CAHSS Greinetz Scholarship Awardees
The Toba Laff Greinetz Scholarship supports the work of exemplary domestic and international graduate students in the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (CAHSS). Recipients are chosen by department chairs, directors or designees.
The 2022–23 Greinetz Scholarship awardees are Getrude Finyiza (Department of Anthropology), Rebecca Nzerem (Department of Media, Film & Journalism Studies), Ash Mach (Lamont School of Music) and Maryam Habibi (Emergent Digital Practices).
The 2023–24 Greinetz Scholarship awardees are Getrude Finyiza (Department of Anthropology),Oluwakemi Akinjobi (Department of Religious Studies) and Ethan Omo (Emergent Digital Practices).
Getrude Finyiza
Master’s degree student in the Department of Anthropology
An international student from Malawi, Getrude Finyiza is working toward a master’s degree in cultural anthropology. Specifically studying the context of research methods, the skills gained through her work will enable her to carry out ethnographic research. She plans to eventually establish a research consultancy institute in Africa that will work in collaboration with different universities around the world.
Rebecca Nzerem
Master’s degree student in the Department of Media, Film & Journalism Studies
Rebecca Nzerem is an international student from Nigeria who is receiving a master’s degree in international and intercultural communications in June. An excellent writer and lover of books, she is passionate about changing the way young people view themselves. Nzerem is using the experience and skills she gained in graduate school to kickstart a career and become a significant contributor to the growth and development of innovations and technologies in the field of communications.
Ash Mach
Master’s degree student in the Lamont School of Music
Ash Mach is a multidisciplinary artist-researcher who uses art to explore connections between seemingly disparate fields. Mach is earning a master’s degree in music theory, viola performance and a certificate in music theory pedagogy. Their research interests include timbre and orchestration, community music-making, music pedagogy and the intersections between the three. Their goal is to continue to perform quantitative and qualitative music research, collaborate with composers, perform contemporary music and advocate for arts equity.
Maryam Habibi
Master of Fine Arts student in Emergent Digital Practices
An international student from Iran, Maryam Habibi is working on a Master of Fine Arts degree in the Emergent Digital Practices program. Her research and studies focus on exploring the intersection of art, technology and digital media. Through artistic practice she investigates the cultural, social and aesthetic implications of emerging technologies and their impact on our lives. She plans to use the experience and knowledge about cutting-edge digital media art that she’s acquiring to pursue her dream of establishing her own company.
Oluwakemi Akinjobi
Master’s degree student in the Department of Religious Studies
Oluwakemi Akinjobi is a first-generation graduate student who grew up in Nigeria and is earning a master’s degree in religious studies. Studying religion is important to her because in the community she grew up in, the study of religion was limited to those seeking pastoral positions and often used as a manipulative, divisive tool. She hopes to serve as a role model for other young religious scholars and ultimately create a peacebuilding organization to promote ethno-religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
Ethan Omo
Master of Fine Arts student in Emergent Digital Practices
A married veteran with two furry children, Ethan Omo specializes in time-based and interactive digital media and is seeking a Master of Fine Arts degree in the Emergent Digital Practices program. His work investigates the intersections of ideological extremism, gender, late-stage-capitalism and resulting traumas. He plans to use the scholarship to participate in more exhibitions and volunteer work in the greater Denver community. He ultimately hopes to land a teaching position at a college or university, especially one that serves an oppressed student body, to give more people the tools to process and protest their struggles as art has given him tools to do the same.
