At WKU
This page details the experiences I had while in the Folk Studies program, including an internship, museum work, and public folklore events.
Internship
In Spring 2019, I interned at the Kentucky Museum under Sandy Staebell. I was tasked with creating a searchable document with themed selections from the Rather-Westerman political collection. This will serve as a guiding tool for the Museum as it develops the "Political Bandwagon" exhibit, opening in 2020.
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To generate this list, I familiarized myself with the collection using PastPerfect. Where needed, I also updated listings in the museum software, took photographs of the objects, and more.
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(Photo by Kate McElroy)
Kentucky Crafted
In March 2019, Dr. Tim Evans's Folklore and Education class attended the Kentucky Crafted artisan festival in Lexington, KY.
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While there, I (right) led a narrative stage on Kentucky basketmaking traditions. The stage featured Kentucky basketmakers Vicki Hast (left) and Jan Treesh (center). I also created signs for use in the Woven Treasures area (see Work Samples).
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(Photo by Eleanor Miller)
Museum Assistantship
In the spring of 2018, I served as a graduate assistant for Sandy Staebell at the Kentucky Museum. I assisted in measuring, photographing, and identifying features of items in the collection.
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Once the items in the Kentucky Museum's collection were selected for exhibition, I often assisted in preparing them - including sewing a sleeve on the backing of a quilt so that it can be hung in the quilt gallery.
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(Photos by Sandy Staebell)
Graduate Student Association
Graduate Student Association
Joel Chapman and I served as the president and secretary (respectively) of the Folk Studies Graduate Student Association during the 2018-2019 academic year. In these roles, we held meetings, attempted to foster a sense of community between cohorts, and served as points of contact between faculty and students.
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(Photo by Anne Rappaport)
Hammer-In
Folk Studies MA students Delainey Bowers, Eleanor Miller, Joel Chapman, and I (left to right) volunteered at the 2018 Hammer-In event at the Kentucky Museum. This public event celebrated blacksmithing and metalworking traditions in the state of Kentucky.
While there, I counted visitors, took photographs, and assisted people at the information booth.
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(Photo by Tim Evans)
Horse Cave Heritage Festival
At the 2018 Horse Cave Heritage Festival, Virginia Siegel (far left) and I
(far right) led a narrative stage on local foodways entitled "Community Cookbooks". The stage featured cookbook authors Donna Logson, Janet Schneider, and Charles Williams (middle left to middle right).
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While there, I also logged for other narrative stages and took photographs of the event.
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(Photo by Hunter Bowles)