Spring Semester 2026 – Page 4 – Bryn Mawr College

Angela Coppola, HC ’26

Praxis Course: Museum Studies Praxis Seminar

Semester: Spring 2026   

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Monique Scott

Community Partner(s): Harriton House

Praxis Site Supervisor: Laura Carpenter

Praxis Poster:

HART_AngelaCoppola

Further Context:

This semester, I interned as a transcriber at the Harriton House, a historic house and landmark in Bryn Mawr. I found out about this internship possibility through the Museums Fair from last semester and inquired more about the praxis by emailing Laura Carpenter. Transcribing was not a skill I was accustomed with, but with my newer interest in archives, I thought it would be great to explore.

During the spring semester, I transcribed the daybook of Charles Thomson. His daybook was started in 1789, right after he stopped working at Continental Congress. From then on, his life transformed from secretary to agriculturist. By working on this daybook, the Harriton House seeks to achieve an accessable and searchable document for Harriton House visitors and members to use. In addition, through my project, I took notes on some of the names and location mentioned in his daybook. This information could potentially be used for a later project on a more in-depth look into Charles Thomson’s life. For some of this research, I had to explore consensus records and genealogical websites to learn more about a person mentioned in the daybook. I had never tried searching these types of websites before, so this experience was enlightening.

To summarize the history of the Harriton House, it was originally owned by a Welsh settler, built in 1702-1704. The house was named Bryn Mawr for “Big Hill” and sold to Richard Harrison. Harrison originated in Maryland where he owned tobacco plantations, thus the Harriton House was made into a plantation. After Harrison’s death in 1745, his wife Hannah Norris owned the property, it being managed by tenant farmers. After her death in 1774, the property was passed to Hannah Harrison who married Charles Thomson that same year. Thomson then become the owner of the property due to the inheritance laws at the time. It’s during his time owning the Harriton House that Charles Thomson wrote the daybook. I learned the history of the house throughout the semester and was able to connect it with some of the information found in the daybook.

Some of the challenges I encountered was re-learning cursive. Cursive was something I was taught in school, but I never properly incorporated it into my life. As such, I had to have a cursive alphabet out when I first examined the daybook. Over time, I improved my cursive comprehension to point where I no longer needed the alphabet out. I also had to understand the characteristics of Thomson’s writing to improve my transcribing skill. For example, I learned that Thomson writes his “T” a certain way, as well as spelling words wrong, like “drizle” for “drizzle.” In addition, I learned about old age vernacular for farming and building. These were some of the learning curves, I had to refine in the project.

I enjoyed interning at the Harriton House, as I was able to explore a separate field of museums studies. In this internship, I learned multiple skills, such as transcription, cursive, and genealogical research. I found the most rewarding part of my project to be personifying the author and people mentioned in the daybook. With this perspective, the daybook became less of a monotonous task and more of an intimate look at Charles Thomson’s life and relations. In addition, when transcribing in person at the Harriton House, I understood more about the daily behind-the-scenes of a historical house and small non-profit. I was able to sit in on interviews and view how the thought that goes into programming at the Harriton House. I think this project helped me figure out that I am interested in archive work and looking forward to exploring the possibilities in that career field.

Tallulah Stallvik, BMC ’28

Praxis Course: Praxis Independant Study

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Daniel Torday

Community Partner(s): JackLeg Press

Praxis Site Supervisor: Jennifer Harris

Praxis Poster:

PIS TallulahStallvik

Further Context:

As my poster details, my work as an intern at JackLeg Press was very focused, consisting of practically the same repeating task for the whole semester. This level of consistency allowed me to dive incredibly deep into how I was approaching my reviews and how I was reading the poems in the first place — hence why I chose to focus on the reading process itself and the “craftsmanship” of the poetry for my poster. Centering the idea of craftsmanship in my reviewing played the largest role in controlling
aesthetically-driven bias. It was a challenge, though, to make this dissection. To a certain extent, all aspects of poetry — even the ways formal craft elements are utilized — are subjective, and therefore victim to overlaid aesthetic bias. Growth in this area was truly a by-product of the sheer amount of time dedicated to the repetitive motions of reading submission after submission. In terms of a life progression, this internship worked in tandem with and built off of my time as an intern for the online poetry magazine Poetry Daily last summer. I bring this up because of the way in which reading as an eye of a press differed from that preliminary experience evaluating poetry for individual publication to a magazine. I felt my opinions were imbued with a more significant weight, which led me to be even more intentional with every thought and review. Publishing a poetry book is introducing the world to someone’s work in the exact form, order, and overall presentation that the artist intends for the work; it is allowing space for this person’s work. Aside from this feeling of responsibility, being a part of this process was somewhat out-of-body; I kept asking myself why does my opinion of someone’s work matter? But, of course, the literary community is built on this massive web of “peoples’
opinions.” In good faith, it is the thoughts and contributions of a whole array of people that make arts communities strong.

Pearl Bromley, BMC ’28

Praxis Course: Museum Studies Praxis Seminar

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Monique Scott

Community Partner(s): University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology/ Penn Museum

Field Supervisor: Katherine Blanchard

Praxis Poster:

HART_PearleBromley-compressed

Further Context:
For my Museum Studies Praxis Internship this semester, I worked as a collections management intern at the Penn Museum beneath Near Eastern Section Keeper Katherine Blanchard. As to how I secured my placement at the museum, I had initially cold-emailed Katy in June of last year. With a brief email exchange, we zoomed together several times over the summer discussing my interests and academic background, at which point she confirmed that I would be interning with her in the fall.

Throughout the semester, my praxis work focused on one main project, in which I was tasked with acquisitioning material from the site of Gibeon—or el Jib. The site itself is just Northwest of Jerusalem in the Palestinian Territories, more specifically in the West Bank. The city is over 5,000 years old, with initial settlement dating back to the Early Bronze Age (c. 3300–2000 BCE), and is most famous for its presence in the Old Testament with it being the location where Joshua made a peace treaty with its inhabitants. Its excavation was led by archaeologist James B. Pritchard through the University of Pennsylvania, with over five field seasons between 1956 and 1962. The majority of objects maintained by the museum from Gibeon originate from tomb groups, and are primarily ceramics, including oil lamps, jugs, bowls, as well as small finds such as human and animal figurines, metal jewelry, knives, and other miscellaneous pieces.

As to my role in acquisitioning this collection, I would typically process a group of objects, one shelf—or drawer—at a time. In order to acquisition an object group, I engaged in several steps including confirming the museum and registration numbers of the artifacts, taking them to be photographed in either the shot-on or shot-down photography studio, sending the digital photographs to my supervisors to be edited and uploaded to the website for publication, and then finally rehousing and reorganizing the artifacts back on the shelf/drawer from where they originated.

Ultimately, I was able to process and upload over 2,000+ object photos, which are publicly accessible on the Penn Museum’s Digital Collections Website for the first time since their excavation. I learned a lot from this internship, not only how to acquisition collection material, but how to properly engage as a steward of a collection. While these artifacts may be housed within the walls of the Penn Museum, they are not inherently owned by the museum, but rather maintained by its wonderful staff. Objects like those excavated at Gibeon hold great cultural value for the ancient heritages they represent, and in properly maintaining them, not only are they kept safe and accessible, but are given the respect they deserve as pieces of an ancient past—emblematic of contemporary cultures in Palestine today.

Tess Rivera, BMC ’27

Praxis Course: Museum Studies Fieldwork Seminar

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Monique Scott

Community Partner(s): The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Field Supervisor: Katherine Blanchard

Praxis Poster:

HART_TessRivera

Further Context:

This semester, I interned at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology with the Near Eastern collection. I worked under the keeper of the collection, Katherine (Katy) Blanchard, and alongside another Museum Studies Praxis student. Katy introduced me to the biblical site of Gibeon, which is located in current day El Jib, just outside of Jerusalem, Palestine. The site was excavated by the Penn Museum in conjunction with the Church Divinity School of the Pacific from 1956 to 1962. Finds from the excavations include pottery, jewelry, and small metal objects. I worked over the course of the semester on documenting the artifacts from this site, making them accessible to the public in the museum’s online collection website. Each day at the museum looked mostly the same. I would first check in with Katy in the basement’s storage rooms about how much I could ideally accomplish that day and whether we
had any additional meetings to attend between projects. I would then head over to the many shelves where the Gibeon objects lived, and I would take a shelf of artifacts into the next room to be inventoried. I made note of each field number and accession number, as well as any abnormalities such as pencil markings or incorrect information listed in the museum’s system.
Once the objects were inventoried, I transferred them to one of two camera setups with a gray backdrop, depending on whether the images needed to be taken from above or from a standing tripod. I photographed each object from all angles before rehousing the objects into fresh bags to be put back on their shelf. This process was repeated multiple times each day. Today, images of over 900 objects have been made available on the collection website. Objects from this site had never previously been photographed or otherwise documented outside of the names and numbers listed in the museum’s computer system. It was an extremely rewarding experience to be able to give these objects a new life. In addition to learning how to handle and photograph artifacts, I was able to gain a new perspective on what
museum work entails. There are so many museum career paths other than curation, and it was wonderful to be able to explore these other paths via hands-on participation. I look forward to utilizing the skills from this Praxis internship in my future museum career.

Kathryn Gentry, BMC ’27

Praxis Course: Praxis Independant Study

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Jamie Taylor

Community Partner(s): Jackleg Press

Praxis Site Supervisor: Jennifer Harris

Praxis Poster:

PIS KathrynGentry

Further Context:

My main goal for this internship was to learn about the world of book publishing and independent presses. As a Literatures in English major at Bryn Mawr, I have spent my academic career looking at published material, but had not had the opportunity to work with the raw material of written work. Before embarking on this internship my goals were to develop editorial judgement and literary evaluation skills. I was thrilled by the prospect of working at Jackleg, and with Jen, to fulfill these goals.

As editorial interns at Jackleg, my cohort worked with Jen and the Jackleg team to evaluate submissions for publishing. Interns would read submissions, rate them, and write a brief blurb about the work and our opinions. This review process was incredibly rewarding—it provided me with new perspectives on how writing develops. I enjoyed reading critically and noting areas in pieces that could be improved. Through this internship I also developed my ability to write concise reviews on pieces. For each submission that we read, interns would write a 350-word blurb about what we liked and didn’t like about the piece. Through these writing submissions I learned how to think critically about writing style. Perhaps more importantly, I also learned how to saturate my own opinion into these blurbs. It is easy to write off a piece as objectively ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ but it was harder to figure out exactly what I liked or didn’t like about a writing sample.

Through funding from Bryn Mawr’s Praxis program, my internship cohort had the opportunity to attend the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference in Baltimore. This event was an incredible opportunity to network and learn more about the industry. My fellow intern/friend Catherine Utzinger ’26 and I were attended a reading by author Carmen Maria Machado and caught up with Bryn Mawr alumna Quinn Christensen ’24. This conference was a great opportunity to see what future careers in publishing might resemble. I am so grateful that through Jackleg and Bryn Mawr I was able to attend this conference, it was a fantastic networking and learning opportunity.

At the end of the semester, looking back on my time with Jackleg, I can say that I have gained perspective into independent publishing and have developed my editorial skills. I felt that I got a hands-on experience of evaluating submissions. Writing these reviews has gotten easier and I have gained industry vocabulary that will help me as I seek out other jobs in publishing. I have also begun building a network of publishing professionals: Jen, my internship cohort, the folks at Jackleg, and people I met at AWP. Ultimately my internship gave me a fantastic opportunity to gain work experience in the industry, meet mentors and peers, and develop essential skills for a career in publishing.

Anna Roth, BMC ’27

Praxis Course: Museum Studies Praxis Seminar

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Monique Scott and Tiffany Stahl

Community Partner(s): Barnes Foundation and Calder Gardens

Field Supervisor: Marie Edland and Liza Herzog

Praxis Poster:

HART_AnnaRoth

Further Context:

This semester, I was thrilled to develop skills in data conduction and research methods through my role conducting the Collaboration for Ongoing Visitor Experience Studies (COVES) survey at the Barnes Foundation and Calder Gardens! The Barnes Foundation was chartered in 1922, and it houses the collection of Albert C. Barnes, a doctor who made his fortune from producing an antiseptic. With this fortune, Barnes aimed to
create an accessible and educational artistic environment. He collected artwork, worked in social justice and progressive education, and hosted free art classes in his Merion home, where the Barnes collection was first housed. His collection moved to Philadelphia in 2012, and to this day, the artwork is arranged in the same way as in his Merion home– in unique “ensembles.” The artwork is not grouped by specific eras or artists, but rather grouped through categories specific to Barnes. The Barnes Foundation still offers classes, as well as continuing to work in
community engagement. Some works on display are the unique “ensembles” including Impressionist, Modern, African, Indigenous American art and metalwork, as well as the rotating special exhibits, such as Freedom Dreams.

The other space where I was situated is Calder Gardens. Calder Gardens is a new institution founded in 2025 as an open space for reflection at the intersection of Alexander Calder’s art, nature, and architecture. It is an operating partner of the Barnes, and sits right across the Parkway. Calder was known for his mobile sculptures. You can walk through the building and experience an integration of exterior and interior space with the building’s wide windows, cement walls that appear to be wood, actual wooden elements, and more. There is a consistent rotation of artwork in some areas of Calder Gardens.

COVES is a study that connects over 130 scientific and artistic museums through a survey synthesizing visitor experiences. My role started by approaching visitors in the Barnes and in Calder Gardens as they were leaving and asking them to complete the COVES survey. Many of the questions on the survey ask about visitor experiences on a scale of 1-10 or Poor to Outstanding, with the higher numbers generally indicating more positive visitor opinions. There are other statement questions and areas to write in opinions. This survey is important because it gives the Barnes Foundation an indication of who is attending the space and why, as well as
indicating where the Barnes is excelling and where there may be room for improvement.

My next role involved analyzing the data collected from COVES. This included sorting through the written-in comments that are not as easily visualized on a sliding scale, and coding them as positive or negative, as well as including the reasoning behind that code. Visitors tended to be a
diverse range of ages and ethnicities, though on weekdays they often skewed towards older visitors. On the visualized number scale, the Barnes is doing well, as indicated by COVES, and this is also reflected in the comments that are written in. Most people enjoy the unique assemblage of the art and the experience. The most common negative review is aboutthe lack of signage around the artwork. Many of the positive comments appreciate that the experience is more open-ended, with options for docent tours and free 15-minute discussions about the exhibitions.

I felt incredibly lucky to experience a role that involved interacting with visitors in the middle of a constantly changing space. My takeaways were consistently positive– the amount of visitors that were happy to take the survey always surprised me, and I noticed that the most collaborative experiences in the foundation (like PECO Sundays, with music and arts and crafts) tended to draw in the largest crowds. I am looking forward to applying the data collection and research methods that I used this semester to future tasks, and I will continue looking to the Barnes as an example of immersive community interaction within an institutional space!

Susan Robinson BMC ’27

MAKING COMPLEX CONCEPTS ACCESSIBLE THROUGH OUTREACH

Praxis Course: HART420:

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Monique Scott

Community Partner: The Franklin Institute

Field Supervisor: Carly Netting

Praxis Poster:

HART_Susan Robinson

Further Context:

My Praxis experience focused on community outreach and science education. One of my main responsibilities was collaborating with The Franklin Institute Ambassadors to develop materials for interactive learning activities with an emphasis on making human biology accessible and engaging for younger audiences. My work involved creating clear age-appropriate written explanations to accompany each body system based upon their Body Odyssey Exhibit. A central component of this project was an outreach activity designed for children ages 5–12. It features a layered human body puzzle representing the skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems. Each layer can be added or removed so participants can better visualize how the body is structured and how different systems interact with one another. This hands-on visual approach supports learning by making abstract biological concepts more concrete and accessible. I
especially wanted for younger learners who benefit from interactive experiences. One of the main challenges I encountered was translating complex biological concepts into language that children could understand. This required me to think critically about how to simplify information
without losing scientific accuracy or meaning. This process highlighted the importance of accessibility in science communication and pushed me to be more intentional in how I present information to different audiences. Through this experience I strengthened my ability to clearly
and effectively explain scientific ideas while adapting my communication style to meet the needs of a specific audience. Overall, this Praxis experience reinforced the value of outreach and education in making science more inclusive and approachable. It further developed my interest in
combining science with public engagement and educational initiatives in future work.