In the Spring semester of 2024, the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation awarded $114,237 in grants for seventeen student cocurricular projects, two faculty-led campus projects, and three faculty-led study-travel projects in literature and language. The following student and faculty-led projects were approved for funding:
Student Cocurricular Projects in Literature and Language
*Sydney Austen ’25
+A Tale of Two Cities: Investigating Museum Language and Repatriation in Paris and London
Project supervisor: Hope Coulter, English and Hendrix-Murphy Foundation
In January 2025 Sydney will travel to Paris, France, and London, England, to study the current state of museum repatriations and take an intensive French language course. This research will inform Sydney’s senior thesis project as well as improve her French language skills, which will prove valuable in her chosen profession in the museum field.
+Carries Odyssey GA (Global Awareness) credit
****
*Dani Brumbelow ’25
Learning Language: An Exploration of Advanced Chinese
Project supervisor: Wenjia Liu, Chinese
Dani will build on previous Chinese coursework and study abroad experiences at Hendrix by taking Advanced Chinese in the fall of 2024 at the University of Central Arkansas. This course will help Dani towards her goal of pursuing further study abroad opportunities in East Asia and becoming a lifelong learner of Chinese.
****
Joelle Fahoum ’25
+Writing Assistant: ‘Returning to Nature’ in Costa Rica
Project supervisor: Jennifer Penner, Psychology
Joelle will act as a writing assistant on Dr. Penner’s Odyssey-sponsored trip to Costa Rica entitled “Returning to Nature: Nature, Identity and Human & Environment Wellbeing.” She will help her fellow students explore the intersection of nature, identity, conservation, translation, and feedback through interdisciplinary readings as well as written reflection activities to connect on-the-ground experiences with literature. These reflections will amass to become a nature journal by the end of the trip.
+Carries Odyssey SP (Special Projects) credit
****
*Kimber Hageman ’25 and Ethan Karnatz ’25
Maya Language Immersion Project
Project supervisor: Zachary Brandner, Murphy Fellow in Spanish
During a four-week Maya language immersion program at the Open School of Ethnography and Anthropology (OSEA) in Pisté, Yucatan, Mexico, Kimber and Ethan will learn Maya through a dual approach of structured coursework and group excursions to practice their conversational skills in the Maya community. They will further their immersion in Maya language and culture through a homestay with a Maya-speaking family.
****
*Marleigh Hayes ’25
Learning and Living in Barcelona
Project supervisor: Cori French, Spanish
This summer Marleigh will build on her Hendrix-based studies of Spanish language and culture by enrolling in the Expanish Spanish Language School in Barcelona, Spain, for three weeks of intensive instruction with the goal of becoming a more fluent Spanish reader, speaker, and thinker.
****
*Kate Jackson ’25
+French Language Intensive in the Montpellier, France
Project supervisor: Séverine Cottrant-Estell, French
Longtime French-language learner Kate Jackson will increase her proficiency by studying French for two weeks at the Insitut Linguistique Adenet (ILA) in Montpellier, France, and living with a host family.
+Carries Odyssey GA (Global Awareness) credit
****
*Michelle Johnston ’26
+Poetry and Society in Indonesia
Project supervisor: Zachary Brandner, Murphy Fellow in Spanish
While living in Indonesia for the summer, Michelle will study the evolution of Indonesian poetry through independent research and consultation with professors from the University of Indonesia and the State University of Malang. She will also do an individual study with poet and actor Jose Rizal Manua and join a creative writing workshop offered by B/NDL Studios in Jakarta. Through this project, Michelle will learn more about how the Indonesian language has developed in literature and how literature and society influence one another.
+Carries Odyssey GA (Global Awareness) credit
****
*David Kamanga ’27
+Language and Culture in Costa Rica
Project supervisor: Gabby Vidal-Torreira, Spanish
David will travel to Samara, Costa Rica, in June for a 14-day Spanish immersion project designed to cement the Spanish grammar and sentence structure that he has learned during his first two semesters at Hendrix. He will strengthen his immersion in Costa Rican culture through a family homestay.
+Carries Odyssey GA (Global Awareness) credit
****
Abby Kellar ’26
+Atlantis Medical Shadowing in Burgos, Spain
Project supervisor: Lilian Contreras-Silva, Spanish
This summer Abby will build her proficiency in Spanish and gain professional experience while shadowing doctors in Burgos, Spain, through the Atlantis Medical Shadowing Program.
+Carries Odyssey GA (Global Awareness) credit
****
*Tillie Lefforge ’25
+ Experiencing and Demystifying Magazine Submissions
Project supervisor: Tyrone Jaeger, English
This summer Tillie will spend at least 30 hours researching literary magazines, identifying publications suited to her work, and submitting her writing to them. This project will allow her to formally explore the submission experience—waiting, inevitable rejection, the potential payout of an acceptance—and gain insights to guide future writing with the goal of publication.
+Carries Odyssey SP (Special Projects) credit
****
Katie McClure ’26
Costa Rica Conservation Internship and Spanish Language Immersion
Project supervisor: Cori French, Spanish
While working at Children’s Eternal Rainforest or Bosque Eterno de los Niños (BEN), a private nature reserve in Costa Rica, Katie will be totally immersed in the Spanish language—living with a host family, speaking Spanish with co-workers, and attending weekly Spanish classes.
****
*Rowan McCollum ’26
+ Writing in Place: An Exploration and Literary Review of Regional Writing in Northern Ireland
Project supervisor: Hope Coulter, English and Hendrix-Murphy Foundation
During a semester abroad as an Irish American Scholar at Ulster University in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, Rowan will conduct an exploration and literary review of the regional writing history of Northern Ireland through studying several of Northern Ireland’s most prominent writers and traveling to related sites. This independent study will culminate in a creative-critical essay about the effects of place on literary culture.
+Carries Odyssey GA (Global Awareness) credit
****
*Charlotte McCombs ’25
The Story of Abigail Williams: Historical Research and Creative Writing in Salem, Massachusetts
Project supervisor: Colleen Mayo, Murphy Fellow in English
Charlotte will travel to Salem, Massachusetts, to research Abigail Williams and the history surrounding the Salem Witch Trials in context—by retracing Abigail Williams’ steps, studying documents relating to the trials, and interviewing experts on her life. Charlotte will also attend a writing workshop in Boston to revise the second installment in a personal collection of creative nonfiction essays about rule-breaking female historical figures, with the ultimate goal of publication.
****
August McQuiston ’26
+ Language Learning in Hamburg, Germany
Project supervisor: Rebekah Nelson, International Programs
During a two-week trip to Germany, August will attend a conference sponsored by the University of Hamburg that will include workshops, seminars, and lectures on a variety of topics, all taught in German. The following week, he will receive intensive German instruction from the Colón Language Learning Center to increase his German proficiency in preparation for study abroad in Germany.
+Carries Odyssey GA (Global Awareness) credit
****
Andrea Ortega ’24
Intensive Study of Books and Magazine Media at the NYU Summer Publishing Institute Project supervisor: Hope Coulter, English and Hendrix-Murphy Foundation
The NYU Summer Publishing Institute is an intensive program taught by top professionals in the industry. For three weeks this summer, English-Creative Writing major Andrea Ortega will attend lectures, workshops, and hands-on sessions in manuscript editing, book marketing, and writing across all platforms as well as mock interviews, a one-on-one résumé review session, and a panel of recruiters to help students find a job in the publishing industry.
****
*Sable Alysse Robinson ’24
“The Adventures of Z and Uncle T.” — Afrofuturism Research and Creative Writing in Chicago”
Project supervisor: Margo Kolenda-Mason, English
Sable Alysse traveled to Chicago, Illinois, to conduct literary research at the Alton Abraham Collection of Sun Ra, investigating how people of the African Diaspora imagine futures of Black liberation through literature, language arts, and science. This research has informed the creation of a digital and interactive zine consisting of site-specific, ekphrastic, and flash-fiction pieces that further develops their literary work-in-progress, “The Adventures of Z and Uncle T.” — an extension of their capstone project in English-Creative Writing.
****
*Marcia Williams ’24
Embracing the Essence of Spanish Language: Un Viaje a Madrid
Project supervisor: Hope Coulter, English and Hendrix-Murphy Foundation
Over spring break Marcia traveled to Madrid, Spain, to take private Spanish lessons at Expanish Spanish Language School and participate in literature and language courses at Complutense University with the goal of increasing her Spanish proficiency through intensive language study and cultural immersion.
*Murphy Scholar in Literature and Language
****
****
****
Faculty-Led Campus Projects
Sarah Irons, Psychology
+Language Preservation through Literature: Establishing Book Clubs in Conway Nursing Homes
During the 2024-2025 academic year, Dr. Irons will lead a project to promote reading among low-income older adults in Conway through Hendrix student–led book clubs. Participating students will partner with an older adult to read and discuss a novel, with the meetings culminating in a community book discussion. Through these book clubs, Dr. Irons hopes to help create a culture of reading that will help older adults preserve language and memory function. Additionally, she hopes that this experience helps participating Hendrix students understand the importance of being lifelong readers.
+Carries Odyssey SW (Service to the World) credit
****
Dorian Stuber, English
A Lost World: Stella Levi Dinner & Discussion
Students, faculty, and staff will meet over a meal to discuss Michael Frank’s One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World, a book organized around his regular conversations with one of the last people alive who remembers the world of Jewish Rhodes, a community destroyed by the Holocaust. Although centered on loss, the book also celebrates connection in the story between the author and his subject, making this text fitting material for generating a community of readers.
****
****
****
Faculty-Led Study-Travel Projects
Zachary Brandner, Murphy Fellow in Spanish
Felipe Pruneda Sentíes, English and Writing Center
+ Coloniality Past & Present: Mexico City
During a week-long trip to Mexico City, 13 students will visit sites featured in verbal and visual narratives examined in the course LIT 390: “Coloniality in Latin America Past & Present.” Written tasks related to daily excursions will require students to think critically about colonialism and history in present-day Mexico. Students will read their completed essays in a student symposium to be scheduled for fall 2024.
+Carries Odyssey GA (Global Awareness) credit
****
Margo Kolenda-Mason, English
+ Renaissance Women in the Archives
Two seniors will accompany Dr. Kolenda-Mason to the archives at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., to support their anticipated theses in early modern literature by researching literature to, by, for, and about early modern women. The students will conduct archival training in advance and will meet with librarians to learn about research techniques. Along the way they will learn about book history, archival curation, early modern textual materiality, and printing practices and norms.
+Odyssey UR (Undergraduate Research) credit
****
Lavinia Roberts, Murphy Fellow in Theatre
+Hendrix-Murphy Playwriting Intensive at St. Mary’s University, London
Six students will travel to London, England, to participate in playwriting workshops, study with produced playwrights and professional actors, and attend plays—culminating in the staging of their own ten-minute plays written over the course of the week.
+Odyssey AC (Artistic Creativity) credit