{"id":824,"date":"2021-01-10T12:00:11","date_gmt":"2021-01-10T12:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/?p=824"},"modified":"2021-01-06T15:41:31","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T15:41:31","slug":"student-snapshot-emily-benson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/2021\/01\/10\/student-snapshot-emily-benson\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Snapshot: Emily Benson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Student Snapshot<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Emily Benson, \u201821 American Studies Major<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before attending Dickinson College<\/span>,<\/span> I had <\/span>no interest in studying art <\/span>history<\/span>– <\/span>it<\/span> just<\/span> seemed too pretentious to me<\/span>. <\/span>Then<\/span> my sophomore year<\/span> at Dickinson<\/span>,<\/span> I stepped<\/span> out of my comfort zone<\/span> and into the halls of Weiss<\/span> Center for the Arts, where <\/span>I took <\/span>a course <\/span>titled <\/span>Gender and Sexuality in Modern American Art<\/span><\/i>. <\/span><\/i>And I<\/span> loved <\/span>it. T<\/span>he <\/span>historica<\/span>l <\/span>contextualization <\/span>of art pieces<\/span> fascinated me<\/span>. <\/span>My <\/span>favorite thing<\/span> about American Studies<\/span> is when my courses connect with each other in unexpected ways, and I saw<\/span> a similar dynamic <\/span>in this art history course<\/span>.<\/span> Part of this is because in both <\/span>disciplines<\/span> students are <\/span>encouraged<\/span> to<\/span> use <\/span>scholarly sources outside of the specific field of study<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span> I<\/span>nterdisciplinary study is vital, in my opinion, for truly understanding either an artwork or an aspect of American culture.<\/span> Our lives are interdisciplinary, why should our studies not be?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I became increasingly interested in <\/span>art history<\/span> after my semester abroad in Bologna,<\/span> Italy,<\/span> when I took my second art history class<\/span>, which featured Italian art (would have been a crime if it did not!)<\/span>. <\/span>Apart from just learning the historical context <\/span>about the works, we got to get ou<\/span>t of the classroom and try to keep up with our <\/span>fast-paced<\/span> professor as we bounced in and out of churches and museums around the city.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
In Assisi, after touring the Basilica of San Francesco d\u2019Assisi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I loved our class trips to <\/span>museums<\/span>. I was <\/span>able to see<\/span> history and <\/span>art right in front of my eyes<\/span>; I knew then that this <\/span>was something I wanted to keep experiencing<\/span> when I returned to Carlisle<\/span>. <\/span>Thus, <\/span>I<\/span> began to research opportunities I could <\/span>pursue <\/span>at Dickinson where I could learn the histories and contexts of<\/span> art pieces<\/span>. Of course, <\/span>the ideal place to do that was back in Weiss at the Trout Gallery<\/span>.<\/span> As a graduating senior thinking about career paths, <\/span>I<\/span> have<\/span> beg<\/span>u<\/span>n to consider a profession in museum studies<\/span>. D<\/span>oing<\/span> what <\/span>exactly is still unbeknownst to me. <\/span>However<\/span>, the position o<\/span>f Museum Education Intern <\/span>at the Trout Gallery<\/span> struck a <\/span>chord<\/span> and sounded <\/span>like<\/span> something I would <\/span>be interested in<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a Museum Interpretation Assistant this semester, it<\/span> was<\/span> a tad different because of the virtual set up, but I have really enjoyed the opportunity to work on my writing, public speaking, and research skills in a work<\/span>place setting<\/span>. <\/span>The first <\/span>thing<\/span> I worked on was a children\u2019s art project using surrealist concepts to create a <\/span>greeting card, which I was able to be <\/span>creative<\/span> w<\/span>ith<\/span> while simultaneously expanding my own knowledge of surrealism and my writing skills for younger kids (not the formal writing for essays I am used to <\/span>doing)<\/span>. <\/span>My group this semester also led two Trout Un-Mutes<\/span> (one abou<\/span>t<\/span> surrealism and another about <\/span>exploring gender, identity, and sexuality through the photographs of Lissa Rivera)<\/span>, which are virtual<\/span>, student-led events<\/span>.\u00a0 They feature <\/span>behind the scenes access to conversations, research, and creative <\/span>inspirations<\/span> at the <\/span>Trout<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The main project<\/span> I worked on this semester was a<\/span> virtual<\/span> artist talk with Steve Prince<\/span>.\u00a0 After <\/span>I introduced him<\/span>, Prince <\/span>talked about<\/span> his <\/span>art projects <\/span>and the influences in his life that have shaped his work. <\/span>A<\/span>t the end of his <\/span>talk,<\/span> I <\/span>moderated questions from the audience including some <\/span>I had prepared<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0 I <\/span>ask<\/span>ed<\/span> Prince his opinion <\/span>about the importance of art in society today<\/span>, which I have taken an interest in<\/span> because I <\/span>believe <\/span>art <\/span>is <\/span>very representative <\/span>and expressive <\/span>of societal issues and <\/span>a<\/span>n important<\/span> tool to use for <\/span>larger conversations and debates<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To prepare for the Prince talk, <\/span>I researched <\/span>the<\/span> history <\/span>of the<\/span> artist and his past pro<\/span>jects by watching and reading past interviews, as well as reading some o<\/span>f the conversations in scholarly work his artwork was mentioned in<\/span>.<\/span> A<\/span>fter meeting with my <\/span>team<\/span> member<\/span> (we work in teams a lot at The Trout)<\/span>, Gracyn, I<\/span> condensed the many paths of research for this project down to the aspects of Prince\u2019s work that really caught my attention, namely the connection between art and social justice <\/span>and activism. After writing my preliminary introduction and questions, they were edited by <\/span>Gracyn, <\/span>the <\/span>Curator <\/span>of <\/span>E<\/span>ducation<\/span>, <\/span>and the Museum Communications and Events Coordinator<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span> I, personally, enjoy the editing process because it helps to expand on areas that might not be my strong suit or areas of interest <\/span>or research <\/span>I may not have considered previously.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Working <\/span>as a team<\/span> has helped me <\/span>to <\/span>see how I can work better with others; I <\/span>understand when I need to step back, as well as step up<\/span> in group projects<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>As a graduating senior about to enter the \u201creal world,\u201d I know that I will <\/span>reflect upon what I have learned through the Trout and this position to assist me postgrad in incorporating art into my everyday life.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Student Snapshot\u00a0 Emily Benson, \u201821 American Studies Major\u00a0 Before attending Dickinson College, I had no interest in studying art history– it just seemed too pretentious to me. Then my sophomore year at Dickinson, I stepped out of my comfort zone and into the halls of Weiss Center for the Arts, where I took a course … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4322,"featured_media":826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2314],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4322"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/trouttalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}