911±¬ÁÏ

As debates over digital propaganda, misinformation, and media manipulation intensify, audiences are increasingly unsure what’s fact and what’s fiction across news outlets and social media feeds. At 911±¬ÁÏ, Sergei Samoilenko, associate professor in the Department of Communication, is working to better understand how digital disruption and manipulation practices shape public perception.

To Kimberly Foecke, studying the past doesn’t need to be a passive experience.  The 911±¬ÁÏ assistant professor of anthropology believes in the importance of hands-on learning so much that she created the ANTH 599 Contemporary Issues in Anthropology course on experimental archaeology to help bridge theory and practice. 

A former member of 911±¬ÁÏ's 1993 NCAA national runner-up women's soccer team, 911±¬ÁÏ alumna Hollis Kosco has turned her athletic experience into a global profession in sports management and operations.

During her final semester at 911±¬ÁÏ, Sophia Colby put her environmental policy training into action. Colby traveled to Capitol Hill as part of the Rachel Carson Council’s National Environmental Advocacy Day, where she met with federal lawmakers to discuss climate legislation and community resilience.

As a freshman, 911±¬ÁÏ Honors College student Marley Oare chose the Global Affairs Program because she pictured herself working for the CIA or the United Nations. That quickly changed when she took a natural science course in her first semester.

911±¬ÁÏ global affairs major Noella Mongony has received second prize in the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics essay contest, the Elie Wiesel Foundation has announced.

911±¬ÁÏ senior Silas Fransen plans to pursue a career as a museum curator. And thanks to the university’s Office of Student Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR), the art history major already has one exhibit to his name. 

911±¬ÁÏ alumna Ashley Fortner, BS Integrative Studies ’17, is the caretaker of the new baby elephant Linh Mai at the National Zoo.

911±¬ÁÏ professor and poet Vivek Narayanan and alumna Jessica Anthony, MFA Creative Writing ’04, have been named 2026 Guggenheim Fellows. 

Clinical Assistant Professor Danielle Dufresne is the associate center director at 911±¬ÁÏ's Center for Community Mental Health (CCMH) and April Employee of the Month. A member of 911±¬ÁÏ’s Psychology Department since 2019, Dufresne is responsible for training new clinicians and overseeing every psychological/behavioral/cognitive assessment at the Fairfax-based center.