The Sway | October 2026

Bison Trailblazers | Giving Voice to the Invisible: Howard PhD Student Digna Mosquera Champions Domestic Workers' Rights

by Anna De Cheke Qualls | Digna Mosquera, an economics PhD student at Howard University, was working from her home when she received an email from the University of Wisconsin bearing exciting news: she had won the 2026 Graduate Student Research Workshop Award. Mosquera views the award and its funding as a crucial validation of her academic path. "This recognition means a lot to me, especially in this stage of my journey, when you are constantly questioning your own topic, your methods, and whether if your research will be meaningful to someone outside academia," Mosquera shared.

Word to the Wise | From Joliet to Howard: Micah Clemens’ Mission to Demystify Credit and Build Generational Wealth

By Anna De Cheke Qualls | From a high school classroom in Joliet, Illinois, to the front lines of consumer lending in Austin, Texas, Micah Clemens has always been driven by a singular question: how can financial systems be harnessed to build lasting wealth for underserved communities? Today, as a Master of Arts candidate in Economics at Howard University, Clemens is transforming his real-world banking experience into rigorous, data-driven research. His path toward advanced economic analysis was forged not in abstract theory, but through the daily realities of borrowers fighting for access to capital.

Bison Trailblazers | Beyond the Hidden Curriculum: Dr. Tamanika Ferguson on Black Feminism, Mentorship, and Reclaiming Power

by Anna De Cheke Qualls | For Dr. Tamanika Ferguson, the path to academic excellence and public scholarship did not begin in the quiet, manicured suburbs or the hallowed preparatory halls that often feed into elite universities. Instead, her story is rooted deeply in the vibrant, complex, and often unforgiving environment of the South Bay area of Los Angeles. Growing up in the Normont Terrace Housing Projects, she was immersed in a reality that demanded acute awareness and rapid maturation. “I grew up in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, in the Normont Terrace Housing Projects, where I learned early that life could harden you fast,” she recalls. Her formidable intellect was shaped not by a traditional curriculum, but by a profound duality that required her to navigate vastly different worlds simultaneously.

Word to the Wise | From the Tarmac to the Campus: A Blueprint for Howard Scholars Turning Research into Reality

by Anna De Cheke Qualls | Carl E. Brown, Jr who currently serves as the State/Executive Director of the District of Columbia Small Business Development Center (DCSBDC) located at Howard, has dedicated over four decades to small business development and economic empowerment. His journey began in Rochdale Village in Jamaica, Queens, New York, a highly competitive, mixed-race community that taught him early lessons about discipline, resilience, and personal accountability. From starting a paper route delivering the Long Island Press six days a week at just twelve years old, to designing and selling jewelry, and even selling mixtapes as a disc jockey, Brown learned that success is rarely accidental.

By Daja Elum | Atmospheric Science PhD Student | In Southwest Detroit and the neighboring communities of River Rouge and Ecorse, Michigan, environmental hazards are difficult to separate from everyday life. Oil refining, steel production, freight traffic, major highways, wastewater infrastructure, and other industrial sources sit alongside residential neighborhoods, schools, parks, and places where families have lived for generations. This summer, a group of Detroit-area high school students spent a week learning how to investigate some of those same questions using the tools of environmental scientists, regulators, planners, and geospatial analysts.The Spatial Justice Summer Academy, created by Howard University atmospheric science PhD student Daja Elum through her nonprofit organization, The Earthly Advocate, introduced students to geographic information systems (GIS), environmental data, community air monitoring, remote sensing, and digital storytelling.Read more...

If you're a graduate student at Howard, you've probably been asked some version of "so, what's the plan?" more times than you can count. I'd like to offer a different question, one that has carried me further than any plan: what have you built, and where could it matter?

When I was a doctoral student here, my plan was simple. I would study the mechanisms of biological systems, earn my PhD, and become a professor who trained the next generation of bench scientists. Well… sort of. Two decades later, I've worked in science policy, biodefense, and strategic communications, and I now help doctoral-trained professionals navigate this exact question. None of it was in the plan. What I did have was a foundation, and Howard gave it to me. It didn't prepare me for one job. It prepared me to walk into rooms I had never been in and figure out how to contribute once I got there. Read more...

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Dr. Tracey Thomas Howard, a PhD alum, has launched More Than STEM a professional development platform designed to help highly trained professionals translate their doctoral expertise into broad career value.

Howard PhD alum Latoya Hogg was recently was awarded the BSW Adjunct Award in Teaching Excellence from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Marja Lankinen, an English PhD student, recently published a chapter in The Routledge Companion to James Baldwin. The Companion is a collection of essays edited by Yasmin Y. DeGout, Anna Pochmara, and Tyechia L. Thompson. Read more...

A recent study published in the South African Journal of Information Management by Howard Information systems and Business Analytics professor Dr. Efosa Idemuda explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can revolutionize the delivery of justice system e-services in Namibia’s rural communities. Researchers emphasize that individuals living in remote villages across Africa often lack the financial and educational resources required to access traditional justice services. By focusing on Namibia's Ministry of Justice and local rural populations, the study investigates the potential of AI-enabled electronic platforms to bridge this significant gap in legal accessibility. Read more...

The Sway is Howard University Graduate School's news publication. It serves to celebrate and highlight graduate student, alumni, faculty and staff achievements and updates. It is published regularly during the academic year.

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The Sway | October 2026