Hollyhock House at Barnsdall Art Park
Perched atop Olive Hill, the Hollyhock House stands as one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most significant West Coast works and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built in the early 1920s for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, the home represents Wright’s experimentation with blending architecture and environment, what he called “organic architecture.”

Students explored the house’s Mayan Revival influences, geometric motifs and the iconic hollyhock flower design woven throughout the structure. The site offered a powerful introduction to how Los Angeles became a testing ground for architectural innovation, especially during a time when the city was rapidly expanding and redefining itself culturally.

Downtown Los Angeles: Layers of History and Movement
Traveling via the Los Angeles Metro, students experienced the city as Angelenos do, through its evolving public transit system, before diving into the heart of downtown.

Union Station – Opened in 1939, Union Station is often called the “Last of the Great Railway Stations.” Its architecture blends Spanish Colonial Revival, Mission Revival, and Art Deco styles, reflecting Los Angeles’s layered cultural identity. Inside, students observed the grandeur of its waiting rooms, tiled floors, and wooden beam ceilings, symbols of a bygone era when rail travel defined urban movement.

Angels Flight – Just a short walk away, Angels Flight, the world’s shortest railway, offered insight into the city’s early 20th-century infrastructure. Originally built in 1901, the funicular once transported residents up Bunker Hill, a neighborhood that has since undergone dramatic redevelopment. Its preservation speaks to ongoing efforts to maintain pieces of Los Angeles’ historic fabric amid modernization.

Los Angeles City Hall & Chinatown
At City Hall, students discussed civic architecture and governance, noting the building’s Art Deco style and symbolic prominence in the LA skyline. Nearby Chinatown provided a contrasting cultural lens, highlighting immigrant histories, urban displacement and the evolution of ethnic enclaves in Los Angeles.

Olvera Street
Often referred to as the birthplace of Los Angeles, Olvera Street immerses visitors in Mexican-American heritage. Students explored its marketplace, murals and historic buildings while discussing the complexities of cultural preservation versus commercialization. The site reflects both celebration and simplification of heritage, an important conversation in art and public history.

Angelus Temple & Echo Park
In Echo Park, students visited Angelus Temple, a striking example of early 20th-century religious architecture and a cornerstone of the Foursquare Church movement founded by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Built in 1923, the temple reflects a blend of revivalist architecture and emerging media-savvy religious practices, as McPherson was one of the first to use radio to reach a national audience.

The surrounding Echo Park neighborhood added another layer to the visit, offering insight into how communities evolve over time. Once a streetcar suburb, Echo Park has transformed into a culturally vibrant area shaped by waves of immigration, artistic communities, and, more recently, gentrification. Together, the site and neighborhood sparked discussion on the intersection of faith, media and urban change.

The Gamble House
In Pasadena, students visited the Gamble House, a masterpiece of the American Arts and Crafts movement designed by architects Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene in 1908. Commissioned by the Procter & Gamble family, the home emphasizes craftsmanship, natural materials, and harmony with its surroundings.

Students examined intricate woodwork, custom furnishings, and the intentional use of light and space—hallmarks of the Arts and Crafts philosophy, which emerged as a reaction against industrialization. The visit provided a striking contrast to Wright’s modernism, allowing students to compare different architectural responses to similar cultural shifts.

Looking ahead: Final excursions
As the semester continues, students will expand their exploration of the city’s artistic and architectural landscape with one final site visit.
The course will conclude with a visit to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry. Celebrated for its sweeping stainless-steel forms and innovative acoustics, the building stands as a defining example of contemporary architecture in Los Angeles. Here, students will consider how modern design continues to push artistic and structural boundaries while shaping the city’s global cultural identity.

These excursions bring course themes to life, allowing students to critically engage with Los Angeles as a living museum. From early 20th-century architectural movements to the layered cultural histories embedded in downtown neighborhoods and beyond, each site offers a unique perspective on how art and environment shape one another.

By navigating the city firsthand, students not only deepen their understanding of art history but also develop a stronger connection to LA itself—its stories, its communities and its ever-evolving identity.

The immersive Study USA Los Angeles semester and summer experiences offer students opportunities for alumni engagement, community service, unique academic classes with industry professionals and site-based experiential learning. .

Pous’s talk was part of a much larger week of events that included other research presentations, cultural events, and public talks, with an epicenter in a huge street demonstration that took place on March 24 throughout the country. The massive mobilization commemorates the day on which the dictatorship started in 1976, and brought together political activists and groups, as well as cultural spectacles and common citizens, to remember the dark years of the dictatorship, so as not to repeat them again. Under the cry of Nunca Mas! (Never again), the people maintain a culture of memory despite the attempt of the current government to dismantle the human rights platform that makes it possible.

In the context of the Cold War, Argentina, like most Latin American countries during the 60s, 70s and 80s, went through a period of military dictatorships that targeted political opponents with the financial and political support from the U.S. From 1976 to 1983, Argentina was under a military dictatorship that utilized irregular methods of repression against its own population. Following the lesson learned at the School of the Americas, the military regime created a system of clandestine centers of detention in which political opponents were brought after being kidnapped in the streets, their workplaces or in their homes. Once in these clandestine prisons, they were tortured, treated with minimum care, uncommunicated from their family members, and most of them were killed and their bodies disappeared. It is calculated that 30,000 people disappeared under this system of repression.

Since the return of democracy in 1983, there has been a grassroots collective effort to recompose the social link by fomenting a culture of memory in the country under the banner of Not forget, not forgive (Ni Olvido ni Perdón). Throughout the years, different human rights organizations worked along with state officials, international support groups, and local community organizations to persecute the criminal legally (over 1000 were already condemned), build and maintain several sites of memory, and provide retribution to the people affected directly and indirectly by it.

Pous’s talk emphasized this collective effort to cultivate a culture of memory across different generations. For Pous, “the task of memory today is an intergenerational endeavor that requires to be open ot listen to the questions and concerns of the new generations.” In his talk, he focused on key cultural products like the films “The Official History” (1985) and “Argentina 1985” (2022) as well as the fiction books “La casa de los conejos” (2006) and “Diario de una princesita Montonera” (2012) to highlight the public debates around postdictatorship democracy that have fed the culture of memory in the country.

Earlier in the week, Pous presented his book, Eventos Carcelarios (UNC Press, 2022), at the University of El Salvador for an audience of professors and graduate students. He delivered a talk about the novel “El beso de la mujer araña” (Puig 1976) in conjunction with a historical analysis of the liberation of political prisoners in 1973, at the return of a seven-year dictatorship that preluded the most horrific one mentioned above. His talk focused on the “connection between an historical event that was lived as if it was the revolution, but it turned out to be the beginning of the defeat of the revolutionary project”. For Pous, the prison cell became “a singular place of reflection and self-critique” that the novel depicts in detail to reimagine the possibility of a radical imagination today.

In the influential publication’s 2026 , ������Ƶ Law is No. 11 nationally — the highest-ranked law school in the Southeast and the only school in North Carolina among the top 35.

, with its required Residency-in-Practice Program highlighted as a model for immersive, practice-based legal education. All ������Ƶ Law students spend 10 weeks in the winter or spring of their second year in full-time placements with practicing lawyers, judges and legal teams, graduating with hands-on experience in the day-to-day realities of legal practice.

“You cannot graduate from ������Ƶ Law without knowing exactly what it’s like to be a lawyer,” ������Ƶ Law Dean Zak Kramer said in the article. “The legal practice becomes their classroom … They leave law students and come back lawyers.”

The article also features insights from Patricia Perkins, ������Ƶ Law’s associate dean of academic affairs and professor of law. “Our curriculum is designed to assist students in transforming into the lawyers they want to be,” she said. “Skills are just as important to develop as a knowledge base.”

PreLaw Magazine graded and ranked schools based on student participation in clinics, externships, simulation courses, moot court and other special programs.

������Ƶ Law offers students a broad array of opportunities to hone practical training skills throughout their 2.5 years of study. Those include:

• Full-time residencies-in-practice
• Lab and simulation courses
• Five clinics (immigration, small business and entrepreneurship, wills drafting, Social Security disability benefits and guardian ad litem appellate advocacy)
• Moot court and mock trial teams
• Internships, externships and judicial clerkships
• Bridge-to-practice courses
• Involvement with the Pro Bono Board

������Ƶ Law adopted its 2.5-year, seven-trimester full-time curriculum in 2014, making it the only American law school to intentionally design a program where all students graduate in December and can sit for the February bar exam — months ahead of peers from other institutions. (In 2026, 91.96% of ������Ƶ Law’s first-time North Carolina bar takers passed the exam.)

By completing their legal studies nearly six months faster than traditional programs, ������Ƶ Law’s full-time graduates have lowered their average student debt at graduation by almost a third since the curriculum was adopted.

For more information on ������Ƶ Law and the application process, visit the law school’s admissions page. ������Ƶ Law continues to actively admit the ������Ƶ Law Class of 2028, which will enroll in August 2026.

Now a junior journalism major, Pfabe has been elected the executive director of ������Ƶ News Network for the 2026-27 academic year. Her path to the top leadership spot was a fast one, starting with a variety of roles in broadcast, web, and print. By the spring of her first year, she was already helping others get started as a new member coordinator.

“I helped new students get acclimated to ENN, responded to emails, and acted like I knew what I was doing,” Pfabe said.

Her passion for the craft actually goes back to her childhood. While she briefly considered psychology because she loved learning why people act the way they do, she realized journalism was a better way to learn others’ stories. She did morning announcements in elementary school and even acted as a reporter for Junior Achievement BizTown, which combines in-class learning with a day-long visit to a simulated town.

“I think local news is one of the pillars of local community and society,” Pfabe said. “People trust their local news more than they trust their national news. There is such a value in having people that are constantly around and making those connections to tell stories, especially ones that don’t get told often.”

Pfabe finds inspiration in local reporters she grew up watching in Baltimore, like investigative reporter David Collins. She recalled being starstruck when she finally met him during an internship. She also looks up to ������Ƶ alumni who started exactly where she is now, such as Gary Grumbach ’16, a legal affairs reporter for NBC News, and Maya Eaglin ’19, an on-air reporter for MSNOW.

“They started where we’re starting, and their ������Ƶ education helped them get there,” Pfabe said. “That is so phenomenal.”

As she looks toward her new role, Pfabe wants to shift the focus toward community-facing initiatives. She plans to lead ENN in more outreach and volunteer events throughout Burlington and Graham to build relationships that are not just transactional.

“You’re going, and you’re volunteering in your community. You’re doing good, and you’re not getting a story out of it,” Pfabe said. “You’re just doing something for the community.”

Transparency is another major goal for the upcoming year. Pfabe said she wants to break down the mystery of how news is made and show the campus that the staff is juggling many responsibilities at once.

“There is this idea that we are journalists first and students second, but we’re journalists and students at the same time,” Pfabe said. “We are still learning, and we’re still doing schoolwork at the same time as we’re doing our stories. We have classes with the same people we’re interviewing.”

Vasudha Narayanan, distinguished professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Religion, introduced Allocco’s keynote. Allocco focused her lecture on pampaikkārar, musicians who play the twin-headed set of drums known as pampai and sing to invoke the deities in diverse Hindu devotional contexts. Drawing on material from her recently completed sabbatical fieldwork project in Tamil-speaking South India, she highlighted the role of pampaikkārar as both musicians and ritual specialists who invoke deities through sound. She argued that these practitioners innovatively adapt their performances in response to changing aesthetic preferences, devotional needs and social contexts while both maintaining credibility and inspiring the “god-feeling” referenced in the title of her presentation. Allocco also reflected on her own research methods, emphasizing how fieldwork relationships as well as lived traditions shape scholarly questions and, by extension, outcomes.

Following her address, Allocco met with graduate students for an hour-long seminar on methodologies for the study of religion, where emerging researchers had the opportunity to ask questions about ethnography and research ethics as well as their own projects. Participants read two of Allocco’s journal articles, which had been selected by conference organizers as the starting point for this seminar.

On Saturday morning, Allocco delivered welcome remarks to inaugurate the full day of paper sessions. The symposium was sponsored by the University of Florida’s Department of Religion with support from its Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere.

Despite starting as a regional conference, NEEPS has grown to include scholars from 12 different countries and 23 different states in 2026.

Caroline Niedermeyer, Andrea Perez and Madeleine Pettis each presented individual research posters developed through collaborative research with faculty mentor Jordann Brandner, assistant professor of psychology, and with support from the ������Ƶ Undergraduate Research Program and the Sinclair Endowed Grant.

Niedermeyer presented work she completed during her 2025 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE). Her poster, titled, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want: Exploring the Relationship Between Self-Perceived Mate Value and Tolerance for Compensatory Traits,” explored how individuals navigate trade-offs in relationship partner selection. The study tested whether self-perceived mate value affects willingness to accept partners with offsetting high and low traits. Niedermeyer was awarded the Gordon Bear Best Student Poster Award, recognizing the top undergraduate or graduate student poster presentation at the conference. The award, which includes a $100 prize, is one of the meeting’s most competitive student honors and highlights the quality and impact of her research.

Perez’s poster, “Pride and Preference: Perceived Sex Ratios and Women’s Online Dating Choices,” examined how features of dating apps may shape users’ perceptions of available partners and influence women’s selectivity. Using an app that she co-developed with Pettis, the experiment tests whether different ratios of male and female profiles affect how frequently people accept or reject potential matches, contributing to understanding how modern digital environments influence mating strategies. This research was funded by a Sinclair Endowed research grant, which is awarded to student research in the social and behavioral sciences.

Pettis’ poster, “Thank You, Next: Examining the Effects of Sex Ratio and Number of Choices in Mate Choice,” investigated how the total number of available partners influences partner decisions. Using the same dating app, participants evaluate different numbers of profiles to determine whether making more choices affects a person’s pickiness. The experiment offers insight into how decision-making processes operate in online dating, where people make many choices in succession. This research was also supported by a Sinclair Endowed grant.

In addition to student presentations, Brandner led a workshop titled “Teaching a Balanced Evolutionary Social Sciences Course: A Teaching Workshop,” which focused on strategies for integrating diverse perspectives within evolutionary social science curricula. This work was funded by the ������Ƶ Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Dissemination grant.

All three students will present their work again at the upcoming Spring Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF) on April 28th, 2026.

The corporations, athletes and entertainers at the center of those industries generate opportunity and influence that extend well beyond the spotlight, fueling local businesses and the people around them. That broader community impact is where Schultz aims to make her mark in the legal field.

She got a firsthand look at the breadth of that work during her Residency-in-Practice this winter at Apollo Sports and Entertainment Law Group — a boutique firm in Charlotte that counsels clients across a range of matters, from contracts, sponsorships and endorsements to intellectual property and brand protection.

“I’ve really enjoyed knowing that the work we do has a meaningful impact,” Schultz said. “These organizations and individuals have a real connection to their communities, and being part of that has been important to me.”

Before enrolling in law school, Schultz spent nearly eight years teaching elementary school after earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Working with students and their families, she discovered a passion for advocacy that ultimately led her to pursue a legal career.

Schultz said ������Ƶ Law’s emphasis on experiential learning played a significant role in her decision to attend the school. The Residency-in-Practice Program, a cornerstone of ������Ƶ Law’s curriculum, places every second-year student in a full-time, 10-week residency with a judge or practicing lawyer, giving students the opportunity to apply classroom concepts in real legal settings.

At Apollo Sports and Entertainment Law Group in Charlotte, Schultz received close mentorship from the law firm’s team of attorneys working on matters ranging from document drafting to client interviewing. It was an inside look at the legal field that strengthened practical skills and confidence she will carry into her legal career.

“This has confirmed that I can succeed in this area and that I really enjoy the work,” Schultz said. “I’m full steam ahead on this path after law school.”

Below, Schultz reflects on her residency experience and what she learned while working with the Apollo team.

What inspired you to pursue a career in law, and why sports and entertainment law?

Before law school, I taught elementary school for seven and a half years, working with kindergarten, first, second and fifth graders. One of the parts of teaching I loved most was advocating for students and their families and helping them navigate challenges. Law felt like a natural next step to build on that advocacy and develop the skills and credentials to support people in new ways.

I became interested in sports and entertainment law as name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities began reshaping college athletics. Not everyone comes from financial privilege or financial security, and NIL allows student-athletes to pursue a degree while also helping support themselves and their families.

Why were you interested in completing your residency with Apollo Sports and Entertainment Law Group?

Apollo stood out to me because of the breadth of work the firm handles across the sports and entertainment industries. The attorneys work on a wide range of matters, from brand agreements and trademark issues to litigation and transactional work, and I wanted the opportunity to see how those different areas come together in practice.

I was also drawn to the firm’s boutique environment. Working with a smaller team provided the opportunity to take on meaningful assignments, receive direct feedback and better understand the reasoning behind the work we were doing. The combination of variety and mentorship made it an ideal place to learn.

What were your daily responsibilities?

Every day was different, which was one of the most exciting parts of the experience. I worked on a variety of projects ranging from reviewing employee handbooks for compliance with state and federal laws to conducting trademark clearance checks and drafting legal documents.

I also helped redline different agreements, like revenue-sharing agreements, and drafted settlement and cease-and-desist letters.

What was it like working with the attorneys at Apollo Law Group?

The mentorship was incredible. Every attorney in the firm played a role in guiding me through the work and explaining the reasoning behind different legal decisions. They were truly mentors in every sense of the word.

They trusted me with meaningful assignments, like redlining agreements and participating in client meetings, and then walked through the work with me afterward. That process helped me understand not only the legal details but also how attorneys approach problems by prioritizing the client’s best interest and overall goals.

What skills did you strengthen during the residency?

Contract drafting and redlining were two of the biggest skills I developed during the placement. Those are tools that I now feel confident using in practice.

My legal research skills also improved, especially learning how to locate information efficiently and communicate it clearly. I also became more comfortable interacting with clients and working in a professional legal environment.

What advice would you give to students searching for a residency placement?

Think carefully about the kind of legal work you want to do long-term and try to align your residency with those goals. The placement gives you 10 weeks of hands-on experience with attorneys who are committed to helping you learn. Choose a residency that will give you meaningful experience and help you grow professionally. It’s an opportunity to confirm what type of work you enjoy before you begin your career.

At ������Ƶ Law, Schultz is vice president of the Student Bar Association, a student mentor and teaching assistant. She is an active member of student organizations including the Women’s Law Association, the Sports & Entertainment Law Society, First Gen Society, and OUTLaw.

The three-day competition challenged students to navigate realistic sales scenarios, from networking with potential employers to role-play exercises that reflect the stages of technology sales.

Competition highlights include:

• Bronze (3rd place) overall team finish
• 2nd place in role-play competition
• Tyler Mastrangelo ’28, Teamwork Award and Top Technology Student
• Max Houck ‘27, Teamwork Award

“The competition confirmed that sales is what I want to pursue,” said Max Houck ’27, a marketing major from Crofton, Md. “Every conversation felt like it was advancing my career, and I’ve already made connections that led to interviews and networking opportunities.”

Outside of the competition, students also made time for team bonding, including a visit to a local axe-throwing venue and rage room.

Students representing ������Ƶ included Gabriella Scales ‘27, Ashlee Brehio ‘26, Tyler Mastrangelo ‘28 and Max Houck ‘27.

The team was coached by Chris Nelson, associate professor of marketing and director of the Chandler Family Professional Sales Center, and Ann Fritchman, executive in residence, with additional support from alumni Dave Goltz and Gabi Drumm-Schwartz.

The two-day experience is designed to connect alumni working across the commercial real estate industry with students preparing to enter the field, creating space for insight, mentorship and conversation around how the industry is evolving.

The Summit begins Thursday, April 16, from 7 to 9 p.m. with a Kick-Off Reception at Hi-Wire Brewery. Programming continues Friday, April 17, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the ������Ƶ Charlotte Center, located at 330 W. Tremont Ave., with a keynote from Nicole Young, managing director and head of CRE portfolio management at Wells Fargo.

Throughout the day, attendees will engage in alumni speed networking and interactive discussions exploring key areas shaping the industry, including capital markets, development, asset management and major property sectors, along with broader trends across multifamily, industrial, office and retail markets. The day also includes opportunities for students to connect directly with alumni and gain perspective on navigating real estate careers across changing market cycles.

The Summit concludes with an applied AI workshop led by Assistant Professor of Finance Thibaut Morillon, highlighting how machine learning and generative AI are being used in real estate analysis, underwriting and day-to-day workflows.

The event, “Charlotte’s Next Competitive Edge: Decision Intelligence,” will take place on April 15 at 6 p.m. at 330 W. Tremont Ave in Charlotte, North Carolina and is sponsored by the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business’ MSBA Flex program in Charlotte.

The conversation will focus on how AI is moving analytics from insight to action, and how organizations are adapting in response. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of how AI is being used in practice, how roles and workflows are evolving, and what skills are becoming more important in a rapidly changing landscape.

Panelists include:

• Su Dong, associate professor of management information systems
• April Frazer ’03, CFO for Corporate and Investment Banking at Wells Fargo
• Eric Fender, enterprise transformation executive at Truist
• Danielle Nashold ’04, enterprise data, AI and data science technology strategy at Bank of America
• Derek Gould ’14, chief growth officer at Home Solutions

Designed as a candid and grounded conversation, the panel will highlight real-world examples, emerging challenges and the tradeoffs organizations are navigating as they integrate AI into decision making.

The program will include moderated discussion segments on analytics and judgment, organizational change and workforce readiness, followed by an audience Q and A.