On April 6, 2026, Zareen Taj of LLC Cohort 22 successfully defended her dissertation and earned the title of Doctor of Philosophy.  Her degree will be conferred in May.

Her virtual defense went smoothly and she gave a powerful presentation of her dissertation research, Journey of a Scholar-Activist: An Autoethnographic and Multimodal Inquiry.

The program wishes to acknowledge the guidance and commitment of Zareen's committee:

Co-Chairs:

            Tania Lizarazo, Modern Languages, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication

            Joby Taylor, The Shriver Center

Members:   

            Tanya Saunders, Language, Literacy, and Culture

            Sally Scott, Community Leadership

            Melissa Skye Kerr Chiovenda, George Mason University

Congratulations, Dr. Taj!