Author: Liv Raddatz

Kira Elliot, BMC ’24

The Practice of Theories of Transformative Justice

Semester: Spring 2024

Faculty Advisor: Joel Schlosser

Field Site: Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project

Field Supervisor: Sarah Morris and Gabby Jackson

Praxis Poster: 

KiraElliot_Poster_Final_S24

 

Further Context:

In 1995 the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed Act 33 of Special Session 1. This act requires individuals between the ages of 15 and 17 charged with certain felonies be charged in adult court if they meet certain requirements, such as the use of a weapon during the alleged crime (ACLU). The process of charging and trying a child, under the age of 18, as an adult in adult court is called Direct File Juvenile (DFJ). However, Pennsylvania actually has no lower limit for the DFJ process; kids as young as 11 have been charged as adults, and sentenced with adult prison sentences, in the state of Pennsylvania. The DFJ process has been admittedly manipulative, cruel, and an abuse of power by the District Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia County. However, every day children are still being treated as adults in this unjust, unproductive, and unnecessarily punitive system.

The Youth Art and Self-empowerment Project (YASP) is a youth-led movement focused on ending the DFJ process, restorative justice, and using community power to transform the legal system. Their aim is to build a world where there are no kids in prison and to create new possibilities for youth around the city. My internship with YASP focused on court advocacy, DFJ data tracking, and their youth led Participatory Defense Hub. I track data on DFJ cases, importing aspects of data available on a young person’s docket (the sheet which includes their incarceration placement, court hearings, lawyer, bail information, etc). All of this information is public record and public information alongside all adult arrests. I also attend court every week and take notes on aspects of the case relevant to the decertification process. Decertification is a legal motion that advocates for the judge to move the DFJ case back to the juvenile system, where it should be. For the defense lawyer, this requires presenting a strong argument that the young person would benefit from the counseling, and education available in the juvenile justice system. I use this information I gather in court to assist with YASP’s Participatory Defense Hub at YASP Participatory defense is a community organizing model that empowers individuals and communities to actively participate in the defense of their loved ones facing criminal charges. YASP’s Hub is a grassroots response to mass incarceration, the purposeful confusion of the court system, and rooted in community based knowledge sharing. Going to court helps with participatory defense because there are many things said in the courtroom that aren’t put on the dockets as public information–this includes any conditions that a young person may have agreed to for decertification.

Being an intern at the Youth Art and Self-empowerment Project has been life changing. It has allowed me to apply my academic skills to invaluable work in Philadelphia County. For me, bringing the theoretical into practice is an important part of learning–it elevates political theory and has allowed me to be an effective, useful, and helpful member of the Youth Art and Self-empowerment Project. This has made me a better student and a stakeholder of the community. It has also shown me a path toward the work I aim to dedicate my life to. The internal politics of the District Attorney’s Office, including which court rooms DFJ cases are sent to, and which judge oversees hearing the case, can directly impact young people’s lives, for better or for worse. However, community focused abolitionist work is effective and transforms the lives of Philadelphia youth.

Cavan Helmering, BMC ’25

Applied Health Economics: Market Economics Internship at Navvis Healthcare

Semester: Spring 2024

Faculty Advisor: June Kim

Field Site: Navvis Healthcare

Field Supervisor: Dan Bateman

Praxis Poster: 

Cavan Helmering_Poster_Final_S24

 

Further Context:

This Praxis course at Navvis Healthcare was the continuation of an internship from the summer of 2023 that continued into the 2023-2024 school year. At Navvis, I was on the Market Economics team. My internship started with an incredible amount of learning, as healthcare is a vast market with so many ins and outs. The team I am on completed a new set of financial models for a client partner last summer, and a big part of that was contact discernment. I went from never having looked at a contract to being able to explain its terms, or at least those that tied somewhat to economics.

[…] this has been a fantastic internship experience. Dan Bateman, my supervisor, made sure that I was learning as much as possible and I owe so much of my learning to my one to one calls with him. Turning this into a Praxis allowed me to have the time and space to dive deeper into concepts of healthcare that I was interested in and see real time changes to a system
that is constantly regarded as broken. I could not have completed this Praxis course without the help of Tiffany Stahl and June Kim, my faculty advisor. A huge thank you to Dan, Tiffany, and June who have all been wonderful throughout this process and I would not have been able to learn so much without their constant support.

Lamisa Hossain, BMC ’24

Achieving Sustainable Development: Examining the Role of Private Equity and Foreign Direct Investment in Africa

Semester: Spring 2024

Faculty Advisor: Michael Allen

Field Site: Alterra

Field Supervisor: Leah Coates

Praxis Poster: 

LamisaHossain_Poster_Final_S24

 

Further Context:

Working at Alterra Capital Partners as a Strategy and Investment Research Intern has been an exciting journey into the world of private equity and sustainable investment. Working in supporting Alterra’s climate fund, my role delved into researching opportunities within renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and climate technology startups.

Each week presented a new challenge, pushing me to sharpen my skills in financial modeling, investment research, and crafting compelling presentations. The technical competencies honed during my internship are undeniably valuable. My assignments allowed me to gain proficiency that will undoubtedly serve me well in my future endeavors.

Moreover, the exposure to the intricacies of investment research has deepened my understanding of the interplay of macroeconomic and microeconomic dynamics in driving investment decisions, which is a wonderful way to apply my learnings from class into practical experiences. Yet, beyond the technical realm, it’s the softer skills cultivated during my time at Alterra that truly stand out. Communication, in particular, emerged as a cornerstone of my growth. Whether it was articulating ideas in team meetings or seeking guidance on challenging tasks, I learned the importance of clear and concise communication. Initially, seeking help during uncertain situations was a challenge for me, but throughout the semester, I was presented with multiple opportunities to sharpen my communication abilities.

This experience instilled in me the understanding that collaborating enhances innovation and facilitates problem-solving. Reflecting on my internship experience, the most significant takeaway lies in the evolution of my approach towards tackling challenges. Embracing a proactive mindset, I’ve learned to confront obstacles head-on, leveraging the collective
knowledge and experience around me. This proactive stance not only enhances efficiency but also fosters a culture of continuous learning and growth. As I embark on the next chapter of my journey, I carry with me not just the technical skills acquired but also a newfound appreciation
for the power of effective communication and collaborative problem-solving. My internship at Alterra Capital Partners has not only equipped me with the tools to navigate the intricacies of the financial world but has also instilled in me the confidence to embrace challenges with resilience and resourcefulness.

Lillian Ernst, BMC ’24

Writing in Restorative Justice

Semester: Spring 2024

Faculty Advisor: Vanessa Petroj

Field Site: The Youth Art & Self-empowerment Project: Healing Futures

Field Supervisor: Felix Rosado

Praxis Poster: 

LillianErst_Poster_Final_S24

 

Further Context:

This semester, I worked with the Youth Art & Self-empowerment Project: Healing Futures, (YASP) to continue projects I began last summer with Bryn Mawr College’s Summer of Service program. Healing Futures is a youth diversion program using Restorative Justice practices. The District Attorney’s office can refer a case to Healing Futures, where they go through a 12-week curriculum that fosters growth, reflection, and accountability in young people who have harmed another person. They write an apology letter to the person they hurt and share it out loud in a Restorative Community Conference—a Circle process. In these Circles, the Person Harmed and the Responsible Youth can discuss the experiences they’ve had revolving around the harm committed.

I used my experience as a Writing Center Tutor to support the initial stages of this process, where self-reflective writing is critical. I was inspired by the Freedom Writers Diary Teacher’s Guide, which provides several worksheets for in-classroom community building and writing strategies. I adapted these provided worksheets to fit the structure and setting of Healing Futures, which is shaped by closed, small group conversations. Alongside creating worksheets, I generated journal prompts and structured schedules for the curriculum to best support the process of Healing Futures. I focused on activities that explored self-assessment and reflection with the goal of building confidence in writing the apology letter.

I had the opportunity to share my work twice over the course of the semester. In March I attended the Mid-Atlantic Writing Centers Association’s annual conference, hosted at George Mason University. Here, I gave a presentation on the connections between my work at Healing Futures with my work at the Writing Center. Then, in April myself and my fellow intern at YASP, Kira Elliott, hosted a Teach-In on the power of writing. We compared the ways writing is used in the criminal (in)justice system versus in Restorative Justice practices, and what kind of social power we have with the written word. Being able to share my work with the broader community brought an extra layer of fulfillment to my Praxis experience, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities.

Della Burke, BMC ’25

Museum Fieldwork: Cheshmeh Ali

Semester: Spring 2024

Faculty Advisor: Jennie Bradbury

Field Site: Penn Museum

Field Supervisor: Katy Blanchard

Praxis Poster: 

Della_Burke_Poster_Final_SP24

 

Further Context:

This semester, I interned with Katy Blanchard, the Keeper of the Near East Collections at the Penn Museum. In consultation with my faculty advisor, Dr. Jennie Bradbury, I elected to work with ceramic material – vessels and sherds, fragments of pottery – from Cheshmeh Ali, a site in Iran’s Tehran Plain. This site dates to the Transitional Chalcolithic Period (c. 5300-4300 BCE) and is adjacent to the Islamic site of Rayy. Both sites were excavated by the Penn Museum in the 1930s under the direction of Erich Schmidt. The material brought back to Penn has remained largely unphotographed and digitally inaccessible.

In my preliminary research before the semester, I realized that scholarship on Cheshmeh Ali is limited, which made the site and material even more appealing, as my work in the museum would expand the accessibility of Cheshmeh Ali’s material culture.

In the Near East Collections, my responsibilities were primarily inventory and photography. For the first two weeks of my internship, I cross-checked object IDs and field numbers and photographed the complete vessels to ensure they were all accurately recorded and represented in Penn’s digital collections. After that, I labeled, re-bagged, and returned them to the shelves. I worked with boxes of sherds from the site for the rest of the semester. The size of the boxes was often misleading, as many had more sherds (around 200) than I expected! For the sherds, I carried out an inventory, including cross-checking numbers and writing descriptions of the sherds, and photography. Outside of the Collections, I input my data and descriptions into spreadsheets so Penn’s electronic database is up-to-date. Then, my images are added to Penn’s online collections, and the Cheshmeh Ali material is accessible to researchers and visitors of the digital collections!

In addition to my internship, I’ve worked under the guidance of Dr. Jennie Bradbury, and my research centers on visual analysis of the Cheshmeh Ali material. Through my work with the material and review of scholarship and ceramic material from comparative sites (e.g. Kara Tepe and Tepe Pardis) I’ve been investigating three questions: What are the interactions between motif and vessel/sherd form? Is there a shared vocabulary of motifs and forms across sites from the Transitional Chalcolithic Period? And, considering these, what can I deduce about social complexity? For my final project, I am playing with digital scholarship by creating a Scalar “book” to communicate my findings.

I am grateful for the opportunity to work so closely with the Cheshmeh Ali material and my two advisors, Katy and Jennie. The Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology and practical experiences, like the Praxis Program, informed my decision to choose Bryn Mawr. I am thankful I was able to combine the two and contribute to increasing accessibility in museums and archaeology!

Saule Aoki, BMC, 24′

Montgomery County Coroner

Semester: Fall 2023

Faculty Advisor: Maja Šešelj

Field Site: Montgomery County Coroner’s Office (MCCO)

Field Supervisor: Jessica Bisch

Praxis Poster: 

Saule Praxis Poster - Copy

 

Further Context:

During the fall of 2023, I had the opportunity to participate in a praxis course designed around an internship with the Montgomery County Coroner’s office. The county coroner is responsible for determining the death’s cause, manner, and circumstances through medical examination and investigation. You may see the profession portrayed in crime TV shows, but real life is much different. In addition to homicide and deaths involving criminal activity, the coroner’s office is responsible for investigating suicide, accidents–such as falls or drug overdoses, sudden death,
deaths in-custody’s-or during police intervention or incarceration.

During my internship, I participated in various steps of the medicolegal process. I attended and assisted with autopsies every day during my training. I measured and recorded organ weights, took fingerprints, and helped everything run smoothly. While assisting in the morgue, I observed
how the medical examiners determined the cause of death and had the opportunity to ask many questions. I learned a lot through hands-on participation and witnessed how pathological signs discovered during an autopsy indicate the cause of death.

Last summer, I interned with the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science in Houston, Texas, through Bryn Mawr’s summer internship program. My prior experience with medicolegal cases in Houston provides a basis for general comparison with the patients I observed in Montgomery
County, which has a median income twice that of Houston. Houston had many more daily cases, more homicides, and people who did not have access to healthcare during life. Yet, Montgomery County has huge wealth disparities; patterns of wealth were highly associated with the number of cases and circumstances of each death.

Overall, I’m grateful for the opportunity to intern with the Montgomery County Coroner’s office. I have gained a lot of insight into the field, and I plan to use the connections I’ve made to continue a career in forensic science.

Palmer Jones, BMC, ’24

Healing Futures Through Restorative & Transformative Justice Practices

Semester: Fall 2023

Faculty Advisor: James Martin

Field Site: Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project (YASP)

Field Supervisor: Felix Rosado

Praxis Poster: 

Healing Futures Poster (5)

 

Further Context:

This was my third semester working with Healing Futures in the Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project. This program aims to focus on connecting with youth to teach them the importance of accountability and engagement with their community. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office sends eligible cases to the Healing Futures team and if the capacity and resources are there (often a challenge with non-profits such as this), the responsible youth (demeaning language is avoided) will be enrolled and immediately begin meeting with a team of two facilitators. We then connect with the person harmed (notice the dignifying language) to begin making connections and assisting them with their needs throughout the process. By the end of the sessions, the responsible youth will have written an apology letter and have been prepared to share it with the person harmed at their Restorative Community Conference. This conference utilizes the indigenous circle process, highlighting the importance of creating an intentional space. Using restorative and transformative practices, facilitators guide the circle and provide people a chance to share how this impacted them or caused harm. All involved will then create a restorative plan that the responsible youth typically spend 4-8 weeks completing.

Throughout this entire process, we continue to provide transportation, food, or any other support (within our means) needed in order for them to be successful. Once completed, there is a community celebration where we present a personalized award to honor the responsible youth (and occasionally the person harmed) for their strength and determination. This semester, I focused on gaining confidence in my facilitation skills through learning from the program manuals. I worked one on one with other facilitators to brainstorm how the current curriculum could be expanded or made more accessible and implemented new workshop materials. Guided by my mentors, I focused on the nature of healing connections and how programs that engage with the community help people to build ecosystems of care. I previously compared the youth in the program to seeds, reflecting the health of their environment and the things that pour into them.

If we continue to pour positive, confidence-building energy into the youth, they will learn to better care for themselves, which allows them to better care for their community. Through this, there is a reimagination of what community care can look like and hope beyond our current systems of accountability.

Olivia Kaplan, BMC, ’24

The Clearly Collective

Semester: Fall 2023

Faculty Advisor: Matthew Feliz

Field Site: The Clearly Collective

Field Supervisor: Olivia Cleary

Praxis Poster: 

Cream Simplified Professional Portrait University Research Poster-3

 

Further Context:

Clearly Collective, a visionary custom silk scarf company, stands at the intersection of art, fashion, and architecture. This women-owned startup specializes in crafting exquisite silk scarves inspired by monumental architecture from any location. Each scarf is a canvas, meticulously designed to capture the essence and beauty of iconic landmarks, structures, and lifestyle; the Clearly Collective transforms these elements into wearable masterpieces. These intricate patterns, details, and motifs are thoughtfully curated and placed together to evoke a sense of connection and appreciation. The heart of the company lies in its commitment to
celebrating cultures, lives and memories through its designs. The scarves serve as a visual journey, showcasing the unique charm and significance of various locations.

As a college senior, the significance of real-world experience cannot be overstated. While academic knowledge forms a solid foundation, the transition from classroom learning to practical application is where true growth and readiness for the professional world occur. Real-world
experiences I have gained from working with The Clearly Collective have offered me invaluable insights into the complexities of various industries, providing me with the opportunity to apply problem solution and analysis skills to actual situations.

These experiences not only enhance problem-solving skills but also open up the world of opportunities ahead. The exposure to real-world challenges has instilled a sense of confidence and self-efficacy, empowering and strengthening my interests.

While working at the Clearly Collective, I have been given the opportunity to learn and grow in my academic and career interests. I have also been given the chance to be a member of a small team working to make a big impact. The ability to learn and grow with the company has offered exposure and skills unlike anything else I have experienced.

A large part of the work, besides working on designing scarves, has been a combined effort to learn client outreach, business development, and media skills. These expertise and trials ensure the development of effective and engaging content, enabling the company to offer unique and high-quality product and customer experience. Business development skills have been
fascinating, learning from a women-owned and founded company, how strategic growth, including market analysis, client acquisition, and partnerships building to expand the reach and impact of the brand. Meanwhile, media development play a pivotal role in crafting compelling
narratives, creating visually appealing content, and finding desired and few clients, continuing to grow platforms for marketing and brand building.

The Clearly Collective engages with its audience across various platforms, creating a community that shares a passion for art, fashion, and architectural marvels. As time goes on, the collective hopes to bring in more stories and memories of places: towns, neighborhoods, and communities, to create meaningful pieces anyone can enjoy.

Katie Manyin, BMC, ‘23

Gender Socialization and Gender Specific Education

Semester: Fall 2023

Faculty Advisor: Elise Herrala

Field Site: Girls Inc.

Field Supervisor: Brionna Pendelton

Praxis Poster: 

Praxis Independent Study Poster Final

 

Further Context:

In addition to my work in the classroom facilitating Girls Inc. curriculum, one of my goals for this independent study was to analyze how Girls Inc. ‘s gender-specific educational programming affected girls’ understanding of their gender identity. I was able to do this analysis through recording field notes after my classes, and then coding the field notes for patterns
relating to the girls’ gender expressions and behaviors. At the end of the semester, I wrote a memo summarizing my findings throughout all of my classes. Here is an excerpt from that memo:

The two major themes that stood out to me after looking through my Girls Inc. field notes were the girls’ fixation on beauty and physical appearance and their lack of self-confidence. While these patterns aren’t surprising to me, I was surprised by the contradiction I observed between the girls’ astute awareness of societal inequities and the pressures put on women, and their occasional inability to identify these issues in class. For example, the 7th grade students in my media literacy class consistently demonstrated that they are aware of the harmful beauty standards that our society pushes on women, yet they are clearly still affected by this all-encompassing messaging, and sometimes even perpetuate harmful beauty standards
themselves. The contradictions that my students in Girls Inc. have demonstrated with regard to beauty standards highlight the very human experience of being able to identify when something is harmful and wrong, yet struggling to completely divorce oneself from societal pressures.

The girls in my classes have consistently demonstrated both a keen awareness of the pressure put on women to look, dress, and act a certain way, while also making comments in class that are hypercritical of their own and even other people’s appearances. One key example of this contradiction happened during my second week at The Community Academy of Philadelphia. During this session, we had the girls look at and analyze different advertisements. One of the “advertisements” I gave a group of girls to look at was really just a cover of Seventeen magazine. This cover featured a picture of Camilla Cabello, and one of the most
prominent headlines on the cover said “Get OMG Hair While You Sleep! (Seriously).” Right away, the girls in the group called out how ridiculous the idea of “OMG” hair is, as one girl mockingly asked, “What does OMG hair even mean?” Her tone told me that she understood that the idea of “OMG Hair” is so abstract and subjective, and that by using this phrase, Seventeen is implying that our hair has to look a certain way to be considered beautiful and worthy of praise.

Yet, just a few moments after the girls started making fun of the idea of “OMG Hair,”, the conversation turned to a critique of Camilla Cabello’s hair and outfit on the cover of the magazine. The girls declared that she did not have “OMG hair,” and then went on to talk about how horrible her outfit was. Therefore, even just after recognizing that it is unnecessary to put
pressure on women to look a certain way, and in this case have “OMG hair,” the girls started pulling apart a woman’s appearance. While the girls demonstrated the ability to recognize and call out misogyny in the media, they also still participated in the culture of critiquing women’s appearances themselves. This illustrates how incredibly hard it is for the girls to break out of the sexist fixation that our society has on women’s appearances, even when they recognize the harm that this fixation can cause.

Throughout my fieldwork at Girls Inc., I have also seen many girls fixate on their own physical appearance, even when we were not discussing any related topic. For example, when we did an assignment called “What’s Special About Me” with the fifth graders in which they had to write something they liked about themselves, many of the girls wrote about an aspect of their physical appearance that they liked. While it is beautiful and powerful for girls to voice what they like about their physical appearance, the fact that they went straight to that part of their identity instead of aspects of their personality speaks volumes about what young girls are taught to value about themselves. In addition to many girls struggling to write things that they liked about themselves in the “What’s Special About Me” activity, girls in all three of my placements communicated to me, in various ways, that they believe that they are ugly. Because these girls
are constantly receiving the message from the world that they should put incredibly high value on the way they look, they start to be highly critical of their physical appearance, which can contribute to lowering their self esteem.

The observations I made of the girls’ behavior in my Girls Inc. classes only reinforced for me how important it is to talk to girls about sexism and societal pressures from a young age. In my opinion, we can’t reach girls soon enough.