Houlton Dannenberg
SIS, International Studies
Junior

Houlton Dannenberg (International Studies, SIS) has dedicated himself to the investigation of colonial legacies in the modern age. Specifically, Houlton analyzes the role of institutions in perpetuating colonial power dynamics, such as through dissuading 20th-century decolonization movements from using nonviolence or permitting multinational corporations to exert political influence. By identifying and deconstructing these legacies, he hopes to empower the process of decolonization and create a more just world. Houlton has gotten the opportunity to present his research on (de)colonization at both the National Conference for Undergraduate Research and the IAPSS World Congress. On campus, Houlton works as the co-Managing Editor for Clocks and Clouds Undergraduate Research Journal as well as an SIS Peer Advisor. He also served as the Global Scholars Program Associate. 

Isaiah Washington
SPA, Political Science & CAS, Literature
Junior

Isaiah Washington (Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholars, AU Honors, Literature and Political Science, CAS and SPA) is co-editor-in-chief of The Blackprint. He is an Emma Bowen Foundation Fellow, composing news stories for an NBC affiliate. He continues to serve as a Program Associate for the American University Honors program. He is also the Programming Director of the AU BIPOC Student Affinity Group and the Editor for AU’s Circle K chapter. He has presented research at the Collegiate Association Inequality Research (CAIR) Conference on Inequality and Social Justice and the Robyn Rafferty Mathias Student Research Conference, receiving a research grant for Best Undergraduate Humanities Workshop. He has also received the honor of Literature Department Best Undergraduate Essay. He continued his research on literature and film serving as representational interventions to the Black community’s relationship with water with the AU Summer Scholars and Artists Program. 

Mohammad al-Mailam
SIS, International Studies
Senior

Mohammad Al-Mailam (International Studies, SIS; Minor in French Language, CAS) has conducted research on Middle Eastern history and politics in the SIS Honors, Olson Scholars, and AU Summer Scholars and Artists programs. With the mentorship of Professor Diane Singerman, he analyzed the opaque bureaucracies of Kuwaiti local government and housing politics. He also conducted archival research in three countries for his SIS Honors thesis on the history of Gulf citizenship, migration and statelessness, supervised by Professor Elizabeth F. Thompson. He hopes to present this research at the upcoming Middle Eastern Studies Association conference. Mohammad has additionally been involved as a peer-reviewer for AU's undergraduate research journal, Clocks & Clouds, is co-founder and President of the AU Arab Student Association, and has served on the inaugural student advisory board for the Sine Institute for Policy & Politics.

Olivia Dragovits
CAS, Neuroscience 
Senior

Olivia Dragovits (Neuroscience, Honors in Neuroscience, CAS) has been a research assistant with Dr. Terry Davidson for two years. She recently completed her own study, and has presented her work at the Eastern Psychological Association and Robyn Rafferty Mathias research conferences. Olivia was awarded first place for her research presentation in the NASA DC Space Grant Consortium student research competition. Outside of research, Olivia has served as the President and Vice President of Communications for AU’s neuroscience club - BRAIN at AU. She has also served as the Vice President of Finance for Phi Delta Epsilon, a premedical fraternity at AU. Through these organizations, Olivia has led fundraising initiatives for Children’s Miracle Network and the Alzheimer’s Association. Currently, Olivia volunteers as an EMT. After graduation, she plans to continue her education and pursue medicine and research. 

Sophie Hathaway
CAS, Health Studies
Senior 

Sophie Hathaway is a senior Public Health and Health Promotion dual degree student in the CAS LEAD program who is pursuing Honors in Health Studies. She is the Deputy Director of Production for the Kennedy Political Union, a CAS Peer Advisor, member of Phi Delta Epsilon International Pre-Medical Fraternity, former teaching assistant, and is currently interning for the National Rural Health Association. As a recipient of the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates grant, the Robyn Rafferty Mathias Undergraduate Summer Fellowship, and a research assistant in the Lavender Lab, Sophie has focused her research on the health of rural gender and sexual minorities on a national and global scale. Sophie will be continuing her research on rurality and rural health as master’s student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

Sydney Cerveny
CAS, Neuroscience & SOC, Communications 
Junior

Sydney Cerveny (Neuroscience, CAS; Communications, SOC) is a junior at American University. She has conducted research in the AU Psychopharmacology Laboratory since January 2021, examining the use and abuse potential of synthetic cathinones and the mechanisms underlying dysregulated drug intake. She will soon complete her second semester of Independent Research with Dr. Anthony Riley, Director of the Psychopharmacology Laboratory. Sydney was recently accepted into the Honors in Neuroscience program, through which she will do two semesters of capstone research. She has also worked as a Supplemental Instructor for General Biology 110 during her time at AU and was an AU nominee for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship. After graduation, Sydney hopes to attend graduate school where she will pursue a career in neuroscience. She is interested in studying observable patterns of behavior and the neural and cognitive mechanisms that underlie them.