WHO ARE THE SCHOLARS OF KLB??????

Fall, 2004 witnessed Kelley Akhiemokhali making the big trek from Houston, Texas to Durham, North Carolina. As a sophomore majoring in English at Duke University, Kelley enrolled in the class Renaissance Popular Culture in order to both explore a different time period's ‘'popular culture' and to fulfill a curricular requirement. After graduation, Kelley will take at least one year off to travel the world and work. She will eventually enroll in graduate school as an English Ph.D. candidate. Her recent acceptance into the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows Program, which aims to increase the number of minorities in specific doctoral programs, will aid her upon that scholarly path. Kelley is also an inaugural member of the Alice M. Baldwin Scholars Program. This program prepares women for leadership positions in male-dominated fields. A few of Kelley's interests are volunteering, reading, writing, and the performance arts. Kelley wrote pieces for and acted in All of the Above--a compilation of monologues written, performed, and directed by Duke women concerning Duke life. She also mentors and tutors court-involved, at-risk youth in a local, Durham-based program.

Lisa Kopitsky is a senior in the English Department, with minors in Theater Studies and Psychology. She came to the Renaissance Popular Culture class primarily through an interest in Shakespeare and cultural studies. Originally from St. Louis, MO, her interests lie mostly in the theater realm. She is an active member of Hoof 'n' Horn, Duke's student-run musical theater group, having been involved in eleven shows with them over the past four years, and has acted with Duke Players and UNC-Chapel Hill's Pauper Players in her time in Durham. She has been serving on the Hoof 'n' Horn Executive Council for two years as the Playreading Chair, and is the recipient of the Hal Brody Award for Excellence in Musical Theater. After graduation, she plans to train in stage combat with the ultimate goal of becoming a fight choreographer for stage and film.

Brandon Julius Hudson is a senior at Duke University, majoring in English and African/African-American Studies. Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, Brandon came to Duke with aspirations to expand not only his mind, but also strengthen his spirit. Brandon’s participation in the study of Renaissance popular culture stems from his overall interest in cultural studies. Brandon enjoys intellectually engaging the everyday, mundane habits of people around the world. When not in class or studying, you can find him listening to and making music. Brandon is also very active on campus and his activities include serving as the co-president of the Reginaldo Howard Memorial Scholars program, the chief organizer for the African American Collegiate Unity Coalition (AACUC) and the president of the Black Male Outreach and Education (BMORE) program. An aspiring scholar, Brandon is a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow and is currently engaged in research on the globalization of hip-hop in Ghana. In the future, he plans to attend graduate school for African-American Studies and use his writing to complicate perceptions of race, class and gender.