Seen on stage and screen
Theater and dance faculty and alumni are showing up on stage and on screen. Kalala Kiwanuka-Woernle ’22 has a recurring role on the 2026 season of Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay.
Assistant professor and production manager Wu Chen Khoo is the lighting designer for the world premiere of My Ántonia, a new musical adaptation of Willa Cather’s classic novel.
Dominic DeLong-Rodgers ’19 recently joined the acting company of Ten Thousand Things Theater.
The latest from Marlon James
Professor Emeritus Marlon James’s latest novel, The Disappearers, is on the Booker Prize longlist. It was also named to the Star Tribune’s Summer Books list. The novel is about the murder of a gay man in 1980s Jamaica and its tragic consequences. James previously won the Booker Prize in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings.
All the world’s a stage
Macalester graduate Michael Khalid Karadsheh ’18 is currently appearing as the Young Shepherd in The Winter’s Tale, the Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park production at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air venue in New York City’s Central Park.
Karadsheh previously starred in the title role of the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s 2025 production of Hamlet. Critic Gerry Kowarsky praised his performance as “highly attentive to detail, personal and communicative.”
After graduating from Macalester, Karadsheh earned a master of fine arts degree in acting from the Columbia University School of the Arts in 2022.
A champion in women’s football
Macalester graduate Dana Gustafson ’22 is a member of the Minnesota Vixen team that won its first Women’s Football Alliance national championship. The Vixen, the nation’s longest-running women’s tackle football organization, defeated the three-time defending champion Pittsburgh Passion, 42-14 in the nationally televised title game on ESPN2. Gustafson played soccer at Macalester.
Room for many beliefs
Marni Schreiber ’14 was named to the inaugural cohort of the Aspen Institute’s Religion Fellows. The ten fellows, including clerics, journalists, nonprofit leaders, climate practitioners, and depolarization experts, will develop projects aimed at advancing pluralism across society.
Schreiber is a senior portfolio and policy manager at The Tepper Foundation. The cohort will convene in October 2026 and gather twice more for multi-day summits, including at the 2027 Aspen Ideas Festival. Each fellow will receive a $15,000 stipend to support their project.
A voice in global development
Zhijun He ’26 was named an Outstanding Participant at the 2026 Summer School of Country and Region Studies & Global Development, hosted by China Agricultural University. He also nominated three current Macalester students, Rosie Yuqing Bai ’26, Yilun Wang ’28, and Wen Xin ’28, to participate alongside graduate students, officials, and practitioners from Africa, South Asia, and China.
In addition, He received the first-place Outstanding Abstract Award at the AI and Planetary Health Summer Institute, a joint program of Peking University and Yale University.
“My research asks why some states rebuild after collapse while others don’t,” He said. “This summer in Beijing, both programs let me carry that question forward: at China Agricultural University’s summer school, I chaired the International Development Young Professional Roundtable, where participants from across Africa and South Asia examined how countries can learn from one another’s development experience without importing its mistakes; at the PKU–Yale summer school, my first-place abstract explored how AI tools can serve planetary health. This fall, I begin my journey at Yale’s MacMillan Center, continuing the work.”
Grant fuels multifaith leadership
Macalester is one of 23 institutions nationwide to earn a grant for Fostering Leadership for Communities of Faith from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education. The grant will support a new multifaith internship cohort in which students serve in local congregations and faith-based organizations while collaborating on campus as a multifaith intern team with guidance from chaplain mentors. Fellows also will plan four campus events inspired by their internship experiences. The grant supports undergraduates as they discern the vocation of leadership in communities of faith.
A program of the Council of Independent Colleges, NetVUE is a national network of colleges and universities that supports vocational exploration and discernment among undergraduate students.
A well-earned spotlight
Marciano Silva dos Santos, assistant professor of theater and dance and artistic director of Contempo Physical Dance, was named a 2026 McKnight Choreography Fellow. The fellowship annually awards three unrestricted $25,000 grants to Minnesota choreographers, supporting time for artistic exploration, experimentation, and new creative projects.
A Brazilian choreographer known for blending Afro-Brazilian rhythms with contemporary dance, Silva dos Santos was recognized for his sustained artistic excellence and contributions to the field.
Lessons from the Mississippi
Several Macalester faculty, staff, and alumni contributed to the new book Mississippi River Open School for Kinship and Social Exchange: Experimental Modes of Teaching and Learning for the Planetary Emergency.
The book features creative writing, artwork, films, interviews, and other work from the Mississippi River Open School for Kinship and Social Exchange, a community-engaged educational project exploring the climate crisis and issues affecting communities along the Mississippi River. It emerged from Macalester’s 2022 Humanities for All Times grant from the Mellon Foundation.
Macalester contributors include John Kim, associate professor of media and cultural studies; Jeremy Meckler ’10, visiting instructor and department coordinator for media and cultural studies; Morgan Adamson, professor and chair of media and cultural studies; Roopali Phadke, chair and professor of environmental studies; Kirisitina Sailiata, assistant professor of American Studies; alumni Dio Cramer ’20, Nelson Mondale ’25, and Meira Smit ’25; and former artists-in-residence Stephanie Lindquist and Shanai Matteson.
An award-winning dance film
Several Macalester theater and dance faculty and alumni contributed to the award-winning dance film 88. Flesh Red, which received the Change Maker Award at the Dance Camera North International Dance Film Festival. Directed by Professor Cláudia Tatinge Nascimento, this screendance features McKnight Fellow and Macalester graduate Tumelo Khupe ’20.
Other theater and dance members involved in the project are production designer Thomas Barrett, sound designer Lucas Martin ’24, and composer Umar Malik. Festival director Danielle Ricci Cheng wrote, “Your film brought us on a stunning journey through innovative dance and filmmaking. 88. Flesh Red speaks to the people in our society and presents a statement in a meaningful, raw, thought-provoking way.”
An artistic escape to the North Woods
Theater and Dance Professor Cláudia Tatinge Nascimento and visiting instructors Dan Dukitch and Jarek Pastor were selected as 2026 resident artists at Tofte Lake Center in northern Minnesota. The residency program supports artists across disciplines by providing dedicated time and space for creative work, nature, and community.
Lottery funds in expert hands
Roopali Phadke, professor and chair of environmental studies, was appointed to Minnesota’s inaugural Community Grant Program Advisory Council to guide grantmaking for community-based natural resources efforts throughout Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources established the council as part of an effort to support environmental programs and projects across the state using a portion of Minnesota Lottery funds.
Architect earns top honor
The American Institute of Architects Minnesota named former Macalester faculty member David O’Brien Wagner the recipient of its 2026 Residential Architect of Distinction Award.
Wagner, principal at SALA Architects in Minneapolis, was recognized for more than two decades of nationally acclaimed residential design that reflects craftsmanship, landscape considerations, and environmental stewardship.
The institute’s highest honor for residential architects, the award is presented every two years to an architect licensed for at least 15 years who has demonstrated sustained excellence in design, craft, materiality, or contributions to advancing residential architecture.
During his tenure at SALA Architects, Wagner has helped shape the firm’s nationally recognized portfolio of residential work across Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.
A winning tune
The Macalester College Pipe Band won the President’s Jug at the 2026 Minnesota Scottish Fair & Highland Games. Macalester earned eight first-place finishes at the competition.
How to be considered for future Maccolades
If you or someone you know recently earned an award, fellowship, or honor and would like it to be considered for inclusion in next month’s Maccolades, please let Communications & Marketing know by filling out this Maccolades form. For recent book publications, please use this book publication form.