conferences at HHMI headquarters.

“I’m looking forward to learning how to be a better mentor,” Underwood said. “Each student needs something different, so the more tools and approaches I can learn, the better I can serve my students. I hope that in working with other Gilliam mentors, we might develop new approaches and materials that we can share at our institutions and beyond.”

While Montoya, Underwood and Inouye are the first student-adviser group at FSU to receive the fellowship, they believe this achievement can help pave the way to other fellowships for their colleagues within the College of Arts and Sciences.

“It’s an honor to be the first student at FSU to receive the Gilliam Fellowship,” Montoya said. “I see it as a recognition that our university and department are on the right track and I hope to see more FSU students awarded the Gilliam in the future.”

To learn more about biological science research at FSU, visit bio.fsu.edu.

To learn more about the Gilliam Fellowship Program, visit hhmi.org.

To learn more about how FSU graduate students can fund their academic endeavors, visit FSU’s Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards at ogfa.fsu.edu.

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Three Florida State University doctoral students have received a national fellowship designed to support emerging scholars as they pursue bold and innovative research in the humanities and interpretive social sciences.

Carine Schermann, a doctoral candidate studying French and Francophone Studies in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, part of the College of Arts and Sciences, and two doctoral musicology students in the College of Music, Alaba Ilesanmi and Danielle Davis, were awarded the 2023 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, or ACLS.

“Having three students in the inaugural cohort is an amazing accomplishment as FSU continues to climb to national prominence. It is a testament to the strength of FSU’s humanities programs and the competitiveness of our graduate students in national award competitions,” said Keith McCall, assistant director for the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards. “Alaba, Carine and Danielle proposed compelling projects that are interdisciplinary, theoretically rigorous and exactly the sort of innovative research Mellon/ACLS aims to support.”

Schermann, Ilesanmi and Davis are among a cohort of 45 fellows selected from a pool of more than 700 applicants through a multi-stage peer review process that drew on the expertise of 170 scholars from institutions of higher education across the country.

Schermann is part of the inaugural cohort for this new category of fellowship created to support the most current and innovative movements in humanities fields.

“I feel incredibly proud and grateful to the ACLS, the FSU Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards and everyone who has helped me with my research,” Schermann said. “I’m ecstatic to receive such a prestigious award and reminded of how lucky I am to be surrounded by such a positive and caring community of professors, peers and friends.”

Schermann’s project, “Under the Skin: Monstrosity, Myth-Making, and Resistance Across and Beyond the Haitian-Dominican Border,” focuses on beasts, monsters and supra-human beings in Haitian and Dominican social imaginaries and folklores. Her work touches on different sets of mostly contemporary objects and artifacts, ranging from literature and visual arts to music and editorial practices.

One scholarly shortcoming Schermann aims to counter with her dissertation project is the segmentation of Haitian and Dominican Republic studies. Haiti and the Dominican Republic are two Caribbean countries that share the island of Hispaniola, with Haiti occupying the western half of the island and the Dominican Republic in the eastern half. Scholarship often separates the countries along borderlines with a focus on conflict.

“I want to participate in the scholarly effort to rewrite the island’s narrative away from tropes of essential enmity and mutual hatred,” she said.

Davis’s research, “Virginian Hip-hop in Hampton Roads: Investigating the Production of Place in the Tidewater Trio’s Music From 1990-2005,” sheds light on the Afro-Filipino musical collaboration of Chad Hugo, Shay Haley and Pharrell Williams, revealing interracial intimacies in historical narratives that play out in the interpersonal politics of Southern hip-hop.

“I appreciate the art of a well-crafted story,” Davis said. “As a musicologist, I get to tell all kinds of stories about the nature of humans and the sounds they make and encounter in everyday life. When we as humans play music, we can remember who we are and who we were, while working towards the future of who we wish to be collectively.”

Davis said she has wished for the opportunity to push the boundaries of scholarship beyond text-bound, print-based media.

“Winning this award helped me better understand who I am as an artist-scholar,” she said. “I am excited about the ways in which my thinking will mature after this year.”

Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Ilesanmi was drawn to musicology at an early age.

“I did not only want to know how to play or sing — I tried to understand why people make music,” Ilesanmi said. “I wondered why music was important in people’s lives within my community and beyond.”

Ilesanmi’s research topic draws upon this same curiosity. “The Sound of Black Solidarity: (Re)Incarnations of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in the Global Black Politics and Soundscapes” explores the enduring fascination with Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the Nigerian musician and pioneer of the Afrobeat genre. The project explores the enduring fascination with Kuti for the Black world, what it reveals about global Black experiences and solidarity, the conceptualization of Afro-musical aesthetics in the twenty-first century and the understanding of contemporary global Black soundscapes.

“Receiving this award means so much to me,” said Ilesanmi. “Of course, my project and research will be well-funded. However, on a much deeper level, this award marks and reflects the immense support and the quality mentorship I continue to receive at FSU, the College of Music and our Musicology program.”

The program is made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation and administered by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the leading representative of American scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences.

“ACLS is thrilled to partner with the Mellon Foundation to support these exceptional emerging scholars as they pursue pathbreaking research,” said Joy Connolly, ACLS president. “By expanding the range of research methodologies, formats and areas of inquiry traditionally considered acceptable for the dissertation, we can forge pathways toward a more diverse and inclusive academy.”

To learn more about how FSU graduate students can fund their academic endeavors, visit FSU’s Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards at ogfa.fsu.edu.

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