Speaker 2 Name: Kiera McLaughlin
Speaker 2 Title: Talking it out: Reporting and Writing Local Stories
Speaker 2 Abstract:
Over this summer, I worked for The Keene Sentinel, the local daily newspaper in my hometown in New Hampshire. During my time there, I wrote articles each day which involved interviewing, researching and writing about a variety of topics. I was mostly focused on local politics, so each week I also attended town meetings with the news reporter. I learned quickly that I deeply valued the conversations and interactions I had with local residents in different communities. At times I struggled with the pressures of capturing a person or story in writing, but with this experience I gained a lot of confidence in my own abilities to formulate a strong article. In this presentation, I am excited to share how this experience provided me with a newfound passion for local journalism and a deeper understanding around storytelling.

Speaker 3 Name: Christina Li
Speaker 3 Title: Postcolonial Memory: Representations of Japanese Colonialism in Korean Museums
Speaker 3 Abstract:
This past summer, I worked on an independent research project in Korea. My project focused on postcolonial memory and investigated how physical sites of visual culture, specifically museums, represent Japanese colonization. Over the course of two months, I reviewed scholarly literature and visited four sites (War Memorial of Korea, Seodaemun Prison History Hall, War & Women's Human Rights Museum, and Independence Hall of Korea) to view and interpret their exhibitions. With each exhibition, I analyzed written narratives and artifacts on display. A challenge I faced was that I did not know Korean! Though there were English labels in all of the museums, I knew that much information was likely lost in translation. This encouraged my new goal to do intensive language study in the future. I will talk about how this experience contributed towards my senior thesis work in the fall and inspired my continued interest in Asian/American Studies research.

Speaker 4 Name: Audrey Chen
Speaker 4 Title: Peeling off Time: Digging and Reflecting on a Late Roman Archaeological Site
Speaker 4 Abstract:
In the summer of 2024, I did archaeological fieldwork in Southern Türkiye, contributing to ongoing research into the social and economic landscape of the late Roman city, Antiochia ad Cragum, aiming to reconstruct how people lived in the third century CE through material evidence. My array of responsibilities included removing dirt built-up with pickaxes and shovels, documenting and demolishing later constructions, meticulously excavating residential spaces with precision tools, and cleaning, then labeling small finds. Through this fieldwork, I saw firsthand how continuous, fastidious field research across decades culminates in the archaeology textbooks I read for school. I am proud of completing two months of intense physical labor under harsh environmental and living conditions, and feel confirmed in my sense of purpose toward this career path. In this talk, I will discuss the setbacks and lessons I learned and the new perspective I bring to studying history and moving through life.