Author Archives: Liv Raddatz

Taylor Walsh, English, BMC ‘23

Politics, Policy and Power Praxis Fieldwork Seminar

Faculty Advisor: Marissa Golden

Field Site: Michigan Department of State

Field Supervisor: Melissa Smiley

Praxis Poster:

Taylor Walsh_Final Poster

 

Further Context:

In 2018, Michigan voters elected to create the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. This organization would take on the responsibility of drawing electoral districts. The 13-member commission was designed to give more power to voters as those selected were ordinary citizens, rather than elected officials. In 2020, following the U.S. census, the mapping process began for Congressional, state senate, and state house voting districts. The final maps were presented in December of 2021.

As with many current congressional maps, Michigan’s 2011 map was severely affected by gerrymandering, especially in the greater Detroit area. Currently, there is much debate as to whether the old or new maps give minority voters more voice, especially within Detroit’s black community. In the 2021 maps, there has been a large decrease in black majority districts. While many of these districts have enough minority voters to give a chance to a minority-backed candidate, it is not guaranteed as it was in the 2011 maps.

My job over the past 13 weeks and the purpose of this document is to collect relevant news articles at the local and national level. These articles range from the commission’s creation to the final maps and their subsequent response. I also researched similar commissions from other states, comparing their successes and failures to that of Michigan’s. As this was media coverage available to the public, much of my research was conducted online. I would use tools such as Google Alerts for various terms, predominantly “Michigan redistricting”. I also regularly checked journalists Clara Hendrickson and Sergio Martínez-Beltrán’s Twitter accounts for relevant stories.

My intention with this project is to provide information regarding how the 2020 independent commission was received, with hopes that it will be helpful for future commissions. Many of the commission’s meetings depended upon internet interaction through Zoom meetings, social media, and other online outreach to reach Michigan voters and figure out their next steps. As this was the first independent commission in Michigan- as well as one of the first in the country- the commission was closely monitored nationally as well as locally. In 10 years, online journalism may have transformed from what it is today but considering how quickly social media is taking a forefront in our lives, it is safe to assume internet presence will have a large impact on our lives for years to come. I find it incredibly important to be aware of how the public receives new maps and how to plan for online reactions in the future.

Gabriela Capone, Political Science, BMC ‘22

Politics, Policy and Power Praxis Fieldwork Seminar

Faculty Advisor: Marissa Golden

Field Site: John Fetterman’s Campaign for U.S. Senate

Field Supervisor: Quinn Gomola Mullin

Praxis Poster:

Gabriela Capone_Final Poster

 

Further Context:

This semester, I participated in Professor Marissa Golden’s Praxis seminar, Politics, Policy, and Power. My fieldwork was an internship on the research team of Fetterman for PA. John Fetterman is Pennsylvania’s current lieutenant governor and is running for the Democratic nomination for the open seat. I have been interning on the research team, primarily transcribing various media clips as well as vetting the campaign’s large donors.

Transcribing:

Compiling a database of all the interviews, speeches, debates, and many other appearances Fetterman has made is really important for a campaign. This allows the full time research staff to gather key information surrounding the candidate for debate preparation, crafting statements, goals, and generally keeping a record of what stances or opinions have been made in the past. Having all of this information typed out makes it easily searchable and comprehensible. It is an important part to staying organized and maintaining a campaign.

Donor Vetting:

With many donations coming in through the primary campaigning period, especially in a race for an open seat in a swing state like PA, it is important that a campaign pay attention to who their donors are. For all donations over $500, I vet the donors for four criteria — federal lobbyists, state lobbyists, fossil fuel employees, and foreign agents. If any donors fell in one or more of these categories, their donations would be refunded. Using the four databases and lists on my poster, I checked each of these donors at the end of the quarter. By the time Federal Election Commission Reports were submitted, the campaign would have everything sorted and refunds issued to avoid being associated with any problematic individuals.

Petition Circulator Vetting:

In order to be an official candidate and be included on the primary ballot, every candidate must submit petitions. The laws vary by each state. In Pennsylvania, each candidate needs at least 2,000 signatures from any county and the individuals who collect these petitions (called circulators) must be registered voters in the same party as the candidate they are petitioning for. I used the Democratic National Committee Voter Action Network database to check that the circulators were active Democrats as well as checking the circulators’ municipalities that they are registered to vote in. Pennsylvania has a complicated municipality system and many individuals actually do not vote in the “town” they may live in (ie, Bryn Mawr students who are registered to vote in Bryn Mawr, actually vote in the municipality of Lower Merion Township, because Bryn Mawr is only a village).

I have learned a great deal about campaigns during this semester and have thoroughly enjoyed both Fetterman for PA and the Praxis program. The campaign gave us the opportunity to meet and talk with many different individuals and gave us many experiences. Bryn Mawr and Praxis served as an excellent support system and I am really glad I was able to earn academic credit for my work over these months. I now feel more confident as I apply to jobs in politics and know that this experience will serve me well throughout my future.

Catherine Beveridge, Political Science, BMC ‘22

Politics, Power & Policy Praxis Fieldwork Seminar

Faculty Advisor: Marissa Golden

Field Site: Office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Field Supervisor: Ishya Verma

Praxis Poster:

Catherine Beveridge_Final Poster

 

Further Context:

My Praxis fieldwork site was U.S Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s press office! I worked remotely to help facilitate weekly press conferences and assess the impact of the Senator’s advocacy through tracking TV, print and radio media.

My days started early and could sometimes change at any moment with breaking news from the Senate or back home in New York. This created plenty of high stress, time-sensitive situations. But I enjoyed the adrenaline from it and seeing politics play out in real time was a joy as a student of political science. Press work can be a blend of constituency work and the legislative focused environment that comes with the Hill. We are the bridge between the two in some ways. Press conferences can be platforms for advocates on issues from human trafficking to frontline workers rights to paid leave.

Personally, my time management skills were tested to their limits, and I exceeded my own expectations for handling both my coursework and a rigorous press schedule when Congress is in session. My communication skills also saw plenty of use with weekly phone calls to various media outlets to pitch our conferences on a wide array of topics. I had the opportunity to help draft press releases. These tested my writing skills in a new way by limiting my words to a few sentences or two paragraphs at most to effectively convey the importance of various government programs.

My time with the Senator’s team will be an experience I will cherish for the rest of my professional career. I worked with a wonderful team of interns and staff who had my back, and I had the chance to step up when called upon. I hope to continue my work in politics and law. While I have no larger interest in communications or journalism, I will appreciate the work that local news clerks, anchors, writers, and communications staff all around the country do for our government and our people.

Elena Teeter, Archaeology, BMC ‘23

Practical Experience in Archaeology

Faculty Advisor: Astrid Lindenlauf

Field Site: Bryn Mawr Ella Riegel Study Collection

Field Supervisor: Astrid Lindenlauf

Praxis Poster:

Elena Teeter_Final Poster

 

Further Context:

As an archaeology student, I have always understood the importance of fieldwork, especially through excavation. However, after already experiencing excavations, I was curious about other responsibilities an archaeologist may have. After collaborating with Professor Lindenlauf, we came up with a project where I could work with sherds (what archaeologists call pottery fragments) that have been acquired by the college as a study collection. I also happen to be a ceramicist in my free time, so I was very excited about being able to combine two of my interests into this project. The pottery I worked with came from an archaeological site in Egypt called Naukratis. Naukratis is an important site because it was the location of a Greek merchant colony and the pottery I worked with is Greek. There has been a long history of excavation and survey at the site, which was discovered by the famous archaeologist Flinders Petrie. More recently, however, two American archaeologists, William Coulson and Albert Leonard Jr, conducted a series of surveys and excavations beginning in the 1970s.

My project involved numerous tasks. I learned how to take photographs of pottery sherds which was a  much more detailed task than I was expecting. I also learned how to edit the photos I took through Adobe Bridge. In addition, I did a lot of documentation on the sherds including measurements and Munsell readings. Munsell refers to a book of color samples much like a book full of paint samples. However, the colors are used to compare to soil (in this case pottery which comes from soil). This means that instead of calling a sherd a color like brown or tan you can give a very specific Munsell reading and someone who has never seen the sherd but has a Munsell book can know the color of the clay used to make that piece of pottery.

My photographs and documentation were all uploaded onto a database known as EmbARK. EmbARK is how Special Collections keeps track of all of the accession numbers (unique numbers given to artifacts to help organize and keep track of the objects) it has. Eventually, art and artifacts get uploaded to TriArte (https://triarte.brynmawr.edu/) which is how the public can view items in the college’s collection. EmbARK was especially important in naming the photographs I took because each photograph must have a different name in order to differentiate it. Photographs were not just of the sherds themselves, I also used an overhead book scanner to take photos of labels from the archaeological survey and excavations. The labels were also added to EmbARK after I cropped and named them.

Additionally, I spent a lot of time learning about collections in relation to archaeological artifacts. I was able to spend some time with Marianne Weldon of Special Collections to rehouse objects. Using special foams and glue I was able to construct a safer storage box for a series of oil lamps in Special Collections. I also did some research with Marianne Weldon on a few reproductions of Greek pottery that the college has. The research was also added to the EmbARK database.

The final component of my project was a final paper. For this final paper, I looked at some of the sherds I was working with for signs that they had been reused or repaired in antiquity. One very obvious sign of repair is drill holes. To repair a broken vessel, holes are often drilled in the fragments so that they can be reconnected to each other with string or metal clamps. Bitumen is sometimes used to seal the cracks after this process. On the other hand, reuse can be identified when there are unusual patterns of wear on a sherd. Broken pottery fragments can often be quite angular but if the edges are unusually rounded or the surface is unusually scratched it could be an indicator that the sherd had another function after the vessel broke but before it was disposed of. My paper is written as an object biography. This means that, much like the biography of a person, I wrote about the sherds as they went through different stages of their “life.” They began as one vessel, but after breaking they underwent a new stage of life whether that be a whole new function or a reconstructed vessel.

 

 

Mariam Mshvidobadze, Environmental Studies, BMC ‘22

Architecture and Sustainability

Faculty Advisor: Min Kyung Lee

Field Site: Voith & Mactavish Architects

Field Supervisor: Daniela Holt Voith

Praxis Poster:

Mariam's Poster_revised

 

Further Context:

Hello. My name is Mariam. In my senior year of college, I decided to take a Praxis Independent Study course, which is a great opportunity for students to get practical experience in their field of interest. My major at BMC is Environmental Studies with the concentration in urban sustainability. My goal for the course was to choose the fieldwork location that would help me narrow down my list of interests in the field and determine what kind of path I want to take post-graduation. I asked my professor in the Architecture Design course if her architecture firm—Voith and Mactavish Architects—could become my field site for the PIS course and thankfully, I got a yes for an answer. I wanted to closely stick to my area of interest, which is the sustainable design and development, so we decided that I would mainly be working alongside VMA’s sustainability coordinator.

The general focus of the course that I named Architecture & Sustainability was to get familiar with the architectural design process, which encompasses project planning, file and material organization, and the analysis of sites and renderings. Throughout the course, attention was given to why sustainability is significant to architecture, how architecture impacts the environment and climate change, as well as how sustainability is measured in architecture and the methods used to achieve sustainability goals.

From the start of the semester, my faculty advisor of PIS course—Min Kyung Lee—supplemented me with readings and other materials that would help me understand the importance of practice that I was conducting at VMA. We had bi-weekly check-ins where we would discuss what type of tasks I had been doing at VMA and how they benefited my personal growth and supported my learning objectives. Fieldwork at VMA improved my design knowledge and skills. Through mentorship of the sustainability coordinator and other staff members, I learned how to work in teams in a professional setting, became sensitive to the details of architectural practice, and understood the complexity of managing the architectural design office.

I greatly appreciate each individual who helped me in shaping the course in a way that would satisfy my interests and benefit me the most. I want to give big thanks to Liv Raddatz, Min Kyung Lee, Daniela Holt Voith, and Kaetlin McGee for allowing me to experience the world of architecture and for caring about my academic, career, and personal growth.

Estefania Torres, Environmental Studies, BMC ‘23 & Saiqian Xiao, Growth and Structure of Cities, BMC ‘23

Urban Climate Action

Faculty Advisors: Don Barber & Victor Donnay

Field Site: Delaware County, Office of Sustainability

Field Supervisors: Sharon Jaye, Rebecca Ross, Julie DelMuto

Praxis Posters:

Estefania & Saiqian Final Poster 1

 

Estefania & Saiqian Final Poster 2

 

Further Context:

This is the second semester of a year-long Praxis program with the Local Climate Action Program in Delaware County. This semester we continued our work with the Office of Sustainability and facilitated the development of a context-based local climate action plan (CAP). With the inventory (chart found in the left) of community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the results of public engagement, we proposed feasible mitigation strategies for the county. We learned and utilized Clearpath to model these local approaches, through which the goal of carbon neutrality will be met by 2050, as shown in the right. Clearpath is an application that allows us to create a forecast of the county’s carbon emissions and view the effects of our mitigation strategies. These policy suggestions and action planning will assist Delaware County’s Sustainability Commission in improving and implementing their larger climate action planning goals.

The LCAP program served as a real-world application of our environmental studies knowledge, implement data applications, and to develop professional skills. We both practiced  how to work collaboratively and communicate multilaterally. The combination of remote online working sessions and field site visits, maximized the experience of this internship. The program allowed us to present and discuss our projects with our supervisors, faculty advisors, and local officials and practitioners, improving our professional communication skills and broadening our understanding of the environmental industry.

Praxis Course Highlights:

 

Math Modeling and Sustainability (Math B295)

Instructor: Prof. Victor Donnay

Course Description:

In this course, we will use mathematics to study issues of sustainability. Is it possible to meet all of our energy needs using renewable energy? How much energy does a typical person in the United States use per year – for transportation, food production, home heating and cooling? What is the carbon footprint associated with this energy use? How much energy can be produced by solar panels and wind turbines (per square meter of installation) and so how many square miles of land would need to be devoted to solar and wind farms?  By how much can we reduce energy use via conservation or new technologies? Are these approaches cost effective? What do we mean by “cost effective”?

Praxis Component: During the semester, students will work in teams to analyze a real world sustainability issue of interest to a community partner.

Museum Studies Fieldwork Seminar (Prof. Scott and Prof. Houghteling)

Course Description:

This course provides students a forum in which to ground, frame and discuss their hands-on work in museums, galleries, archives or collections.  Whether students have arranged an internship at a local institution or in the Bryn Mawr College Collections, this course provides a framework for these endeavors, coupling praxis with theory supported by readings from the discipline of Museum Studies.

The learning goals for the course are:

  • To connect Museum Studies theory and practice
  • To connect internships in museum, archives or galleries to students’ individual interests and career goals
  • To gain knowledge about some of the fundamentals of Museum Studies—including the history of museums, the role of museum in society, current trends in museums, museum ethics and about the variety of museum professions