The 2021 Summer Scholars have been announced!
The Summer Scholars program is an initiative that allows Humanities and Sciences students to work alongside faculty mentors on enriching projects over the course of eight weeks during the summer. Some of our scholars will be working through the Dana Internship program, which is also eight weeks. This year’s scholars in writing are junior Kaitlyn Dennehy, sophomore Matthew Gardener, senior Michaela Jonas-Francis, and junior Harleigh Myerovich.
Matthew will be working with assistant professor Katie Marks on an image text fiction project. The project will deal with how humans perceive themselves in a world with as vast scientific knowledge as ours. He said he will be combining lyric prose, illustrations, and found photos to effectively assemble a museum exhibit on how to be human.
“I’m eager to explore the possibilities of applying image text techniques to fiction work — exploring imagined worlds and lives in a tactile, associative way,” Matthew said.
Michaela will also be working with Professor Marks as a Dana intern on an independent writing project. As a Sociology major, Michaela will be creating a project based on the work she has done in both her writing and counseling courses. She is doing the project for both personal and professional gain, she said, as she sees her work for the program as a way to develop her own method or approach to therapy for when she will eventually become a therapist herself.
“Doing this project with Katie as my mentor is a wonderful opportunity to see what I am capable of as the final product of this project will be creative work,” Michaela said.
Kaitlyn will be working on a summer project with assistant professor Joan Marcus as a mentor. Harleigh will be working with assistant professor Jaime Warburton as a Dana intern over the summer.
Marks said the program is a fantastic opportunity for students to work on a sustained project for a long period of time, and to focus exclusively on it. Over the years, students have worked on a wide range of projects including reimaginings of classic literature, video essays, studies of war memoirs, lyric essays, and works meditating on themes such as mental health, nature, and many others. The program emphasizes the process behind these works, she said, and it is a great opportunity for students to explore and figure out what they truly want to pursue.
Beginning June 1, summer scholars earn $12.50 an hour and are expected to work 40 hours a week for eight weeks. Faculty working with students also receive a stipend. Students who are working under the Dana Internship program will also be expected to work 40 hours a week for eight weeks, which they will be compensated for as well, in addition to a $1,800 scholarship that will be applied to their following Fall semester.
“It’s a special thing to get paid to do what you love,” Marks said. “Students in our major and minor have really thrived overall and have produced some gorgeous and compelling work.”
Find out more about the Summer Scholars program and how you can participate here.