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Meet Elisabeth Maring: Fulbright scholar, professor of public health, backpacker. Learn more about her year in Varanasi, India, teaching at Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith (MGKVP).

For those who may be unfamiliar with you and your work, can you share a little bit about yourself, your research interests at UMD, and the scope of your project?

José Magro talks with his Spanish students at the University of Maryland about language and power, sprinkling his lectures with snippets of hip-hop. Three decades ago, mic in hand in Madrid clubs, he did the reverse, injecting his hip-hop with antiracist and anti-fascist political messages as part of one of Spain’s most influential rap groups.

A lifetime of dancing around the world defines the work of Maryland faculty fellow Kate Spanos (Ph.D. ’16), non-profit founder and now first-time author. She specializes in dances of resistance, which allow communities to have their voices heard in a way that transcends speech. Through her travels to Montserrat in the Caribbean, Ireland, and Brazil—she’s seen the power of these dances to resist subjugation and build community firsthand, and she’s sharing this knowledge on campus and off.

To Brazil, Ireland, the Caribbean, and back, ARHU’s own Kate Spanos has taken her love of dance all over the world. In 2018, she traveled to Federal University of Pernambuco on a Fulbright in Recife, Brazil, for an 8 month exploration frevo dance.

Raluca Nahorniac, director of the office of Global Learning Initiatives, shares her vision for the unit, the history that made it possible, and how global learning is transforming UMD.