2025 Curators

Atoosa Azizi is a Psychology major in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Class of 2028). Through the Music and Social Identity (MSI) FIRE research stream, Atoosa is researching the influence of rock music on youth culture at the University of Maryland and in the surrounding community during the 1960s, using a case study of The Beatles. Atoosa greatly values the time and energy invested in meaningful research, an opportunity she has been able to pursue thanks to MSI.

Ritika Balaji is a part of the University of Maryland Class of 2028, and is pursuing a degree in Psychology in the College of Behavioral Social Sciences, with a minor in Philosophy. Ritika has co-authored the project about the Civil Rights Movement and how that impacted soul & jazz music at UMD, and believes it is important to know the cultural background of our music from the past and how much that has impacted our current music.

Andrey Chernyak is a member of the class of 2028, majoring in Neuroscience on a pre-med track with a minor in Digital Storytelling and Poetics. Andrey worked on a project regarding the folk genre as a medium of protest and how it affected the UMD campus, believing it’s important to know how music can be used as a medium of social change.

Naomi Cook, class of 2028, is a student at the University of Maryland double majoring in Psychology and Human Development under Colleges of Behavioral & Social Sciences and Education. Naomi is an undergraduate researcher through MSI and focusing on the Civil Rights Movement and how that impacted UMD through youth culture and music. Naomi finds it important to focus on the economic impacts seen on UMDs campus throughout the 1960s.

Gabrielle Dwoskin, part of the University of Maryland Class of 2028, is pursuing a dual degree in Psychology and Business Management in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and the Smith School of Business. Gabrielle’s research focuses on the bidirectional influences of psychedelic music and drug culture. She especially enjoyed the opportunity to explore the archives and connect to the historical aspects of music!

Natalie Ellerman, class of 2028, is a double major in Psychology (College of Behavioral and Social Sciences) and Immersive Media Design (College of Arts and Humanities). Natalie is an undergraduate researcher for MSI, researching folk music’s impact on student activism at UMD. She is passionate about social justice and music, joining MSI to learn more about the history of activism.

Gianna Gecan, class of 2028, is pursuing a dual degree in Vocal Performance and Psychology through the college of Arts and Humanities and the college of Behavioral and Social Sciences. As a researcher in MSI, Gianna studies the perceptions of jazz as an academic interest throughout the 1960s, particularly at the University of Maryland. Gianna is passionate about music, and has enjoyed learning about the history of jazz at UMD.

Aaron Gerber is a member of the University of Maryland’s class of 2028 pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. Alongside his studies in psychology, Aaron has been researching folk protest music as a function of activism for the Civil Rights Movement of the University of Maryland’s campus. As a psychology major, Aaron is keen to how the beliefs and actions of individuals relate to those of the larger group in society in general, which he explores in his research.

Joey Kaplan, class of 2028, is a Psychology major in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, and a Spanish minor at the University of Maryland. Joey is a part of the Music and Social Identity stream under the FIRE program at the University of Maryland, where she has been researching women’s general involvement in the 1960s at UMD, along with their involvement in music on campus. She has enjoyed learning about how the rise of the Women’s Liberation Movement had shown its presence on campus and impacted student women’s lives at the university.

Jirsa Kendzierski, class of 2028, is a student at the University of Maryland in the Smith School of Business completing a Public Accounting degree. In MSI, Jirsa is currently researching a project about the state of jazz in academia in the 1960s, and how there is a dichotomy of jazz being black music but academia is taught under a white framework and how these two conflicting sides clash. They have been particularly interested in the similarities of jazz in academia in the 1960s and modern day Hip-Hop and electronic music in academia.

Alexis Leslie, class of 2028, is a student at the University of Maryland pursuing a degree in Hearing and Speech Sciences in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. In the Music & Social Identity FIRE research stream, Alexis is studying the influence of female artists on second-wave feminism at the University of Maryland in the 1960s. She has enjoyed learning about how women challenged gender-roles and fought for equality during this time.

Chloe Little is a member of the University of Maryland’s class of 2028 and is pursuing a degree in Psychology in the College of Behavioral & Social Sciences. In the Music & Social Identity research stream, Chloe is researching how the Civil Rights Movement affected the changes in activism on campus and how music reflects those changes, and hopes to use this research experience to build foundations in her future career as a Clinical Psychologist.

Bang Luong is pursuing a Psychology major and Sociology minor in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences as part of the University of Maryland’s class of 2028. Within the Music and Social Identity FIRE research stream, Bang is researching how rock music of the 1960s influenced the youth culture on the University of Maryland campus. This project aims to understand teen behavior, lifestyle, and activism in relation to rock music, using The Beatles as a case study. 

Étienne Melendez-Santiago is a student in the University of Maryland’s class of 2028. Étienne is studying Music Performance and Spanish Language, Literatures, and Culture within the College of Arts and Humanities. Within MSI, Étienne is researching the intersection of jazz, academia, and its relation to the UMD community.

Julia Moon is a kinesiology major on the pre-physician’s assistant track in the School of Public Health in the University of Maryland’s class of 2028. Julia is a researcher in MSI studying the role music played in the feminist movement of the 1960s. Julia has enjoyed looking into the archives and seeing how women responded to the changes they were experiencing during the time and how they felt empowered by this shift in society.

Madison Muckle is a member of the University of Maryland’s class of 2027. Madison is working towards earning her Criminology and Criminal Justice degree at UMD’s College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, while also pursuing a minor in Human Development within UMD’s College of Education. Madison is studying the intersectionality of Black girl groups and artists during the 1960s within her MSI research group. Madison is passionate about women’s rights and the rights of people of color, which contributes to her interest in her research topic.)

Emilia Pizzillo, a Communications major on the Public Relations track in the College of Arts and Humanities, is a member of the University of Maryland’s Class of 2028. As a part of FIRE’s Music and Social Identity stream, Emilia has worked hard to research female artists during the time of the Women’s Liberation Movement on UMD’s campus. Emilia is very passionate about Feminism and learning through research how women in the music and entertainment industry at the University of Maryland were directly impacted by that.

Maya Rogers-Hall, a psychology major in the College of Behavioral & Social Sciences, is part of the University of Maryland’s Class of 2028. Through the Music and Social Identity stream, she explores the complexities of folk music, researching its use during the 1960s Cold War as both protest and patriotic music, and how the genre reflected both nationalistic and Marxist sentiments. 

Miller Rogers-Tetrick is a journalism major in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, class of 2028. In the FIRE: Music and Social Identity stream, Miller studies how jazz and gospel genres highlighted Black culture and expression, specifically during the time of the Civil Rights Movement.

Egjayba Shaw-Taylor is a kinesiology major in the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, class of 2028. In the FIRE: Music and Social Identity stream, Egjayba studies how the Civil Rights Movement affected the economy, youth culture, and music on the University of Maryland campus in the 1960s. With a background in piano performance, Egjayba enjoys exploring how music can serve as both a personal artistic practice and a force for cultural change and activism.

Amara Sheikh is in the class of 2028 at the University of Maryland and is pursuing a degree in psychology in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. In the Music and Social Identity stream, she is studying how The Beatles influenced the beliefs and behaviors of the youth in the 1960s. She has enjoyed finding evidence about how rock music influenced youth culture both on and off campus.

Leo Shems is a Public Health Practice major in the University of Maryland class of 2028. In Music and Social Identity, he is researching the effects that folk music had on student activism for integration during the 1960s. As a public health major, Leo believes in the importance of community, and is particularly interested in how art was used to rally people together.

Jane Shomali is part of the University of Maryland’s class of 2028, majoring in Finance at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. She is involved in the Music and Social Identity stream, where she explores the connection between music trends and the rise of second-wave feminism in the 1960s. 

Grace Smith, a Psychology and Criminology/Criminal Justice double major in University of Maryland’s College of Behavioral and Social Sciences class of 2028, joined the Music and Social Identity stream to explore the connection with music and UMD history. During her time in the Music and Social Identity stream she examined folk music and protests regarding the Cold and Vietnam War during the 1960s.

Jamie Thurmond is a student in the Information school majoring in Information and Technology Design. As a researcher in the Music and Social Identity stream, she is focused on how the intersectional identity of 1960s Black girl groups contributed to their treatment and erasure. She is interested in the methods these groups used to navigate social systems, and how contemporaneous media portrayed them.

Naomi Yamada is in the class of 2028 studying Human Development in the College of Education at the University of Maryland. She is part of the Music and Social Identity stream researching music’s influence on second-wave feminism in the 1960s at UMD. She has enjoyed making connections to the university and looking through real primary sources in archives on campus.

Ella Yemini is a Psychology major and part of the class of 2028 at the University of Maryland. She is in the Music and Social Identity stream, she researches the generational divide of perceptions on psychedelic rock and drug culture in the 1960s. As a psychology major, Ella is interested in the group dynamics of youth subcultures and how these cultures are created.

Chris Yeung, class of 2028, studies Information Science at the University of Maryland. Within the FIRE: Music & Social Identity research stream, he focuses on psychedelic rock and drug culture as it applies to the generational divide in society. He is also interested in examining the effects of the movement in current stances of drug culture.

Madeleine Antevil is a Peer Research Mentor within the MSI FIRE Research Stream, graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology (spring 2027) from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at UMD. Maddie has overseen the development of two MSI projects about the civil rights movement’s relationship with music on campus and 1960s rock artists’ influences on their youth audiences. She has enjoyed her leadership role in the stream. 

Matt Brown is a junior Psychology and Sociology double major and has thoroughly enjoyed his role as a PRM in the Music & Social Identity stream . As a student in the MSI stream, Matt completed the project “Functions of Youth Protest” with his teammateMeredith Huebeck. This semester, he had the pleasure of overseeing the development of two projects within MSI, which focus on Black musicians’ inclusion into musical academia, and the political divide between UMD students and administration.

Miah Duncan is a Journalism major in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism and a member of the Class of 2027. She is a Peer Research Mentor for MSI and has overseen projects that focus on second-wave feminism’s eminence on campus, and the disparity between Black girl groups and their female white counterparts. 

Alex Reyes is a Peer Research Mentor for the Music & Social Identity Stream. He is a Theatre major with a minor in Entrepreneurship and will be graduating in 2026 from the College of Arts &Humanities at UMD. Alex has helped mentor two MSI projects titled: Psychedelic Sounds of the 60s &This Land is Your Land: An Exploration of the Effects of Folk Music on UMD Student Activism for Integration

Lauren Scisci is a Peer Research Mentor for the Music and Social Identity streamin the First-Year Innovation & Research Experience (FIRE) program. She is graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology, with a pre-medical track and an interest in hematology and cardiology, in 2027 from the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. Lauren has helped mentor the development success of two MSI projects this semester: Feminist Voices of Resistance and The Coldest War, The Coolest Sound: Folk Music and the Vietnam War.