Why did you choose graduate school at IU Indianapolis?
I appreciate the dual emphasis on both research-intensive classes and gaining practical experience through internships. I was drawn to IU's well-integrated system as a non-traditional student (a mom of 5 coming back to the academic world after more than a decade away). As a researcher in the liberal arts, I love tapping into the resources offered by such a world-class university system.
What has been your favorite academic accomplishment since you’ve been here?
It's hard to choose one favorite moment! Winning the Anne Donchin Women's Studies Award for creative scholarship on women in World War I was special, as I love women's history (I spent five years as a birth doula before graduate school). Ultimately, though, presenting my research about Charlotte Mason's educational theories at the Midwest Conference on British Studies felt most pivotal in my graduate school journey.
What do you enjoy most about life in Indianapolis?
Moment of truth here: I commute to Indianapolis from Lafayette, driving an hour one way for my classes (this is either true dedication or true insanity...). I love the energy of medical research happening at the same spot as liberal arts studies. As a mom who once had a baby in the Riley NICU & felt partially sustained during that time by the beauty of a liberal arts education, I know we need both in our world. I am always looking for ways to connect them more and the campus at IU-Indy is a great place to do that!
Please provide some details about your work/research as a graduate student and/or any activities you are involved in.
British educator Charlotte Mason once asked, “the question is not, how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education, but how much does he care?” and that's perhaps the best way of encapsulating some of my research interests. I love sharing how her holistic, humane methods of education still have relevance today.
I am deeply interested in how Mason's use of narration aligns with promising new studies on in-class oral exams as an alternative to computerized assessments in an age of AI. Narration is also a potent tool for fostering composition skills, allowing students to enter into conversation with the rich world of ideas around them starting from a very young age. Children deserve to hear these timeless conversations through a rich literature based curriculum.
In an age of digital distractions, I also love exploring Mason's emphasis on the habit of attention. This habit of attention is important for being more reflective and less reactive in our times, and for better understanding of the complexities around us.
The complexities of the nineteenth-century are where my other research interests lie. Working with the Kentucky Historical Society, I am a research assistant with the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Project. Transcribing letters from this Civil War border state has allowed me to share original nineteenth-century documents with modern audiences. Participating in the Public & Applied History Symposium on the Civil War Era (hosted by the KHS & co-sponsored by America250 and the Society of Civil War Historians) gave such a great "behind the scenes" look at the work of public-facing institutions. I'm also working on primary source research related to women's education in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a topic too often misunderstood in modern culture.
Doing volunteer work with both the Jasper County and Tippecanoe County Historical Societies has allowed me to make more of Indiana's robust history known. I've written about nineteenth-century abolitionists and farm women in World War I, listening for the voices so often muted by more traditional narratives.
To quote Miss Mason again, "education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life" and that is how I feel about every research project I've had the honor of being involved in while a student at IU Indianapolis. The atmosphere of education should be humane, compassionate, disciplined, and life-giving. I hope I've been able to contribute to these ideals in some small ways during my time here.