Chief Librarian at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University Christina Vortia, MSLIS ’15, was interviewed for Fine Books magazine’s Bright Young Librarians series. “One of the most beautiful aspects of this role is connecting these books, which I see as ancestors, to their descendants. It is deeply moving and spiritual work,” she said.
The Daily Hub
A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute
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Pratt Center was named among the recipients of the first-ever NYC Nightlife Grant, provided by the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS). “The New York City Office of Nightlife is proud to award the first-ever NYC Nightlife Grants to nonprofits whose initiatives support safer, more inclusive, and sustainable nightlife businesses and communities,” said ONL Executive Director Jeff Garcia. “We are excited to see these ideas come to life across the city, helping New York City remain the world’s nightlife capital.”
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Trey Phillips, BFA Communications Design ’27, was named the Atlantic East Conference’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Week following a 19 point and 15 rebound performance against neighborhood rival St. Joseph’s on Nov. 22. The men’s basketball team has surged to an early 5-2 record.
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Merve Kayan and Sasha Sumner, both adjunct assistant professors of Film/Video, received 2025 New York State Council on the Arts grants for work on films. Kayan was awarded the grant for her film Baby Gates, and Sumner received it for her film Ripple.
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Visiting Assistant Professor of Fine Arts Yasmeen Abdallah, MFA Fine Arts ’15, reviewed “I Find Rest” by V Walton and “Sarsabzi” by Misha Japanwala at Hannah Traore Gallery in Hot Coffee Conversations.
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Dakota Billops-Breaux, MS Urban Placemaking and Management ’26; Jen Hung, MS Sustainable Environmental Systems and an Advanced Certificate in Historic Preservation ’26; and Wayne Mok, MS Urban and Community Planning ’26, are among the 2025-2026 Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD) Community Development Graduate Fellowship cohort.
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Sofi Thanhauser, adjunct associate professor – CCE of Writing, explores the history of the “war on cancer” in an essay for the Virginia Quarterly Review. “Buried beneath this evergreen drama of illness and cure, the promise of miracle biotech breakthroughs and heroic survivorship, is the story of how American business interests helped to steer politicians away from stopping the cancer epidemic at the source; how they helped to generate a mania for curing the disease and obstructed the analytic and moral clarity required to prevent it. Actually preventing cancer—far preferable to curing it, if less interesting—would mean asking why our cancer rates are so high in the first place.”
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Pratt’s Film/Video Department was voted in as a full and official member of The International Association of Cinema, Audiovisual and Media Schools (CILECT). CILECT is a global organization made up of 186 film and media schools from 64 countries. The organization is dedicated to developing and promoting the highest standards of film and media education. Membership opens up a wealth of new possibilities for cultural exchange and collaboration with colleagues from around the world.
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Alumnus D’angelo Thompson shared his favorite books, as well as his favorite bookshop, with International Boy. Thompson also recently discussed his career pivots with Prattfolio.
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Michaela Chavelis Arroyo, BFA Fashion Design ’18, was featured in Jamaica Plain News for a feature that explores her career trajectory. “A lot of people see it [crochet] as such an old craft,” Arroyo said. “I wanted to bring that into the modern world in a different way.”
More Pratt Institute News
Pratt Pairs: Valentine’s Day 2026
Alumni share their stories of meeting at Pratt and how they continued their lives together following graduation.
Imagining Alternative Futures for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal
From Pratt Institute News
Architecture students worked with local groups in Red Hook on neighborhood revitalization and climate resilience plans as NYC looks to redevelop the Brooklyn Marine Terminal.
Investigating the Relationship Between Information and Human Rights
From Pratt Institute News
Graduate students created projects investigating how information systems shape power, rights, and democratic life for a course in the School of Information.