Two history PhD students have been selected for the Humanities Without Walls Summer Bridge Program. The Humanities Without Walls (HWW) Summer Bridge Program is a collaborative partnership among HWW; Dr. Olivia Hagedorn, postdoctoral research associate with We CU Community Engaged Scholars; and Dr. Derek Attig, assistant dean for career & professional development in University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Graduate College. Students selected for the program spend the summer contributing to a community organization in the Champaign-Urbana area. The program allows students to apply humanistic skills and training in new ways, contribute to an organization addressing a vital community need, develop new skills and experiences, and explore unfamiliar career paths.
Alex Jacobs
Jacobs will be working with the Middle School for Boys.
Jacobs is a first-year PhD student in the history department studying queer history and the British Empire in the nineteenth century. She is interested in queer resistance to empire, how empire responded to and attempted to control queer bodies, people, and communities, and how legacies of empire continue to affect queer people today. She previously worked in housing search advocacy and as a service-learning teaching assistant and team manager. These experiences showed her how the humanities can help us build relationships of trust, respect, and gratitude. They taught her that advocacy through and for the humanities must be uplifting and inclusive of different mediums, voices, and experiences. In the long term, she hopes to use her traditional academic and community-engaged teaching and research backgrounds to advocate for and increase accessibility of queer and other diverse histories.
Daniel Rodriguez
Rodriguez will be working with the Greater Community AIDS Project.
Rodriguez is a historian, educator, and grassroots activist committed to using his humanities training to serve the community. Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in history at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, his research focuses on twentieth-century U.S. history, with an emphasis on gender and sexuality. His academic expertise includes archival research, oral histories, and community history. Beyond academia, Rodriguez has a strong record of leadership, strategic planning, and coalition building. As co-president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, he successfully led a unionization campaign, secured critical funding for worker initiatives, and forged partnerships with community organizations. A first-generation Mexican American, he is also deeply committed to immigration justice and has mentored ESL youth on their paths to higher education. By working with community organizations, he seeks to apply his research and organizing experience to support local initiatives, amplify marginalized voices, and create inclusive public resources.
Editor's Note: This story was adapted from the announcement on the Humanities Without Walls website.