December 11, 2015 - 18:44
(Sorry I am late, I took a nap that lasted longer than I anticipated it would.)
My project fascinated me because I had been interested in pursuing an internship in a museum this summer. I am less sure if I will actually do this over the summer because of other obligations, but if possible, I'd love to do research on the history of objects and possibly rewrite descriptions of artifacts to provide better context. If I don't do this, then to carry my project forward, I'll bring up what I found out in my interview and research here when I visit other museums with my family and friends. I think it's so important to understand that art is as much a complicated, troubled thing as history, and when the two meet in the museum setting, things can be exploitative. I would love to write to local history museums to create a tour based on the corrupt histories of artifacts within their collections. Simply being able to share my experiences with other people to provide a new lens to view exhibits with feels powerful.
I learned so much from my peers about the contact zone at Bryn Mawr. I was intrigued by the presentation about underpaid Dining Service workers, and it's the kind of thing that gets me irritated and energized. I'd love to talk about it at Plenary and to push the administration to address this issue. My sense of the contact zone is that it is constantly being negotiated in social spaces in the world, on small and large scales. It gave me a new lens to view interactions in the world, and a consciousness of the aftermaths of colonialism and domination. I was so impressed by the work of my peers, who are the source of inspiration every day. Their presentations encourage me to think on, worry about, celebrate, and question the things that exist outside of my own world.