Speaking History: Public Engagement at The UMMA

By Lucy Smith, Doctoral Student in History and Women’s Studies   Jean – Antoine Houdon, the Parian sculpture, traveled to Mount Vernon in 1785 to cast a bust of George Washington. The life like and iconic Houdon Bust remains to this day at Washington’s ancestral home and became a familiar sight throughout my 3 years…

The Humans of the Archives

By Alex Honold, Second year PhD student in Education Studies with a focus in history education and learning technologies.   Before coming to the University of Michigan, I taught high school US history and world geography. One of my favorite parts about teaching was introducing students to dramatic and thought-provoking primary source materials–diaries, oral histories,…

Expanding the Archive: Building a Digital Archive at the Arab American National Museum

By: Meryem Kamil, Doctoral Candidate, American Culture “Take the banana, put it in a vat of rice overnight, and then use a hair dryer, and all the spots on the banana will disappear.” It’s a lunch break at the Arab American National Museum, and one of the staff is telling us about an internet prank…

Humanities, Communications, and Philanthropy: What I Learned Sharing the Barbour Scholars Story

By Elizabeth Harlow, Doctoral Candidate, English Language & Literature As the University of Michigan commemorated its bicentennial in 2017, one of its most storied programs also marked the major milestone of its 100th anniversary. I spent last summer learning and telling the history of the Barbour Scholarship as a Mellon Public Humanities Fellow on the…

Preparing for Humanities Careers: Suggestions for Doctoral Students and Departments

By Matthew Woodbury, Doctoral Candidate, Department of History As a historian, when asked to explain what I do, one reply is to say I study change and continuity over time. This month that methodological approach takes a personal turn; there are a few changes on my horizon as I reach the final weeks of my…

Exploring Public Humanities at the University of Michigan Museum of Art

Michael Pascual

By Michael Pascual, Doctoral Student, American Culture I have been in school for as long as I can remember. Except for one small break during my undergrad, I have been enrolled in every semester and quarter and class since I entered into preschool in my hometown of Anchorage, Alaska. I’m qualified to call myself a…

From Angst to Advocacy: My Summer with the Michigan Humanities Council

By Emelia Abbe, Doctoral Student, English Language and Literature I’ve never been sold on the idea of a strictly academic career path. As a student in the humanities, I’ve constantly wrestled with how to make sense of the greater effects of my discipline on audiences outside of the university. The circular concept of researching to…

“More than a sound, it’s a feel”

Nicole Navarro

By Nicole Navarro, Doctoral Student, Department of History When I was accepted as a Mellon Fellow at the Charles H. Wright Museum in Detroit, I was excited for an opportunity to work in a museum setting. I have a background in museums as I worked for two and a half years at the Smithsonian’s National…

Transferring Skills and Building New Ones at Michigan Publishing

Catalina Esguerra

By Catalina Esguerra, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures This past summer, I had the opportunity to work with Michigan Publishing, a part of the UM library system and home to the University of Michigan Press and Michigan Publishing Services. Specifically, my fellowship was with their Editorial and Marketing department. I was tasked…

(Re)learning to Write

By Cecilia Morales, Doctoral Candidate in English Given that one of my goals in applying for a Mellon Fellowship was to discover the Ann Arbor community beyond the walls of UofM, my position as the Communications Intern at the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation (AAACF) was the perfect fit. AAACF maintains an extensive network of connections…