Anissa Latham nurtured her storytelling and filmmaking skills during her time at University of Alabama at Birmingham — now, with new partners and supporters investing in her work, she’s bringing her creative vision to the world.

Latham earned a B.A. in African American Studies and a B.A. in Cultural Digital Storytelling (an individually designed major) from UAB’s College of Arts and Sciences in 2017. As an undergraduate student, Latham found many opportunities to write and share stories across campus and the community. She served as a staff writer for Kaleidoscope — UAB's student-run digital news outlet — and, during her time as an intern and fellow with UAB Digital Media, she wrote content and managed social media for the African American Studies program, giving her a chance to further connect with the program and its director, Kay Morgan, Ph.D.

Recently, Latham reconnected with Dr. Morgan for a conversation on Juneteenth with UAB School of Medicine Dean Selwyn Vickers, M.D., for his podcast, “The Checkup.” The episode will air on June 18, 2021 and will be available here.

June will be an exciting month for Latham. She will also premiere her new film “Missing Magic” at the American Film Institute (AFI) DOCS Film Festival, which will take place the week of June 22-27. She directed and co-produced — along with UAB alumna Kelsey Harrison — the film which will be included in the festival’s Spotlight on the Hindsight Project series. "Missing Magic" will be screening free throughout the duration of the AFI DOCS Film Festival, and ticket reservations are available here.

When asked to summarize the film, Latham offered the following description: “As uprisings spread across the country, a young poet in Birmingham, Alabama, becomes involved in local protests against decades of police brutality. As he tries to reconcile the city’s modern image as a diverse and welcoming metropolis with its violent and complex civil rights history, he suddenly becomes a part of the story when he’s arrested at a demonstration.”

"Missing Magic'' was one of 77 films selected by the AFI for the 2021 AFI DOCS Film Festival. Latham received support for the film from the Hindsight Project, an initiative that supports Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) filmmakers living in the American South and U.S. Territories. Through the Hindsight Project, six filmmakers — including Latham — received production support from Firelight Media, the Center for Asian American Media, and Reel South.

Reel South — a documentary series reckoning with the South’s past, present, and future — will also premiere all six Hindsight Project films on its respective public media platforms. “Missing Magic” will be featured on Alabama Public Television (APT).

Along with support from the Hindsight Project and APT, Latham also received mentorship from celebrated filmmaker and producer Daphne McWilliams.

Latham lends her talents to other outlets and platforms too. She edits and produces content for Meredith Corporation, creating video content for AllRecipes, Cooking Light, and Southern Living. And she’s a video producer for Red Clay Media, generating content for the "It's a Southern Thing" brand. One of her recent works for “It’s a Southern Thing” connects back to her recent conversation with Dr. Morgan — it’s entitled, Juneteenth: America has Two Independence Day.

Lourdes Sánchez-López, Ph.D.During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lourdes Sánchez-López, Ph.D., professor of Spanish in the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, received an unexpected invitation.

At the time, public health experts and campus communicators across UAB were working swiftly to share information about the emerging pandemic with faculty, students, staff, and the community. The effort — now known as UAB United — was instrumental in raising awareness of the pandemic and prompting people across UAB and beyond to take measures to limit risk and exposure to the virus. That said, the team behind the campaign recognized one substantial gap in its communications assets — everything was in English.

Sánchez-López is an avid proponent of making Birmingham a more equitable and inclusive community for Spanish-speaking residents. So, when UAB reached out and asked for her assistance in translating the COVID-19 messages for those residents, she did not hesitate to offer her expertise and support. She, along with her colleague María Antonia Anderson de la Torre, Ph.D., translated the website content and signage in a relatively short period of time and learned a lot along the way.

Through this experience, Sánchez-López was inspired to take a broader, systems level view of the issue presented by the UAB United campaign. As she contemplated future translation projects, she looked to her service learning courses (FLL 333 – Foreign Language Service Learning and SPA 485 – Spanish for Leadership in the Workplace) in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Historically, the courses included significant capstone projects where students worked alongside nonprofit organizatiosn to address a challenge or opportunity — clearly, there was a need to reimagine the capstone component of the courses during the pandemic.

"I knew students could not be in the community due to COVID-19," said Sánchez-López. "I decided to ask my students to help nonprofits that serve the Latinx community and translate their website content, therefore addressing the disparity in our linguistic landscape."

Emma Kate Sellers was one of the students in Sánchez-López's Foreign Language Service Learning class and is also pursuing her Spanish for Specific Purposes Certificate. For her capstone, she translated content for the 1917 Clinic at UAB, the largest HIV health care unit in Alabama and one of the country’s leading HIV clinics. Sánchez-López encouraged Sellers to work with the 1917 Clinic because she knew the institution aligned with Sellers's interests and passions. Her project was entitled, "Improving Access to HIV Care for Spanish-Speakers at UAB's 1917 Clinic," which she presented at the 2021 UAB Expo and garnered her the first place award in the service learning category.

"Service-learning allows students to apply the content we learn in the classroom to real-life situations, which is what I was able to do by working with the 1917 Clinic to translate their website," said Sellers. "In class, we covered the importance of translation and interpretation in making healthcare more accessible to non-English speakers, which I was able to apply through my service-learning project."

Other students in the Spanish for Leadership class partnered with nonprofit organizations outside of UAB, including the Coosa Riverkeeper, Cahaba Valley Health Care, and the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.

For each student, Sánchez-López aimed to illuminate potential career pathways.

Through the capstone projects, some students, including Sellers, actually discovered they do not wish to pursue careers in translation, which, according to Sánchez-López, is a valuable insight to uncover before graduating and entering the workforce.

"While I do not want to be a translator in the future, this course did solidify my passion for health equity and collaborating with community partners, and I am grateful that myself, the clinic, and patients all benefitted from this partnership," said Sellers.

According to Sánchez-López, these first-ever website translation projects deepened relationships with community partners and catalyzed long-term change for Spanish-speaking residents in Birmingham and the community’s linguistic landscape. "It's a sustainable approach," said Sánchez-López.

Visit the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures website to learn more about the Spanish for Specific Purposes Certificate.

Rosianna Gray, Ph.D.If you ask Rosianna Gray, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, to describe her experience at UAB over the past four years, she lights up quickly.

“Beyond my expectations,” said Gray.

In a way, the word “expectations” defines so much about Gray and her approach to teaching, research, and community engagement. On the first day of every class she teaches at UAB, she displays a slide to all of her students that says, “Every Student Reading This Slide Is Smart.” According to Gray, it’s a message that some students might be hearing for the first time.

“That statement is not up for debate,” said Gray. “Now, learning behavior is debatable, though.” 

Gray’s vision for her students is informed by years of research on metacognition. “It’s teaching the idea of the process of thinking about any concept,” said Gray. For Gray, metacognition is something students can embed into their everyday behavior. 

And she’s not limiting her metacognition strategies and pedagogy to college students, either. Gray visits high schools across the state to promote STEM disciplines, do science with students, and discuss the transition to college – especially for first-generation college students. She emphasizes exposure and encourages students to adopt a more inclusive and diverse view of scientists. 

“I want to be more visible,” said Gray.

Although much of her focus has been engaging high school juniors and seniors, she is now visiting elementary schools and connecting with younger students. “I started asking myself, ‘How can I reach students before they reach me?” said Gray. 

While participating in a career day at an elementary school, Gray felt a slight tug on her lab coat. She looked down and saw a young girl.

“The student asked, ‘You’re a scientist?’” said Gray. “I told her, ‘Yes.’ The little girl continued to look at me and she said, ‘But you’re a girl. And you’re black.’ I went to my car and cried for 30 minutes,” said Gray.

Powerful moments like this inspired Gray to reflect on her experiences and the various barriers she faced throughout her academic journey, which is why she is so passionate about connecting with students from elementary, middle, and high schools and standing alongside them as they navigate similar challenges. Along with her research and teaching, Gray has also co-founded a nonprofit organization called Our Firm Foundation, which provides courses on social emotional learning (SEL), STEM, and career mentoring to families in Birmingham City Schools.

KaRita Sullen, an educational technology instructor at Oxmoor Valley Elementary School, has hosted Gray in her classroom and seen the impact of her work first-hand. “Dr. Gray was always the first to commit to presenting fun, hands-on, educational activities for our students during our STEAM celebrations,” said Sullen. “She was eager to come out and always made sure she had enough supplies and materials for every student. Both years, her activities were a hit!”

Moving forward, Gray will continue to engage with schools across Alabama, and, in the near future, she aims to publish an article on the impact and outcomes of her metacognition strategies. “My pedagogy has an interesting name,” said Gray. “It’s called ‘Grandma’s Recipe for Accountable Learning and Time Management.’”