Scholar Performance
Tessa was featured with her chamber group on the national radio program 'From the Top'.
Scholars in the Arts
"I am fascinated by the breadth of Art History and by how painting teaches a culture about itself."
Maya Johnson
"Opportunities to fulfill dreams are rare, and one should therefore grasp them immediately and follow them wholeheartedly."
- Alumni of: 2002 Graduate Scholarship Program
- Hometown: Richmond, VA
- Four-year College or University: George Mason University
- Graduate School: College of William & Mary
- Other Interests: Music (Cello, Piano); Dance; Choreography
Biography
Maya Johnson recounts that she has spent most of her life absorbed in dance and music, and more recently in creative writing - forms of expression that have blossomed over time. Having studied ballet since the age of three, she developed into "graceful, confident dancer," performing in the City Dance Troupe of Richmond, Virginia, and competing in regional and national competitions.
She also studied the piano and cello, but shied away from musical competitions, feeling "much happier when I began to perform with the Petersburg Symphony Orchestra late in my freshman year [of high school]."
Maya says that when she began to consider her educational and career path, she "sought a way to study the crossroads of the arts - which can be intensely personal in their creative elements -
and more public arenas of expression, such as civil society, the market, and the state." She wanted to study a particular region of the world "in order to examine the interplay between private and public ideas, beliefs, and acts."
Maya's fascination with Middle Eastern culture, along with her interest in the impact and influence of religion on public life, led her to pursue formal study of the Middle East. She believes that the field offers her an exciting challenge as she begins to delve into the languages, literature, performing arts, and culture of the region.
Upon completion of her master's and doctoral degrees, Maya would like to have a career in higher education as a professor, researcher, writer, and lecturer in Middle Eastern studies. Her primary aim will be "to encourage the desire to learn simply for the sake of knowledge."
She hopes to foster in students not only an appreciation for the grades that signal academic success, "but also for the processes of research, analysis, and writing that lead to grades."
Maya says she would also relish the opportunity to affect the development of strong international studies programs at historically black colleges and universities, having observed that African American students are underrepresented on such academic tracks.
Other Scholars Like Maya
Ian Ralby
Graduate Scholar
University of Cambridge
Corey Chapman
Graduate Scholar
New York University
Marciano Gutierrez
Graduate Scholar
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Esther Huang
Graduate Scholar
Harvard University