And In Conclusion

From research into the world of digital humanities to written paragraphs on the fire at Walker Hall or the flood of 1938, this fellowship has provided us the opportunity to delve into a plethora of topics, understand more about Amherst College’s rich history, and learn about new concepts, ideas, and perspectives. Discussions on learning types and metadata or about using WordPress enriched our own perspectives on group learning styles, research, and technology. Gatherings with fellow GLAM interns fostered intellectual curiosity and strengthened my enthusiasm for my own research. In working on our project about disasters at Amherst College, we applied methods and tools from the data analysis and visualization workshops and dove into the complexities of the College’s response to such disasters. I felt motivated and driven to answer questions related to defining the word “disaster” and to approaching the layout of my individual topic.

Once we compiled our resources, ran our analyses, and wrote about our investigation into topics related to such disasters, our WordPress page came to life. Within its many pages and posts existed applications of the knowledge learned from workshops and discussions. Within each section, there are in-depth analyses, deep and rich perspectives, and our own distinct understandings of the topics we chose to focus on. I am in awe of our hard work and dedication to our research project and am surprised by how much we were able to complete over the course of the fellowship. I am proud of what we have accomplished and learned over the course of the fellowship and hope to take such information and perspectives into the classroom and work environment.

I believe that the knowledge learned in workshops, meetings, and self-guided activities can be applied to future intellectual pursuits and in many academic environments. It might be crucial for a research project on Spanish women in literature to analyze the texts using topic modeling tools or Voyant. Such tools would allow for a better understanding of themes and topics central to the lives of Spanish women during the 18th or 19th century. For a course in biology or chemistry, it might be essential to research and understand previous letters, documents, and research articles written by women scientists to delve into the challenges they might have faced and how their language differs from the language within scientific articles written today. Scientific researchers, those interested in coding, or those captivated by the world of topic modeling might benefit greatly from utilizing MALLET and learning how it works. It is clear that there are a plethora of ways to utilize and research the programs, ideas, and concepts of our fellowship, and such views could greatly benefit and inform my future pursuits.

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