We mark the end of the 2025-2026 academic year by celebrating the successes of Jewish Studies and the Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies students. Here are our award winners.
Matthew Fam (PhD Candidate, Department of Comparative & World Literature, HGMS) received the Gendell/Shiner Family Fellowship in support of the research project, “Sinking Cities: Contemporary Southeast Asian Literature in the Apocalyptic Present.”
Samantha Ting (PhD Candidate, Department of Comparative & World Literature, HGMS, JS) received the inaugural Dara Goldman Memorial Scholarship to present her research at the Annual Conference of the Memory Studies Association, "Memory and Democracy" (Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina).
Theodore Kemna (History major) received the Ronald Filler Scholarship. The Dean’s List student, Theodore, has a devotion to local community development that corresponds to the Filler Award’s mission. He currently works as a legislative assistant for Illinois State Senator Paul Faraci.
Lia Koski (Global Studies major, Economics and Spanish minors) was co-awarded the Richard Abrams Scholarship. On the UIUC campus, she serves on the executive board as Secretary and Lead Events Coordinator for the Jewish organization, Adamah, an environmental club focused on connecting nature to Jewish values and lessons.
Samya Sehwail (Global Studies and History major) is another co-receiver of the Richard Abrams Scholarship. Samya has an outstanding record of civic engagement and volunteers with a number of nonprofit organizations to advocate for underprivileged social groups, work she plans to continue professionally after graduation.