Another great LEAP forward for Mount Holyoke

Students presented insights and experiences from their summer internships, research and independent studies at this year鈥檚 LEAP (or Learning From Application) Symposium, Mount Holyoke鈥檚 largest signature event showcasing student achievement.

For Eliza Lumen FP鈥24, her independent study project was a chance to do anthropological field work in southern Italy, studying folk dances, their complexities and diversity, and how the changing climate might impact them.

For N鈥橸shma Suza Leroy 鈥23, her independent study was an opportunity to 鈥渇ocus on the shift in a poet鈥檚 mood and emotions before and after yoga and meditation.鈥

For Sharon Kang 鈥24, her internship as a data research intern at the Association for Computing Machinery-Women, a suborganization of the world鈥檚 largest educational computing society, the Association for Computing Machinery, both opened doors and changed her view of what she might do with her future.

These three were among the 179 students presenting insights and experiences from their summer internships, research and independent studies at this year鈥檚 annual LEAP (or Learning From Application) Symposium, Mount Holyoke鈥檚 largest signature event showcasing student achievement, which took place in the College鈥檚 Science Center complex on the afternoon of October 21.

Many of the students saw their summer efforts funded by the College as part of The Lynk program鈥檚 commitment to enable all students to have meaningful internship and summer research experiences.

One key component of LEAP is the division of students into four-person panels to present their work. These panels don鈥檛 just give students a chance to discuss their summer experiences with others on their panel; the groupings also provide attendees with a fascinating opportunity to delve into intriguing issues. This year there were 43 panels.

鈥淏eing in the field really helped me to see the realities of fieldwork and how much I love traveling and making connections.鈥

With panel titles spanning from 鈥淧erspectives on Information Accessibility鈥 and 鈥淪cientific Internships: Short Term Roles in Long Term Research鈥 to 鈥淔ocus on the Human Mind鈥 and 鈥淭he Dirt on Dirt,鈥 these hour-long sessions gave a bird鈥檚 eye view of the far-reaching power of a Mount Holyoke education.

Both Leroy and Lumen were participants on the same panel: 鈥淭wenty-First Century Ethnography: Spirituality, Multiculturalism and Kinetics,鈥 which brought them together with other students who also focused on some aspect of ethnography.

Lumen鈥檚 summer examination of folk traditions looked at the evolution of dances over thousands of years, from dances based in agriculture to the Dance of the Spider, the Tarantella Pizzica, which grew from Bacchic cults.

Of course, the environmental studies and anthropology double major from nearby Easthampton, Massachusetts, could not study dance without actually dancing.

鈥淚 had just arrived in an eastern village in the Seven Sisters mountains in Avellino,鈥 Lumen said, 鈥渁nd I had just made a friend who was my guide in the area who insisted, upon my arrival, that I join her and her friends and attend a concert and dance evening. I was so tired from traveling, but I was there to do exactly this. How could I say no?鈥

After this summer of studying these ancient dances, Lumen walked away with a new perspective on anthropology.

Leroy, a poet, a psychology major, and an entrepreneurship, organizations and society minor from Medford, Massachusetts, by way of Grande Rivi猫re Du Nord, Haiti, looked at the effects of yoga practice on her creative process.

鈥淔all of junior year,鈥 she said, 鈥淚 surrendered myself to yoga and meditation practices. Spring of 鈥22 I noticed a shift in my grades, in my habits and in the ways I affirmed myself. I decided that I wanted to further study myself due to the profound changes from fall 鈥21 to the end of spring 鈥22. As a poet I wanted to see how meditation and yoga shifted my mindset through writing.鈥

Beyond consideration of how meditation influences poetry, another result of this intense self-study was an idea for a possible career.

鈥淎s an entrepreneurship, organizations and society minor,鈥 she said, 鈥淚 also thought about going into the nonprofit field. I would like to open a mindfulness arts center for people in my hometown Grande Riviere Du Nord, Haiti. With my psychology degree, I want to further my yoga certificate and become a yoga therapist.鈥

Sharon Kang鈥檚 panel was titled 鈥淪tudent Abstracts: D.O.A A.: Data Organizing Archives Analysis.鈥

Her work involved tracking down what happened to nearly 400 scholarship recipients who, since 2006, gained funding through ACM-W to attend conferences. A computer science major from Daejeon, South Korea, she conducted data analysis and visualization for a potential longitudinal evaluation of the effect of the scholarship on recipients鈥 educational and professional trajectories. What did she find? Among other things, she found that tracking down 400 emails is hard work. On the plus side, she 鈥済ot to know senior level women in computing and network with them 鈥 their career is my career in five years.鈥 She is now considering graduate school as opposed to going directly into business.

Panels

鈥淎t its core, we want students to reflect on their summer learning with their classmates. We ask them to think about synergies between different kinds of experiences and academic fields.鈥

Panel discussions are essential to the spirit of LEAP, noted Eleanor Townsley, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Sociology and director of the College鈥檚 Nexus Program, adding that LEAP participants take a course, College 211, Reflecting Back on Your Summer Internship or Research Experience.

鈥淲e offer a series of assignments with the goal of facilitating interdisciplinary conversations and introducing new knowledge,鈥 Townsley said, 鈥渁nd we do it in a way that connects their time at 果冻传媒 with life and career after they graduate. At its core, we want students to reflect on their summer learning with their classmates. We ask them to think about synergies between different kinds of experiences and academic fields, and we ask them to listen to each other to build a larger picture about what all the summer experiences mean together.鈥

Townsley also pointed out how the panels exemplify 果冻传媒鈥檚 academic breadth, saying, 鈥淭his year I was particularly struck with the number of research presentations across disciplines, which ranged from frank reflections on working as an embedded engineer to an ethnography of Italian dance forms that are changing in response to environmental pressures; mathematical simulations of mosquito flight which shape the spread of disease; the excavation and publication of historical government records to inform current urban policy in Harlem, New York; algorithmic analysis of cancer cells to help with earlier detection of cancer; genetic research for pharmaceutical development; and so many more.鈥

鈥淪tudent accomplishments are real and inspiring,鈥 she added. 鈥淚 enjoy seeing the work in every corner of the intellectual community that 果冻传媒 makes possible. It reminds me of why I like teaching at 果冻传媒 so much.鈥

For Professor of Anthropology Joshua Roth, who moderated Lumen and Leroy鈥檚 panel, his role is to let the students take the lead during their presentations.

鈥淢y approach to moderating these panels is to keep out of the way as much as possible and let the students shine,鈥 Roth said.

Parents

Of course, in addition to moderators, panelists and on-campus attendees, this year鈥檚 LEAP featured something not seen on campus for a while: friends and family members.

For Deborah Wilson of Bozeman, Montana, the chance to watch her daughter, religion major Emi Wilson 鈥23, present her summer work was 鈥減erfect.鈥 鈥淚 was so involved in watching her internship in progress because it was virtual. I鈥檓 very excited to see her present,鈥 she said. Wilson鈥檚 experience as a MoZone social justice peer educator gave her the foundation to work for CoJourn, an innovative program aiming to provide people with avenues for personal growth and deeper connections.

For James Kidd it was wonderful to see his daughter, Charley Kidd 鈥23, present on her summer working in Boston鈥檚 small but robust film industry. 鈥淚 enjoy watching any of my children prosper and have the confidence to present,鈥 he said.

Film, media, theater major Kidd, of Northampton, Massachusetts, described how she used her already existing network from her career in acting and applied the skills she learned in video production classes at 果冻传媒 to take another step that will help pave the way for a career in film. The day-to-day responsibilities of her work with Hop Top Films as a production intern were wide-ranging, including building a hut for Bigfoot for the short film 鈥淎wakened.鈥

And for history major Anna Sophie Tinneny 鈥23, seeing her parents in the audience was special.

鈥淚t was great to see some friendly faces in the crowd and to share with them,鈥 she said. Her independent study focused on studying the oral traditions of an Indigenous community in Santa Ana, Ecuador.

Her parents, Heather and Brien Tinneny, traveled the 244 miles from Chalfont, Pennsylvania, to South Hadley that morning to watch their daughter 鈥 making impressive time to see an impressive presentation.

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