Best and Brightest

CAS’s 35th annual Robyn Rafferty Mathias Student Research Conference was the largest in history with more than 200 participants. The event—showcasing original research, scholarship, and creative work from undergraduate and graduate students—also marked the debut of two AI-focused awards.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our students’ creativity, rigor, and drive,” says CAS dean Linda Aldoory. “In a milestone year marking our new R1 status, the competition was intense, and every participant impressed us with their innovative research.”

Winners of the March 22 competition include:

• “Leveraging Large Language Models to Detect and Interpret Antisemitic Terminology in Social Media Content,” Eric Baran, CAS/MS ’24
• “The Impact of Nesting Diet on Songbird Health: A Natural Experiment During the 2021 Periodical Cicada Emergence,” Shayna Friedman, CAS/BS ’25
• “Moral Disengagement in the Legal Profession,” Braley Haviland, CAS/BA ’25
• “European Classical Music in the 18th Century Anglo-American Parlor,” Les Whitehead, CAS/MA ’25

Parts and Labor

Over the last decade, Toyota, Nissan, and Honda have gotten more American, while US manufacturers like General Motors and Ford saw a dip in domestic sourcing, according to the 2024 Kogod Made in America Auto Index.

Volkswagen made the biggest jump, up from 8.2 percent total domestic content in 2015 to 35 percent last year—due in part to the relocation of ID.4 EV manufacturing from Germany to a plant in Tennessee.

VW’s electric sedan checked in at No. 7 in the searchable database of more than 500 models; Tesla claimed the top four spots.

Now in its 12th year, the index was created by Frank DuBois, professor of information technology and analytics, to help consumers determine the origin of their vehicles.

Under Pressure

Four AU students won Best Policy Brief at the Atlantic Council’s 14th annual Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge, March 14–15.

During the international competition, teams race against the clock to respond to a hypothetical international cybersecurity crisis, analyzing the threat, drafting a mitigation strategy, and presenting it to a mock national security council.

This year’s scenario involved a ransomware attack launched by a Russian criminal syndicate on a health care system in rural Texas, which was later hit by a fictional tornado.

AU’s team—Daria Antonovska, SIS/ MA ’26; Benjamin Bui, WCL/JD ’26; Regan Dolezal, SIS/ MA ’26; and Andrew Gallup, WCL/JD ’25—made it to the competition’s semifinals.

Pushing Back on Polarization

Cynthia Miller-Idriss, chief vision officer and founding director of AU’s Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), was awarded a 2025 Andrew Carnegie Fellowship in April.

As one of 26 fellows, Miller-Idriss—who holds appointments in SOE and SPA—will receive a $200,000 stipend to advance research about why society has become so polarized and how to fortify American democracy. Her project investigates the relationship between gendered narratives and political polarization among Gen Z youth.

Miller-Idris “is a trailblazer” in her field, says SOE interim dean Rodney Hopson. “Her work touches on such important content for schools and our democratic society.”

Ms. Roboto

Iris, meet AU.

The university’s first AI-powered robot—created by Aref Zahed, professional lecturer in the Department of Computer Science—remembers names and faces and converses in nine languages. Iris, who runs on solar power, also uses ChatGPT and Google to answer complex questions, summarize classes, prepare documents, and even write and explain code.

“Iris is designed to interact with people in a way that feels natural,” Zahed says. “She can use vision- and facial-recognition technology to identify people who have introduced themselves and recall past interactions. She analyzes surroundings using image processing and sound analysis, making her interactions even more lifelike.”

As helpful as Iris already is—Zahed recently asked the robot to translate one of his lectures into Chinese at a student’s request—the professor envisions even greater capabilities.

“Iris can move her neck toward sound, but I’m working on giving her hands and feet to enhance her mobility and interaction.”

From the Horse’s Mouth

SPA adjunct professorial lecturer Angela Chiarenza wasn’t horsing around on February 8 when she handed over the reins as part of an equine-partnered leadership development program.

For three hours, students in Chiarenza’s Leadership Studies capstone class got lessons in leadership from horses at Simple Changes Ranch in Mason Neck, Virginia.

Research indicates that herds of wild horses don’t rely on a single leader. Instead, each horse has its own role to play and moment to lead. By interacting with these majestic creatures, students “experiment with different types of leadership roles and styles to see what works well and what doesn’t,” says Chiarenza, an executive coach in AU’s Key Executive Leadership Program.

Students broke into small groups to navigate an obstacle course. As one person led the horse from the front, another from behind, and the rest from the sides, students noted how their role and energy contributed to the team’s dynamic.

“If a horse can read your energy, people can feel it too,” says Anshul Shukla, SPA/BA ’26, Kogod/BSBA ’26. “It’s important to align your intention and energy—that’s how you can be an honest leader.”

Nothing to Laugh About

A decade after its first significant investment in SOC’s Center for Media and Social Impact, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded CMSI a $1 million grant to advance its work in civic media and storytelling.

The grant will support several CMSI initiatives, including research on comedy as a powerful tool for civic dialogue and engagement around topics like climate change; programming to promote community storytelling; and a new podcast cocreated with the Peabody Awards, We Disrupt This Broadcast, which explores how the people behind critically acclaimed TV shows are reimagining the world.

Since its inception, CMSI has been awarded more than $10 million in external grants. The center is led by provost associate professor Caty Borum, who coauthored the new book Radical Reality: Documentary Storytelling and the Global Fight for Social Justice with David Conrad-Pérez, CMSI research director.

Seed Money

Kogod and the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship in February announced a $150,000 investment to launch the student-managed Eagle Venture Seed Fund.

The fund invests in early-stage companies that are disrupting industries through innovative technologies like AI, advancing sustainable solutions to address global challenges, and pursuing societal impacts. It will also provide financial support and mentorship to early-stage companies.

“The long-term goals of the seed fund include generating meaningful financial returns for the university and establishing a track record of developing highly skilled students ready for sought-after internships and employment opportunities with venture capital firms,” says Tommy White, director of the Veloric Center.

The seed fund aims to make four to eight new investments annually.

Changing the Channel

In her new book, SOC journalism professor Sherri Williams explores the impact of a subset of Black Twitter that she calls Black social TV—“social media engagement by mostly Black audiences about scripted and unscripted shows with Black people as the primary characters or target audience.”

Black Social Television: How Black Twitter Changed Television was published in December. It explores how some shows were blocked or pulled off the air while others were revived because of Black Twitter’s activism during its golden era in the 2010s, when shows like Empire, Scandal, and Love and Hip Hop set social television ratings records.

“People acknowledge that Black Twitter was a force that championed social justice movements, but they don’t always realize that it also advocated for a representation revolution on television,” Williams says. “Black people’s digital activism on Twitter got stereotypical shows canceled, held advertisers accountable for supporting those shows, and amplified the work of Black creatives as they used social media to break in to Hollywood.”