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Meet Mikhail Durnenkov, world renowned anti-war playwright, and 2024 Maya Brin Artist-in-Residence. Durnenkov’s play, “Are We at War Yet,” written in 2014 in the aftermath of Russia’s open war against Ukraine and its annexation of the Crimea, is being produced by TDPS as part of its mainstage season (April 19-26, 2024).

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.

It’s graduation day. When Paulina Leder ‘23 walks across the stage, four years of late nights studying history, conversations in German, and term papers in French come to a close in a singular handshake from the dean of the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) and the flash of a graduation photographer’s camera. Leder has joined the ranks of other fearless alumni of one of the top 50 global universities in the world. Her first order of business? One more international exchange with her alma mater.

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.

The sound is unmistakable—a grumbling putter followed by screeching breaks and a reluctant idle: the mailman is here, and Tiara Darnell ‘11 is running to her mailbox. In the carrier’s hand is her gateway to the rest of the world, coming in the form of an international postcard from her father. Growing up in a military family is not without its challenges, but for Darnell, these childhood afternoons waiting for the postman were the origins of a global fascination that would take her all over the world.