Colleen Kearney Rich

In her new 'memoir in animals,' Creative Writing professor examines her writing life

Colleen Rich — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 17:46:28 +0000

In her new 'memoir in animals,' Creative Writing professor examines her writing life Colleen Rich Tue, 12/03/2024 - 12:46

George Mason English professor Kyoko Mori writes both fiction and nonfiction. Her latest book, Cat and Bird (Belt Publishing, March 2024), has been called a “memoir in animals” and focuses on the six house cats who defined the major eras of her life as a writer.

Kyoko Mori with her cats. Photo provided

What inspired you to write this book?

I’ve lived my entire adult life with cats and yet my previous books—both fiction and nonfiction—only featured cats in the periphery of the story, as colorful minor characters at best. In truth, getting my first cat at 22 was a life-altering event: that cat saw me through graduate school, my first full-time teaching job, marriage and divorce, and the publication of my first two books. I wouldn’t be the same person I am now if I hadn’t been with him for 18 years. So my first impetus was to finally do justice to him and to his successors.

I wanted to push against the misconception that cats and dogs are opposites—the cliché that cats are selfish and independent while dogs are loving and loyal. For those of us who are devoted to our animal companions, cats and dogs, equally, can be our alter ego or avatar—the core of who we are.

The real contrast is between cats and dogs on one hand and songbirds and other wildlife on the other. Even with birds who come to our window feeder or end up in our care (I worked as a songbird rehabilitator), we can only admire them from a distance or nurse them back to health in order to return them to the wild. We love companion animals by holding on; we love wildlife by letting go. I wanted to explore this contrast.

What surprised you about the process of writing this book?

I knew from the beginning that the book was going to be about the way the two kinds of devotion—to cats and to birds—have sustained my work as a writer and helped me to make a home as a single childless woman who is happy in her solitude and yet fulfilled by her involvement in the community. Having a husband and children is not the only way to engage meaningfully with the world and make a positive impact.

The balance between solitude and community and the joy of making a home alone (with cats) did remain important ideas in the book. But I also realized that a book about living with animal companions and witnessing the dangers that threaten birds, other wildlife, and the whole planet will have to dig deep into grief. The desire to hold on and let go at the same time—as when a beloved animal companion dies or when we watch from the ground as migratory birds navigate the sky full of danger—became the essential aspect of the book’s narrative and investigation.

What are you working on now?

My last nonfiction book before Cat and Bird was a knitting memoir titled Yarn: Remembering the Way Home. Since finishing Cat and Bird, I’ve picked up where Yarn finished and published four personal essays about women and clothes: shopping with my close friends, how we express ourselves with our clothes, etc. At the same time, I continue to be interested in backyard wildlife—birds that were not included in Cat and Bird and squirrels—especially after a squirrel made a nest in the flowerpot on my window ledge, had two babies, and stayed for two weeks before moving her nest to a maple tree in the backyard.

Sei Shōnagon, the 11th-century Japanese writer who appears in Cat and Bird as the embodiment of the book’s spirit, was equally interested in the beauty of nature and of human-made objects. I don’t think clothes and backyard wildlife can fit into the same book for me as they did for her, but for now I’m following the inspiration of her astute observations about both and seeing where my work goes.

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For this historian, the Salem Witch Trials are personal

Colleen Rich — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 12:14:58 +0000

For this historian, the Salem Witch Trials are personal Colleen Rich Wed, 10/30/2024 - 08:14

When Daniel T. Howlett was a junior in high school, he needed to do a history project. Growing up in Massachusetts, near the historic Salem Village, he decided to do one on the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and his own ancestry.

Daniel T. Howlett. Photo provided

“I knew at the time we were descended from the Putnam family, and the Putnams were the main accusing family,” said Howlett, who has completed an MA and is now working on a PhD in history at ��AV. “So going back 10 generations, all of the people who were making accusations are related to me.”

Howlett’s family also has an ancestor on the other side—Mary Bradbury, who was accused of witchcraft and convicted but managed to escape her death sentence.

For his project, he ended up focusing on the relationship between Reverend Cotton Mather, the Boston minister who was leading the charge against witchcraft, and Reverend George Burroughs, who was executed for witchcraft. And that provided the basis for a chapter in the dissertation he is writing.

His dissertation focuses on religion and disability in early America, and the Salem Witch Trials play a role. Howlett said, in a way, that high school project never ended for him. It just grew in scope. He has been a tour guide in Salem and estimates he has visited more than 150 cemeteries for his research, which may make him the perfect candidate for a Halloween-themed interview.

Witches? 150 cemeteries?

I'm originally from North Andover, the town where most people were accused [of witchcraft]. My high school was on the land where Sarah Osborne, one of the first accused, lived. I grew up down the street from the cemetery where Timothy Swan, one of the accusers, is buried. The Salem Witch Trials were quite literally in my backyard. I've been surrounded by this is topic for a very long time.

But part of it was more—I'm a historian. This is a historical place. It's just kind of neat. I never thought it would end up being a key component to my research.

The gravestone of Timothy Swan, one of the accusers at the witch trials. Photo provided

Do you have a favorite cemetery?

I have a bunch that I like, and I've gone back to a couple of them. So the one in my hometown, North Andover’s First Burial Ground is obviously a favorite because it's close to home. I've been there a ton of times. A lot of the important graves that I look at are from there. But I also like Marblehead's Old Burial Hill, Newburyport’s Old Hill Burying Ground, Hingham Cemetery, Plymouth’s Burial Hill. There are so many fun cemeteries out there.

Everyone goes to Salem for Halloween. Are they going to the wrong place?

I've worked as a tour guide in Salem for a summer job, and I've had Salem residents shout out that “the witches weren't from here.” Salem was larger than it is today. Salem Village, which is now the town of Danvers, where my high school was, is where it starts. Salem is like the seat of the county at the time so the trials happened there.

In your research, you’ve been able to make connections between disability and the witch trials. Can you talk about that?

When these accusations of witchcraft are being made, the young accusers are said to be falling “deaf, dumb and blind”—that’s the quote that gets used. So they're losing their speech, their hearing, and their sight because that's what they expect witchcraft afflictions to do.

"Trial of George Jacobs, August 5, 1692" by Thomkins H. Matteson (Wikimedia Commons)

All of those have very important theological meanings because you're supposed to be able to say your prayers, read the Bible, hear the minister's sermons. All your religious participation is dependent on your senses working. The idea is if your body is unable to do that, your soul can't be nourished with the faith and religion that it needs for you to gain your eternal salvation. So that's the threat that's behind a lot of these witchcraft afflictions.

But for the accusers, this is a temporary state. They get afflicted by witchcraft and then they come out of it because they arrest the witch. They pray to God and there's divine intervention that helps them pass these disabilities.

When they accuse someone of witchcraft, it's not necessarily because they have a disability. But whenever they get the chance, the accusers seem to make a connection to [the accused’s] disability. For example, Rebecca Nurse [who was convicted of witchcraft and executed in 1692] being “hard of hearing” in her own words, that's what she says in the trial transcript.

They say that's the devil, or the black man, whispering in her ear. The black man was often used as the stand-in for Satan at the time. That has a ton of racialized tones because Indigenous people were referred to as Black. There's a ton of frontier violence going on. It's one of the big threats.

For my research, I'm looking at the word disability as some stated version of difference so maybe not disability as we recognize it today. At the time, illness and disability are conflated a lot. Whatever that difference is its often used to insinuate motivation, but also proof that the devil has hardened your heart to God. You are therefore a sinner and more likely to be guilty in a witch.

That’s still a lot of cemeteries. Do you believe in ghosts?

I don't believe in ghosts. I want them to be real because I think that'd just be kind of fun. [George Mason] history grad students sometimes joke that a great indie horror film would be a grad student doing their dissertation with a Ouija board to interview their sources. I've been to 150 cemeteries. I've not been haunted yet.

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Campus Foragers’ Forest turns 1

Colleen Rich — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 19:47:35 +0000

Campus Foragers’ Forest turns 1 Colleen Rich Tue, 10/22/2024 - 15:47

This month the organizers of the Foragers’ Forest on ��AV’s Fairfax Campus marked the project’s first anniversary with the planting of endangered American chestnut trees.

The five hybrid American chestnuts were grown on campus from seeds and are part of the university’s partnership with the American Chestnut Foundation to restore American chestnuts to the environment, said George Mason alumna Sarah Roth, who planned the edible forest as a master’s student with Professor Dann Sklarew of the Department of Environmental Science and Policy and Doni Nolan, Greenhouse and Gardens program manager.

“Chestnuts went through a pretty bad blight in the early 1900s,” said Roth, who graduated in May and now works as a landscape architect for Fairfax County’s stormwater planning division. “As a result, they became functionally extinct in the wild. So we are trying to help restore this species back into our natural environment.”

In November 2023, George Mason students, faculty, and staff gathered to help transplant 1,700 plants of more than 50 native species into two groves near the stream behind Student Union Building I between Aquia Creek Lane and Patriot Circle, on what used to be the site of the Student Apartments, which were razed in 2018.

In the past year, Roth, Sklarew, and Nolan have worked to build volunteer and curricular engagement with the young forest.

“We have several professors who are including the Foragers' Forest in their classes this fall,” Roth said. “The forest was also recently approved as a volunteer site for Fairfax Master Naturalists, so we'll be welcoming community volunteers.”

The event was also an opportunity for people to check out the site, with plants that are thriving despite the drought the area experienced this summer. Roth and colleagues provided supplemental watering to help support the young trees.

“Considering that we just went through a pretty bad drought this summer, the groves look great,” said Roth.

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The Foragers' Forest comprises two groves near the stream behind Student Union Building I between Aquia Creek Lane and Patriot Circle, on what used to be the site of the Student Apartments.

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Retro Mason: Muzzio places fifth at the Barcelona Olympics, 1992

Colleen Rich — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 17:32:21 +0000

Retro Mason: Muzzio places fifth at the Barcelona Olympics, 1992 Colleen Rich Mon, 08/05/2024 - 13:32

Muzzio Places Fifth at the Barcelona Olympics, 1992

��AV alumnus and former track star Rob Muzzio, BS ’87, finished fifth in the decathlon competition during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Although he didn’t bring home a medal, Muzzio told the Washington Post that he performed a “personal best” in the second day of the 10-event decathlon, moving from 20th place the first day to fifth place finish overall. Muzzio won the pole vault portion of the competition.

In addition to Muzzio, who was representing the United States, nine George Mason athletes qualified to represent their native countries in 1992: heptathlete and long jumper Diane Guntrie and sprinters Anthony Wallace and Patrick O’Connor of Jamaica; pole-vaulter Istvan Bagyula of Hungary; middle-distance runner Abdi Bile of Somalia; sprinters John Myles-Mills, Eric Akogyiram, and Tim Hesse of Ghana; and long-distance runner Stephan Franke of Germany.

Barcelona was the second time Bile, who was the 1987 world champion in 1,500 meters, carried Somalia’s flag in the opening ceremonies. His first time was when he competed in 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Information provided by Fall 1992 Inside Patriot Circles alumni newsletter.

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Frenn awarded Fulbright to pursue arts-based research in India

Colleen Rich — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 12:49:54 +0000

Frenn awarded Fulbright to pursue arts-based research in India Colleen Rich Mon, 07/01/2024 - 08:49

��AV professor Chawky Frenn, a painter and an associate professor in the School of Art, has received a Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award for research and teaching for the 2024-25 academic year. As a Fulbright U.S. Scholar, he will conduct international research while teaching at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India, in the fall.

Chawky Frenn. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

“My research will evolve around the role of art as a bridge between cultures, religions, and classes,” said Frenn. “In my teaching proposal, I emphasized the potential of art to cultivate connections between diverse cultures and communities. I will teach studio art and guide students in creating artwork addressing pressing societal issues of their choosing.” At the end of the semester, Frenn will curate an exhibition of student work at Banaras Hindu University.

While abroad, Frenn will focus on creating his own art, documenting his research and travels, collaborating with Banaras Hindu University’s faculty on art projects, and putting together an exhibition of his work before returning to the United States.

This is Frenn’s second Fulbright. His first was in 2017 when he pursued his international research in New Delhi, India. “During my 2017 Fulbright, I connected with people from various walks of life,” he said. “I am excited to be given another opportunity to establish new relationships, collaborate with new international partners in art and education, and build another body of work informed by my experiences and travels.”

He added, “[During 2017] I forged many meaningful connections with artists and academics who, upon learning about my upcoming Fulbright, have already invited me to visit their universities.”

Frenn was born in Lebanon and immigrated to the United States in 1981. He has a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and an MFA from Temple University. His work has been featured in solo and group exhibits in galleries and museums across the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Paraguay, and India.

In 2009, Frenn received George Maso’s Teaching Excellence Award. He was a finalist for the same award in 2002 and 2006 and was also nominated for the award again in 2021.

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George Mason joins arts research alliance

Colleen Rich — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 13:38:14 +0000

George Mason joins arts research alliance Colleen Rich Mon, 06/24/2024 - 09:38

��AV has joined the Alliance of Art Research Universities (a2ru) as an institutional member through a concerted effort by multiple colleges and the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact (ORIEI). This action uniquely positions George Mason among other R1 institutions to support an emerging research culture in the arts.

George Mason's Center for Live Interactive Virtual Education uses the Window Wall™ system to connect leading artists with students from multiple institutions. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Justin Sutters, assistant dean of research and assessment in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA), is taking the lead on the membership and has already attended one of the alliance’s conferences.

Sutters sees participation in the alliance as generative in that it provides insight into other research universities and some of the challenges that they're encountering. “I think this also gives us a framework to share best practices to see how other colleges are navigating the current fiscal and political climate,” he said.

In this role, Sutters will also be working to elevate the research and collaborations already taking place in CVPA with a longer-term goal of “a vibrant and rigorous supported arts-based research structure at George Mason.”

“I think a lot of the arts-based research isn't fully visible across the university,” Sutters said. “And there are a lot of researchers in our university who are seeking interdisciplinary opportunities with units such as CVPA.”

CVPA Dean Rick Davis was one of the George Mason administrators championing this move. “Joining a2ru represents a pivotal moment for George Mason's profile as a major participant in the national conversation,” he said. “We've already both benefited from and contributed to the dialogue around the fast-changing world of research and creative production in the arts.”

Among the other universities participating in the a2ru are Dartmouth, Stanford and Georgia Tech. Other alliance members in Virginia are Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University.

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His Mason Korea experience was about connecting on many levels

Colleen Rich — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 15:35:13 +0000

His Mason Korea experience was about connecting on many levels Colleen Rich Mon, 06/17/2024 - 11:35

To commemorate Mason Korea's 10th anniversary, The George has published a series of profiles on Mason Korea students. Daniel (Seihoon) Lee pitched, curated, and wrote that series while an intern in the Office of University Branding. In this profile, the 10th in the series, we highlight Lee.

Daniel (Seihoon) Lee said felt like an outsider for much of his life. Bilingual, bicultural, and homeschooled for a time, Lee struggled to figure out where he fit in until he came to Mason Korea.

Daniel (Seihoon) Lee. Photo provided

“Mason Korea changed that narrative for me,” said Lee, who graduated in May and is now working on a master’s degree. “Meeting people from various backgrounds, we were all outsiders to the mainstream world in a way. I finally felt like I was home.”

Lee was two years old when he first moved to the United States with his parents who were working on their PhDs at Florida State University. His father accepted a job at his alma mater in South Korea when Lee was in fifth grade, but by then Lee said he felt like he has lost the language and the culture after living abroad for eight years.

“Once I moved to a normal Korean public school, the identity crisis feeling grew stronger for me,” he said, and eventually he chose to be homeschooled in high school. But the experience also helped Lee learn a lot about himself.

“While in my heart I leaned closer to my Korean identity, I preferred learning in English,” he said. “Since I developed those English language skills at a young age, my brain was wired to feel comfortable in that educational setting.”

Lee decided he would attend college in the United States, but then heard about the brand-new Mason Korea in a homeschool classical studies group.

“After learning about [this classmate’s] journey to Mason Korea, I was more curious to know what opportunities were available at a school that only existed for about three years,” he said.

And after meeting the admissions staff there and taking a campus tour, Lee could picture himself at the Songdo campus.

Once enrolled in Mason Korea, Lee immersed himself in extracurricular activities, which he said are the “core essence” of the Mason Korea experience. In his freshman year he joined The Voice, which is the student media group, and eventually became a leader there.

“From reconfiguring the whole media production process and launching ad deals with local businesses offering student discounts, to building a website for online media and analyzing social media data, I learned more about how to run an organization than I ever imagined I could,” Lee said.

He also welcomed internship experiences and even had the opportunity to intern for the Olympic Broadcasting Services at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. He acknowledges that his biculturalism played at a role in his marketability. “I was a U.S. college student in Korea who was able to speak English and connect both cultural spheres in a global context.”’

Connecting spheres also played a role in how Lee chose his major as he was torn between his interests in global affairs and business. “I was fascinated by how geographical environments shape people’s cultures, which affect the economy and in turn influence people’s values and their own unique stories,” he said.

Lee ended up majoring in global affairs and minoring in business. It was a business and legal studies course, BULE 303 Legal Environment of Business, that helped him see how to connect the two interests. He is now working on a master’s degree in higher education and student development.

To students considering Mason Korea, Lee encourages them to write their own legacy. “If you have the desire to be a global leader competent in both Korean and English and both cultural areas, I would recommend that student take a look at Mason Korea and go down a path no one else has been down.”

Lee said the collective educational journey he and his fellow classmates embarked on was transformational.

“These Mason Korea classmates who I consider lifelong friends were all at first nervous about their unknown future, but to see them all find their place and create their own story over the years reminds me again of what it means to be part of the greater George Mason family.”

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Campbell joins George Mason’s research enterprise

Colleen Rich — Thu, 23 May 2024 21:11:59 +0000

Campbell joins George Mason’s research enterprise Colleen Rich Thu, 05/23/2024 - 17:11

Sarah Campbell, ��AV’s new associate vice president of research for defense and security initiatives, joined the university in February 2024. She comes to George Mason with close to 20 years of experience in academia, government, and defense, most recently serving as the chief of staff at University of Maryland’s Applied Research Lab for Intelligence and Security. A George Mason alum, Campbell graduated with a master’s in international commerce and policy in 2011.

Sarah Campbell. Photo provided

What attracted you to this position at Mason?

I was attracted to this position and George Mason writ large because of the impact the university is making, and I wanted to be part of the future growth potential as we drive transformative change. George Mason is a young university so the faculty and staff here have a growth mindset and are adaptable to change faster than most organizations. My background aligns with the cross-disciplinary collaborative approach to achieving ambitious research and development goals. I have experienced successes at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the University of Maryland in large-scale research operations and strategic partnerships that will help propel the objectives of the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact (ORIEI) well.

Yours is a new role in the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact. What have you been charged to do in this role?

Over the course of the last year, ORIEI has been on an internal realignment/reorganization project to better serve the greater George Mason research community. To that effect, I will be working closely with the VPR [Andre Marshall] and the other members of his executive leadership team on this effort with the shared goal to increase operational efficiency and effectiveness, enhance Mason’s ability to scale research and build infrastructure, and improve risk management and compliance. I am also responsible for managing special projects that strengthen George Mason's position as a leader in innovation and research.

I will also focus on organizing and elevating the various defense and security initiatives to enhance the university's research profile. I will work closely with university leadership and the respective academic units to identify university-wide applied research goals, key resource needs, and funding sources to support defense and security programs at George Mason. I hope to advance a shared university-wide vision and execution for defense and security projects.

In your first weeks, you've been taking a deep dive into George Mason's research enterprise. What have you discovered?

I’ve confirmed what I already knew—George Mason is a wonderful and supportive community of incredibly accomplished and respected intellectual leaders. It is also clear the university has seen significant growth in research expenditures, furthering its competitive advantage as a large player in the area of research.

In those individuals with whom I’ve had the pleasure of connecting in my first few months, the dedication to breaking down silos for enhanced collaborative research is refreshing and something that will only continue to expand the research activity on campus in a way that benefits our faculty and students. This vibrant environment is ripe to further strategic initiatives, especially in the biohealth, sustainability, and quantum and digital innovation domains, which often have interesting intersections in the defense and security space.

What do you hope to tackle first?

My initial focus will be to enhance the infrastructure and systems supporting research collaboration, and ensure it is fully integrated with Mason's strategic objectives. As the research enterprise has grown significantly over the last several years, our infrastructure and supporting systems have not necessarily kept up, and we need to take a look at how we scale effectively and how we manage the ever-changing compliance environment for federal research for greatest impact.

What do you do for fun?

For fun I am usually consumed by the activities of my three very energetic school-aged sons. As a family, we also like to travel, go to the beach, attend sporting events, and spend time with friends. I personally enjoy cooking and exercising to decompress, along with getting outside when I can for long walks.

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Neuroscience PhD student pens novel rooted in Middle Eastern mythology

Colleen Rich — Mon, 20 May 2024 13:32:30 +0000

Neuroscience PhD student pens novel rooted in Middle Eastern mythology Colleen Rich Mon, 05/20/2024 - 09:32

��AV doctoral student Rania Hanna has been writing since she was a child. All those years of storytelling paid off this spring with the publication of her debut novel, The Jinn Daughter, published by Hoopoe Press in April.

Rania Hanna. Photo provided

Reviewers have called her book a “haunting homage to Middle Eastern folklore,” and Hanna, a Syrian American, said she draws from stories she heard as a child for inspiration.

Can you tell us a little about your author journey?

My writing journey started in childhood. I was a voracious reader, so it made sense I’d turn to writing.

In the third grade, I would write short essays on things I was interested in—like dinosaurs and Egyptian mummies, and then hand them to my teacher. At the end of the year, [my teacher] took all my essays and bound them into a book for me. It was such a beautiful and thoughtful gift, and I've never forgotten it.

I found my publisher, Hoopoe Books, an imprint of the American University in Cairo, working with my literary agent. Hoopoe centers Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) voices, so they were the perfect choice for The Jinn Daughter.

What inspired the book?

My heritage! I grew up being fed oral stories by my dad, and so a lot of the stories are a reflection of his stories and our culture. What prompted the specifics of The Jinn Daughter is that a few years ago, I finished reading Tahereh Mafi’s Whichwood, and I loved the idea of taking care of the dead. When I was a teenager, I read Garth Nix’s Sabriel and the Old Kingdom series, and I fell in love with the idea of taking care of the dead there, too, so it all culminated into The Jinn Daughter, with someone who cares for the dead as she does the living. I think it’s important to honor our ancestors, our dead, and not forget their stories.

Hanna's debut novel, The Jinn Daughter, was published by Hoopoe Press in April. Photo provided

How did you come to attend George Mason?

I've been wanting to pursue a PhD in neuroscience for some time, and living in the area, I narrowed down choices to those local to me. George Mason was one of my top choices, and in fact, my top choice, after meeting with professors from the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience and learning of the research being done. The program’s flexibility has allowed me to pursue my degree and study the areas I want. I'm studying the effects of taxanes [a type of drug that blocks cell growth] in relation to neuropathic pain in cancer models.

How does the writing tie into your academic studies? Is there any overlap?

Academic studies and research are stressful, so my writing is cathartic. Having a creative outlet is necessary to my mental health, and without writing, I would walk dead through life. My research and writing do not overlap currently, but I hope to apply my skills in both and write a neuroscience or other scientifically bent book one day.

Do you think you will write another?

Absolutely. Writing is woven into my soul, and Middle Eastern culture is known to have such a rich tradition of storytelling, so it is my culture lineage to write and to tell tales. I have another story in the works, this one focused again on Middle Eastern themes and draws from Arabian star folklore.

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This Senior of the Year found ‘true community’ at George Mason

Colleen Rich — Thu, 09 May 2024 21:24:11 +0000

This Senior of the Year found ‘true community’ at George Mason Colleen Rich Thu, 05/09/2024 - 17:24

Senior of the Year Celine Apenteng has made an impact during her time at ��AV, and she isn’t done. After graduating this spring with a bachelor’s degree in conflict analysis and resolution with a concentration in global engagement, and minor in intelligence studies, the Silver Spring, Maryland, native will continue to pursue her master’s degree in international security at the Schar School of Policy and Government through the university’s accelerated master’s program.

Senior of the Year Celine Apenteng. Photo provided

Senior of the Year is awarded annually by the George Mason Alumni Association. In nominating Apenteng, her academic advisors at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution—Isaac Jasper, Jane Walker, Averi Jordan—wrote: “From her academic to her professional success, Celine has shown she is leaving the university as an ambassador of the best George Mason has to offer.”

Throughout her college career, Apenteng, who is a member of the Honors College, was active in Student Government, serving as Student Body Vice President in 2022-23 and as Speaker of the Student Senate. She also was a member of President Gregory Washington's Student Advisory Board and co-chair of the Student Advisory Council for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Outside of the classroom, Apenteng held several internships that she said helped shape her as a person and a professional. She interned at the White House in the Office of Public Engagement and U.S. Department of State.

She also started out as an intern at the Carter School’s John Mitchell Jr. Program for History, Justice, and Race, which focuses on promoting a more informed public, political, and academic dialogue on the intersections between historical memory, justice, and racial reconciliation. She continues her work with the program as a fellow, documenting the impact of lynching incidents on African American communities and conducting historical archiving to preserve evidence of racial terror.

How have you grown while at George Mason?

Mason has helped me create a life of collaborative relationships instead of competitive ones. When I look for friendships, workspaces, and all other types of connections, I find myself gravitating toward people who want the same, a life filled with supportive people, doing their best, whatever that looks like, and wanting the best for the people around them. I can’t say that wanting that has changed since coming to Mason, but my efforts to seek it out certainly have.

Senior of the Year Celine Apenteng with Carter School Dean Alpaslan Özerdem. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

How did your internships affect your career path?

[The internships] have all offered me different perspectives on what progress looks like for the world. Without a doubt, I can say that the key players are the local leaders we see every day who help us when no one is looking. As people look for opportunities, solutions, and answers, don’t overlook what your local or regional efforts can do for the people you know and the people you don’t.

What’s your best memory at George Mason?

During my junior year, I was Student Body vice president. Although the entire year is filled with great memories, one that sticks out the most is the fall farmer's market. So many people had come out to support the local vendors we had brought to campus, Student Government members were out in full force, and we were all having a great time. We danced to music, played games, and of course ate really good food. Seeing everyone out just happy to be in that environment made me really happy, and I hope that event continues with the same excitement that made so many people feel the presence of true community at Mason.

What is your best piece of advice for incoming students?

You are on time. If you think you’re behind, you're not. There’s no science to living life and college is just one chapter of a (hopefully) very long book! It can be easy to feel like everything is passing you by, but just think back to high school and where you thought you’d be now. Your hopes will change, your dreams will change, and you will change. And that’s all just a part of the process of being alive. So don’t stress about what you can’t control and enjoy what you can.

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In her new 'memoir in animals,' Creative Writing professor examines her writing life

What inspired you to write this book?

What surprised you about the process of writing this book?

What are you working on now?

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