Humanities in 哈特福德

With its rich cultural and literary history, 哈特福德 is an ideal place to pursue humanities scholarship—the study of how people interpret and record shared human experience. Just ask Trinity students Megan Caljouw, 20岁 and Melani Norsigian ’20, both double majors in English and French, who spent 10 weeks of the summer immersed in humanities research.

As participants in Trinity’s Public Humanities Collaborative program (PHC)，由 a grant from The Andrew W. 梅隆基金会, Caljouw and Norsigian held two research internships—one at the Connecticut State Library and another working closely with 莎拉赎罪日查尔斯·A. Dana Research Associate Professor of Language and 文化 Studies.

在州立图书馆, Caljouw and Norsigian explored World War I archives to develop an 展览 on civic engagement and volunteerism. Heroes on the 首页front: A Look into the Role of Connecticut Citizens During World War I opened July 20 at 哈特福德’s 旧州议会大厦 and features soldiers’ letters, 照片, and wartime recipes that illustrate the national effort to stretch the food supply. “It was exciting to see non-history majors get so engaged in history,” 说 Christine Pittsley, state library project manager and internship supervisor, who noted that Caljouw and Norsigian also took on social media marketing, 启动 @CTStateLibrary Instagram account, in addition to preparing the 展览.

Back on campus for their academic research project, Caljouw and Norsigian studied the work of two French novelists, Alain Robbe-Grillet and Nathalie Sarraute. Under Kippur’s tutelage, the students traveled to the Grove Press archives at Syracuse University to comb through the authors’ original correspondence, 照片, 以及其他文件. Caljouw and Norsigian also created digital story maps to capture and share visually the authors’ travels across America and the impact their work had on academia. 视图Caljouw story map on Alain Robbe-Grillet 和Norsigian story map on Nathalie Sarraute.

“We didn’t anticipate that our projects would intersect much, since one had us focused on local efforts during World War I, 1914年到1918年, and the other was about the work of two postmodern writers, mainly in the late 20th century,卡尔裘说.

Norsigian 说, “We found both projects contained international relations themes. The foreigners’ perspective on America was revealed in the letters of our French novelists. The Americans’ perspective on foreigners appeared in soldiers’ letters to their families during the war. Both projects led us to reflect on current U.S. relations with foreign countries and how peoples’ perspectives have evolved today.”

Aboubacar Bakayoko ’20, who is studying international studies: global studies and anthropology, 说 he began his PHC internship at the Amistad Center for Art & 文化 at the Wadsworth Atheneum by conducting museum visitor surveys for an upcoming 展览, 我们的穿着, which the center plans to launch in spring 2019. Working alongside Lucy Pereira ’20 and Amistad Center staff, Bakayoko helped design posters and postcards and develop a digital timeline for the 我们的穿着 展览, which will feature clothing “to tell another side of African American history,” he 说.

He also conducted academic research with 加思•迈尔斯保罗·E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Urban International Studies, for Myers’s forthcoming book. 对于这个项目, “Rethinking Urbanism: Lessons from Postcolonial Studies and the Global South,” Bakayoko and fellow researchers Elisabed Gedevanishvili ’20 and Giana Moreno ’20 spent much of their time at the Watkinson图书馆, studying and culling source documents. The team also interviewed 哈特福德 residents. “I learned how to navigate between archival work and interviewing people to gain their insights into the daily struggles of the city,巴卡约科说. “It was interesting to learn about 哈特福德 from the perspective of people who live in the city.”

Community Learning Initiative Associate Director 梅根Hartline 说, “Students in the Public Humanities Collaborative get the opportunity to work as research assistants on both cutting edge humanities scholarship with Trinity professors and new 展览s and public projects with their 哈特福德 community partners. 另外, 哈特福德 is a particularly exciting place for students to be working on public humanities projects because they get a chance to learn more about the extensive cultural and historical aspects of the city over the course of the summer.”

For more information on the Public Humanities Collaborative, view a full list of summer 2018 projects and participants, or contact 梅根Hartline.

 

Written by Kathy Andrews