Student Spotlight!

Kristin Ladd, a 2nd year graduate student working toward her MA in American Studies, had the rare opportunity to intern at the Library of Congress in DC this past summer. The English Department and Institute for Government and Politics sent two students, Kristin and folklore graduate student, Amy Maxwell, to DC to work at the Library to diversity USU DC internship program. Kristin was placed in the Publishing Office and worked as a research assistant on the book Mark Twain's America, to be published in 2013. Her work earned her co-authorship on the book, an achievement of which she is very proud. Amy and Kristin also put on a USU Alumni Event at the Library to finish off their time in DC in hopes that other English graduate students will be invited in the future to this amazing program.

 

This summer Amy Maxwell completed an internship with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The American Folklife Center houses one of the largest archives of American and international folk music, folk material culture, and other ethnographic material in the US and the world. The internship was funded in part by an award through the Institute of Government and Politics. She worked with a number of collections within the archive, doing initial processing and rehousing of incoming materials, including materials from the Sudan and Kentucky. She also helped with concerts and public programs put on by the Folklife Center and was able to enjoy experiencing the culture of our nation's capital. 

 

Amy Maxwell was awarded 2nd Place Graduate Paper by the Folklore Society of Utah for her paper "The Invention of Tradition: Changes in Basket Weaving in Santa Clara, Guatemala." The paper is based on research she conducted over three years as an undergraduate. She, along with Esther Allen and Tori Edwards, will be reading portions of her paper at the FSU annual meeting on Saturday, November 10, 2010 at Weber State in Ogden.

Esther Allen, a graduate student in Literature and Writing, was recently awarded Best Essay in the Folklore Society of Utah’s recent essay submission contest. She and two other graduate students will be presenting their folklore research at the organization’s 2012 Annual Meeting in November. Her paper, “Temple Tempters: Spirits and Embodied Evil Thwart LDS Temple Worship,” will be archived with the Folklore Society of Utah.