Summer of RCAH

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by Emily Elconin

RCAH and journalism student Emily Elconin has spent many months documenting the evolution of the Flint Water Crisis, and from her June news article about EcoloBlue to her Stories From Flint website, Emily has been working to show how community efforts are being made from the inside to assist Flint residents and provide relief.

I started working on this project in early April. I wasn't exactly sure where it was going, but I soon discovered my passion for investigative reporting and uncovering different aspects about the Flint Water Crisis. I decided to make a Facebook page called The Who We Are Project: Stories From Flint. I wanted to find a way to try and share the stories of Flint from a different perspective. I met families, activists, community members, people trying to find solutions and figure out ways to implement them.  

Along my journey, I started to meet so many different players trying to help people get the instant relief they deserve in the crisis.  My passion for social justice really started to blossom as I started to talk to more and more people and just listen to what they are going through. What this experience opened me up to was something I never expected. I felt the raw emotions of this struggling city. It was hard for me to understand why this was happening. But, as a young journalist who is extremely passionate about social justice, journalism, and photojournalism, I set out to do everything I could to hep educate myself and other people about injustices happening all around us.

Emily has also recently photographed the Detroit skyline, and the image below was featured on The Bounce radio station’s website for National Photography Day.

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Audrey Matusz at The Impact

RCAHer Audrey Matusz has worked at MSU’s student radio station for several years and spent these past few months exploring the role of station manager. Earlier this summer, Audrey shared some advertising concepts that are in the works for The Impact.

This summer, I've been exploring the position of station manager at MSU's student radio station, The Impact 88.9FM. To benefit the station through my art, we are working on an advertising campaign for campus that highlights the diversity of our listeners. There is still a lot of re-evaluating and brainstorming to do, but I've started by making these illustrations of directors at The Impact:

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Jess Black’s study away program in Puerto Rico

Our summer days may be dwindling, but we’re still sharing RCAH students’ adventures for a few more weeks! Incoming sophomore Jess Black returned from Puerto Rico earlier this summer and reflected on the Language, Culture, and Service program that she was part of for three weeks. Thanks for sending your writing, photos, and video work our way, Jess!

The program that I participated in was called Language, Culture, and Service in Puerto Rico study away. For three weeks we took Spanish and IAH classes, lived in Puerto Rican homes, traveled the island on our many excursions, and worked with several different organizations for our service learning. By being immersed in the Spanish language and taking a three-credit Spanish class, I was able to improve my conversational skills greatly. Every moment outside of class we were speaking Spanish; our home stays were a great way to get to know the Puerto Rican culture first-hand, and practice our Spanish. From building a playground for a school to passing out information about Zika to community members, we did lots of different things in our service. In our excursions, we saw many different parts of the island: Ponce, Lares, El Yunque Rainforest, Camuy Caves, Guayama, and the bioluminescent bay are a few.

The IAH class, Language Policy in Puerto Rico, Past, and Present, was incredibly eye-opening to the situation in Puerto Rico. The relationship that the mainland US has with Puerto Rico is complicated (see video below), and the people of Puerto Rico have many varying opinions on the status of the island. Puerto Rican political parties center around the status issue, statehood, maintain commonwealth, or independence. The history of language policy in Puerto Rico is complex and intertwined with the Americanization process that the US brought onto the island after the Spanish-American War.

Puerto Rico is an amazing place and I am so glad I had the opportunity to study and explore on the island for three weeks.

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Cultures of Creativity in Detroit

From July 5 through August 5, RCAH professor Dave Sheridan led a group of RCAH students in the Advanced Cultures of Creativity in Detroit study away program. From a tour of the MBAD African Bead Museum with Olayami Dabls to conversation with Carleton Gholz of the Detroit Sound Conservancy, RCAH students explored the city’s creative organizations, spaces, traditions, and institutions.

The Advanced Cultures of Creativity program is part of DETXMSU, a pilot program in which MSU students from across the university live and study together in Detroit.

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This summer, we learned that recent RCAH grad Claire Babala was chosen as a Challenge Detroit fellow (you can watch her application video above). Challenge Detroit is “a leadership and professional development program that invites approximately 30 of tomorrow’s leaders to live, work, play, give, and lead in and around the greater Detroit area for one year.”

Beginning later this summer, Claire will be completing orientation and joining law firm Brooks Kushman's marketing team. Congratulations, Claire!

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For the first few weeks of MSU’s summer break, Dean Steve Esquith’s been working on the Peace Game collaboration with teachers and students in Kati, Mali. He recently sent us a few photos from his time with fourth graders at the Ciwara School, including one of an outdoor classroom for when it’s too hot to be indoors and a soccer game in the trees. Curious about the Peace Game in Mali and here in Lansing? Check out alumna Kelsey Block’s story about it on the RCAH website.

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Maggie Hermanson’s adventures on Mackinac Island

RCAH senior Maggie Hermanson spent her summer on Mackinac Island, and we’re grateful to have such a thorough and thought-provoking reflection about her time there on this first day of fall. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and gorgeous photos with us, Maggie!

For these past three months, I spent my time on Mackinac Island. I worked for the Mackinac State Historic Parks (an underling of the Department of Natural Resources) as, primarily, an Art Studio Intern. This experience was very good, and has been further explained in other blog posts found here. But what I did not intend to happen was that I found other experiences in working for other positions within the parks that were immensely more towards my taste and style.

Before I begin, I’d like to preface that if you find an internship – or even a job – that you believe you might be interested in taking it, it is okay to not like it. It’s fine to change your mind and it’s fine to misinterpret your passion.

What’s not fine is living in a rut while you’re doing it. It’s a mistake I made during the first couple of weeks I was working for the Parks. I had only the Art Studio Intern position, and it was difficult for me to accept that I wasn’t passionate about it. Part of me tried to force myself to like it; after all, I’m on an island equivalent to 3.5 square miles, so where else was I to go? After that didn’t work, I detested my job. Hated it. Partially because I tried to force myself into liking it, which is exactly the wrong thing to do. And partially because I was realizing that I actually did not like it. I wasn’t as passionate about art education as I thought I was. This really disturbed me and made me feel defeated, because one of the main aspects of being an RCAH student is being driven, passionate, and inspirational.

But if I didn’t know what my passion was – if I couldn’t even do something that I was passionate about weeks ago without wanting to cringe – then what kind of RCAH student was I?

I WAS A NORMAL HUMAN BEING.

That’s right, kids: changing your mind, or changing your passion, IS TOTALLY OKAY. Just don’t get stuck in it, okay?

So instead, I decided to explore other opportunities that the Parks offered. One of the posit ions that I held was being a GSR (Guest Service Representative), which technically was a paying position that I applied for before having gone to Mackinac. It was a very informative position in that it helped me to understand how revenue and sales worked for a museum. There were multiple locations for GSRs to be located, and at each of those locations there were different tasks to be done. For instance, there were two different locations on the island where souvenirs would be sold. One of those places was the Visitor’s Center, and the other was the Sutler’s Store up in Fort Mackinac. In each of those places, there would be different visitor needs. In the Visitor’s Center, people needed directions to different places on the island, whereas in the Sutler’s Store, people needed directions to different parts of the Fort. This experience really helped me to understand the different parts of visitor experience – what visitors need, how to answer their questions effectively, etc.

I was also a Historic House Interpreter, where I wore authentic 1820s and 1830s clothing and did tasks like sewing and quilting to demonstrate different skill sets that people would have. This afforded me the opportunity to be able to start conversations with visitors that helped them learn and connect with the history around them. During this volunteer time, I learned so much about what interpreting was (not translating languages) and how important a position it is to the Parks. In fact, I liked doing this so much that I’m planning on going back next summer to do just this!

So all in all, it was one of the best summers of my life. I learned so much about museums and museum work, but also in being passionate and human. 10 out of 10 – would recommend to a friend.

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Marcus Fields’ summer internship with HASTAC 2015

Over the past several months, RCAHer Marcus Fields continued his internship in East Lansing working in event management with the HASTAC 2015 planning committee, and helped to successfully host an international conference here on MSU’s campus. Thanks for sharing your summer’s work with us, Marcus!

This summer, I finished a project that I’ve been working on for over a year. I started last May when the planning committee for HASTAC 2015 brought me on board as an Event Management Intern through the arts and cultural management program here at MSU.

About HASTAC

HASTAC (pronounced haystack) is an alliance of humanists, artists, scientists and technologists working together to transform the future of learning. The HASTAC community shares news, tools, research and insights about pedagogy, technological innovations, and digital humanities. Every year, the HASTAC Steering Committee chooses a local committee from universities around the world to spearhead the planning and implementation of their annual conference. They chose MSU’s College of Arts and Letters to host the 2015 Conference.

About HASTAC 2015

Our team spent a long time brainstorming what we wanted the conference to look like. We wanted the program to fit the goals of both HASTAC and the College of Arts & Letters. We also wanted to make this conference stand out from past conferences. These are some of my favorite features that we developed for HASTAC 2015:

1) Scholars Unconference

We had an “unconference” for HASTAC Scholars on the day before the conference. The scholars program is a student-driven community of graduate and undergraduate students whose work centers around HASTAC’s mission. The major idea behind an “unconference” is that the program is loosely structured. In our case, participants developed the program the morning of the event. We also waived the registration fee at both the unconference and the main conference for MSU graduate and undergraduate students.

HASTAC Scholars break out into discussion after developing the day’s schedule and goals during the unconference.

2) Planetarium Reception

That evening, we planned a pretty spectacular VIP reception welcoming the HASTAC Steering committee and the HASTAC Scholars. The reception took place at Abrams Planetarium, where we had the MSU Food Truck, an MSU Dairy Store ice cream cart, and a Pink Floyd laser show that was custom-designed for us by the planetarium’s production coordinator, John French.

Attendees enjoy the VIP welcome reception at Abrams Planetarium on Wednesday, May 27th.

3) Conference Program

We also developed an amazing program for our 400 international attendees. Taking place at the Kellogg Center, attendees had the chance to attend two full days of panel discussions, paper presentations, lightning talks, performances, poster presentations, and workshops. Topics ranged in focus from pedagogy, coding, gaming, philosophy, history, publishing, social media, literature, technology, collaboration, virtual reality, activism, and more. We strove for gender diversity in our sessions and ended up with zero all-male panels. We also established a “virtual program” that was live streamed on YouTube for those who could not attend the conference in person. In addition, we presented our entire schedule on a mobile application instead of printing hundreds of copies.

Attendees creating a teaching philosophy with a SparkFun Arduino Inventor’s Kit during a breakout session.

4) Keynote Speakers

We brought in three fantastic plenary presentations as well. Scott B. Weingart (from Carnegie Mellon University) spoke about disciplinary isolation, scholarly specialization, and creating intentional academic communities. Roopika Risam (from Salem State University) focused on how digital humanities already exist within a matrix of East, West, arts, and science and how we might reshape the map by decentering North America and Western Europe in favor of a more distributed network. Finally, our keynote speakers, Cezanne Charles and John Marshall, co-direct a hybrid design studio called rootoftwo. They presented on two projects: Whithervanes, a Neurotic Early Worrying System (NEWS), which is a network of 21st century weather vanes placed on the top of buildings that detect, measure, and respond to fear on the internet and THR_33 (Tea House for Robots), which is comprised of a responsive environment and a group of robotically enhanced domestic appliances.

Plenary speakers present during general sessions in the BIG 10 Ballroom.

5) Broad Art Museum Reception

Finally, we planned a conference-wide welcome reception after the keynote presentation. The Broad Art Museum proved to be a beautiful location for the reception, and we had perfect weather. Attendees had the opportunity to walk by the Red Cedar and through north campus beforehand.

Conference attendees enjoy refreshments and mingle during the welcome reception at the Broad Art Museum.

Reflection

My work on this project helped me learn what it takes to plan a conference and make it successful. I learned about conference management, registration, programming, sponsorship, logistics, and more. Now, as a continuation of my internship, I’ve teamed up with the CAL Accessibility Team to start planning the Making Learning Accessible Conference, which will will provide information and training to MSU students, faculty, and staff on designing universally accessible courses, websites, and content.

The HASTAC Planning and Steering Committees pose for a picture before the final plenary talk on Friday, May 29th.

Photo Credits: Dave Trumpie, Trumpie Photography

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Associate Dean Carolyn Loeb’s Summer of RCAH -- Greetings from Hong Kong

This summer, the RCAH’s associate dean and professor Carolyn Loeb is spending time in Hong Kong and Germany. Earlier this month, she sent these updates from her summer teaching at Lingnan University our way--thank you, Carolyn!

It’s a slow season here at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, but it’s not hard to imagine how its many shady nooks and patios might be filled during the school year with lively groups of students and their boisterous and intense conversations. A compact, green, elegantly-designed campus, its covered walkways - protection against both blazing sun and torrential rain - link academic and service buildings. These surround an open quad of burbling fountains and pools that are home to carp and to full-throated frogs that sound off nightly. But at this time of year, there seem to be as many cats in residence as students.

I’m here teaching a summer course called The Presence of the Past: Monuments and Memorials in the Department of Visual Studies. I have a good group of twelve students from a variety of departments, including English, Translation, Business, and Science (these two are visiting students from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), as well as Visual Studies.

Instruction at Lingnan is conducted in English, though almost all the students are from Hong Kong and their first language is Cantonese. There are also some students from mainland China; their mother tongue is Mandarin.

One of the liveliest classes we had so far took place the day we discussed historic preservation and the thicket of ideas about heritage in Hong Kong. This topic has emerged as a focus of attention only relatively recently, for reasons I mention below, and many of my students are clearly deeply engaged in identifying meaningful ways to connect to their complex past.

The past is multiple in Hong Kong: here it is represented by the colonial Marine Police HQ, now shops and a hotel; a Tang guest house from 1874 in the New Territories; and 20th-century neon signage that people today are fighting to protect and preserve.

Lingnan University is located on the western side of the New Territories, the large northern landmass of Hong Kong that physically connects this archipelago of 250 islands to China. An incredibly efficient public transit system allows for swift passage to the downtown areas of Kowloon, on the southern tip of the peninsula, and of Hong Kong Island, across the harbor.                                        

Lingnan University in the New Territories

Downtown Hong Kong and Kowloon                                                

Lingnan University’s relationship to Hong Kong as a whole reminds me of that between my home college, the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, and MSU. Lingnan’s intimate scale and calm environment complement the bustle and dynamism of Hong Kong’s multifaceted districts in a way that is analogous to the balance between the RCAH’s small-scale, convivial living-learning community and the broader curricular and co-curricular menu that the wider campus offers.

They are similar, too, in that they are far from cloistered; both play active roles in their societies through civic engagement projects and curricular emphases. Students and faculty at Lingnan, just like many of their fellow Hong Kong citizens, have been motivated to reflect on and act to shape the new relationship that is forming between this former British colony and China. British control ended in 1997, at the expiration of its 99-year lease on the New Territories, when it “handed over” Hong Kong to China, within which Hong Kong is now a Special Administrative Region (SAR). Since then, Hong Kong people have been examining what it is that defines them as a society and a culture. Having had such different historical experiences from mainland Chinese, the idea of merging into that society is not a comfortable one for most Hong Kong people. Their search for their own footing also takes the form of struggling to create democratic institutions in the face of China’s unwillingness to permit them. This led to last fall’s Umbrella Revolution and to this June’s somewhat vexed vote in the Hong Kong legislature to reject China’s plan for restricting electoral choices.

This year’s candlelight vigil in the heart of Hong Kong honoring the participants and victims at Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

In this regard, as in many others, Hong Kong provides a front-row seat in the theater of contemporary globalization. A nexus of international trade and finance, Hong Kong’s future will be shaped - in ways that defy prediction - by economic and social relationships and their impact on evolving political arrangements.

Meanwhile, daily life here continues at a frenetic pace. Against the backdrop of steep green hills and mountains that otherwise command the landscape and shape its settlement, towers and high-rises dominate Hong Kong’s skylines. Every valley has been filled in with dense clusters of skyscrapers, climbing the hillsides as far as it’s feasible. The downtown business core is a bristling band of corporate towers crowding from nearly vertical hills to the harbor’s edge, a limit that’s always being pushed by expanding the buildable landmass with fill.

The global circulation of goods and money that drives Hong Kong’s economy has its counterpart in the seamless transit networks that speed people through the city. These are video games come to life, the actualization of virtuality, functioning in a real fourth dimension where space meets time. Surface roads plug up with traffic, but beneath and above ground long expanses of train and subway cars run at three-minute intervals. Trams and buses, many of them double-decker, and mini-buses travel for shorter distances. Aerial walkways enable pedestrians to move independently of surface congestion and protected from the weather; they create a geography that’s separate from the street plan we read on maps. Shops line many old streets, but almost every newer building includes a mall, each one another node among the interconnecting walkways. People must circulate so that goods can.

And so it’s with a bit of relief that I return after a day of exploring the city to the relative calm of the campus and the syncopated bellows of the frogs.

Carolyn Loeb is Associate Professor of Art and Architectural History and Associate Dean in the MSU Residential College in the Arts and Humanities. She is teaching a summer course at Lingnan University through the auspices of MSU’s Office of the Associate Provost for University Outreach and Engagement. Lingnan University is a relatively new, small, liberal arts university in Hong Kong, though its roots lie in pre-revolutionary Guangzhou.

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A #tbt to Sydney Meadowcroft’s Summer 2014 at Camp Miniwanca

As last summer break wrapped up, we didn’t get the opportunity to share RCAHer Sydney Meadowcroft’s reflection about her time working as a cabin leader at Camp Miniwanca in Shelby, Michigan. This year’s #summerofrcah is just getting started, and soon, Sydney will be headed back to Shelby for another summer at the camp. We can’t wait to hear about this year’s adventures!

If you have internship, job, study away & abroad and/or other summer experiences that you want to share via our Summer of RCAH blog, drop us a note at [email protected]. We’d love to share your photos, videos, and reflections!

This summer I spent nearly two months working as a cabin leader at Camp Miniwanca in Shelby, MI. I discovered Miniwanca as a shy rising fourth grader through a friend at school who was a third generation camper. Although my first year was riddled with homesickness and a lot of confusion as I struggled to learn the camp’s many songs and traditions, I decided I’d return the next year. By the end of high school I’d been attending for nine years. So when the opportunity arouse for me to join the Miniwanca staff for my tenth summer on the camp’s beautiful sand dunes overlooking Lake Michigan, I was ecstatic.

Over the course of the summer, I led three cabins of fifth, sixth, and seventh grade girls, showing them the ins and outs of Miniwanca life and instilling in them the camp’s values of balanced living and being one’s best self. We lived in small, open-air cabins, learning to get along in close cabins and appreciate living simply with no electricity or windows. Through my years, the camp’s motto “My own self, at my very best, all the time” has taught me a valuable lesson about confidence and being my true self instead of conforming to what others want me to be. It was amazing to be able to share this idea with my campers, leading by example as I danced and cheered and played with my fellow staff members.

There were many times during the summer when I would turn to coworkers in the midst of a silly song or crazy skit and say “this is our job,” smiling at the fact that I was paid to go to the summer camp I love and act silly all day. One of these moments was on an overnight camping trip with all of the seventh grade girls. We slept in tents and taught them basic camping skills to help them build a love for the outdoors. During a shelter-building activity my friend Julia (whom I’ve known since we were cabin mates in sixth grade) and I were making ridiculous storm sound effects, mimicking the wind and rain that we told our campers was causing them to need to build a shelter quickly. I stopped my whooshing sound to laugh and express my happiness to Julia that this was our job, that we got to spend the summer hanging out with some amazing kids and laugh and joke with them all day. As a staff we always tried to continue this carefree and fun environment for the campers, sometimes even coming up with our own holidays such as Onesie Tuesday.

One small moment during an impromptu after-dinner dance party became one of the highlights of my summer. I was dancing and laughing with a few other leaders and campers, and as I walked out of the Eating Lodge with one of my campers, she turned to me and said “It’s just so easy to be yourself at camp!” with a big, bright smile on her face. This little comment of hers made my day and it felt like a big accomplishment for me and the rest of the staff, since giving the girls confidence and bringing them joy were some of our biggest goals.

The whole summer was a dream. My cabins were full of life and energy and jokes. I loved getting to know these wonderful girls and helping them find a balance in mental, social, physical, and religious living, as the camp’s philosophy encourages. Miniwanca has given me so much confidence and support over the years and has become a second home for me, and I hope it has and will continue to do the same for all the girls I met this summer. One of my favorite memories of the summer is the first time my cabin encased me in a big group hug. They clung to me, big smiles on their faces. After that I often called them my barnacles, as they would frequently gather around and cling to me, surrounding me with love and a lot of Miniwanca Magic. Throughout the summer I learned many valuable skills in leadership and working with children. This experience has helped me confirm the direction I want to take with my RCAH education, and I can’t wait to explore the opportunities the college and Michigan State as a whole have to help me develop my skills as a Youth Development Professional.

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Emma Stark's role as carriage driver & storyteller at Greenfield Village

Some people discover what they’re good at and what they love after years of searching and trying several things out.  Some lucky few find it early.  19…

Take a look at what RCAH sophomore Emma Stark's been up to this summer at Greenfield Village via the story above about her work as a carriage driver and storyteller from the My Grandmont Rosedale online news.

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Jenny Crakes' #summerofrcah at Camp Hoffman in Rhode Island

Because summer's not (quite) over yet, we still have a handful of posts to share in these remaining days before the start of a new semester's classes. RCAHer (and last year's Balocating Prize winner!) Jenny Crakes recently shared her experiences with us, and we're excited to pass along her reflections and photos from Camp Hoffman, a Rhode Island-based Girl Scouts camp that Jenny's worked at for four years now.

This was my fourth summer working at Camp Hoffman, a Girl Scouts resident camp in West Kingston, Rhode Island. Every time I go back, it's great to catch up with friends from previous summers as well as meet new staff from the U.S. and Great Britain. There's a ton of positive energy and enthusiasm bouncing back and forth between the kids and the counselors, so the time goes very quickly. It was my first year as a Program Specialist, which meant my co-worker Ace and I planned large-group activities that the whole camp (60-100 girls) could do together. Some of our favorites were a combination of nighttime hide-and-go-seek, tag and treasure hunt called "Capture the Nightwalker," a circus-themed relay race, Christmas and Hanukkah in July, and a Miss Hoffman Pageant where the kids made up character back stories and talents for their competing counselors. As well as programming, I was a counselor for 9- to 13-year-olds. We had a new group of campers and a new program theme each week. One of the best things about camp is that it gives girls a chance to explore and build independence in the outdoors, which a lot of kids from cities may not have opportunities to do. On our time off we often went to the ocean, which was just a few miles away. The photo above is of Ace and me (we all used 'camp names' and mine is Birdie.)

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Emma Foley's summer of reflection & collaboration in museum spaces

Thanks to incoming senior RCAHer Emma Foley for sharing the following experiences from her time spent working in two different local museum spaces this summer. We can't wait to see what you've designed for the Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame, Emma!

I have spent a large part of my summer split between two vastly different museums and they have both provided me with great learning opportunities.

First, I have continued working at the Broad Art Museum (pictured above) on campus as a Gallery Guide. What this position entails is standing in a specific gallery for an extended period of time and serving as a point of contact for the patrons of the museum. Although much of my time is spent ensuring that the art is not touched, I do have a number of different conversations with people about the current exhibitions and the museum itself. While my position does not require that I learn about each exhibition in great detail, I do try to keep myself informed so I am able to have meaningful conversations with patrons that might have some questions about what it is that they’re viewing.

I have particularly enjoyed summer at the Broad because there are number of different camps that visit the museum. Many of these kids have a unique way of interacting with the work that is on a different level from most of the adult patrons. I often find that the children are the ones who spend more time engaging with the pieces and asking more thoughtful questions, which is particularly compelling to witness in a space that is not specifically geared towards them.  

My RCAH classes have also provided me with a new lens through which I view my place of work. I find myself critically examining the museum and its position as a renowned contemporary art museum that is situated within the community of the Greater Lansing area. It’s interesting to compare the actions of the Broad with that of my other place of work -- the Michigan Women’s Historical Center and Hall of Fame (MWHOF) in Lansing (pictured below). MWHOF is a much smaller establishment that is truly focused on the women of the community, both in Lansing and Michigan as a whole. With the goals of each museum being quite different, it has been a rather engaging experience to be involved in both spaces.

Credit Flickr - bettybarcode

At MWHOF, I work closely as an intern with the only two full-time employees at the museum. Because of the small staff size, I have the opportunity to work on a number of different projects and gain real insight into the operations of this particular museum. I have designed brochures and postcards, created a more user-friendly nomination form for their Hall of Fame, worked on inventory in the gift shop, assisted with work on the collection, and now my newest project -- developing student programming. This is an area of particular interest to me, so I’m excited that I have been afforded the opportunity to have such a direct role in this sort of development. The college-aged audience is one that has been difficult for MWHOF to attract, so I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to bring in a perspective that will allow them to expand their draw.

I’m so grateful for the experiences I have had this summer as they have allowed me to apply my RCAH knowledge in a refreshing manner. I am also continuously working to fine-tune my plan for post-graduation and I think this summer’s practices will play a large role in that.  

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This year's RCAH Parents College via our newest Message from the Dean

From August 8 to 10, Dean Steve Esquith, photojournalists Becky Shink and Jackie Hawthorne, and a group of RCAH student parents and friends of the college spent their weekend in and around Sny-Phi for the third annual RCAH Parents College. Read the latest Message from the Dean to see what this year's participants did during their time as RCAHers!

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We just finished our “weekend” learning about bogolan from some famous Malien artists Kandiora & Dembele. Bogolan is a textile practice that involves dying handwoven cotton cloth in tea leaves, and then painting on it with clay. After drying and washing it out, a stain remains in a dark black or brown. We practiced on individual scarves and then in teams on some large tapestries. This was good practice working with ENSUP students and Chiwara teachers in preparation for our story project here in Kati.

Andrew J.

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Andrew Jason, RCAH senior, traveled to Kati, Mali, this summer with Dean Esquith and a small group of other MSU students. Prior to his trip, in spring 2014, Andrew completed an RCAH Integrated Language Option (ILO) in French. Read more about the college's language proficiency program and past ILO projects here.

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Catie Bargerstock's week of volunteering at Camp Quality in Fenton, Michigan

RCAHer Catie Bargerstock spent a portion of her summer at Camp Quality, a volunteer-run camp in Fenton, Michigan, for children with cancer. We're excited to share her beautiful reflection and photos with you today, just a few weeks away from the kick-off of fall semester.

Camp Quality is a non-profit organization that strives to “let kids with cancer be kids again”. The camp is run by volunteers, and the families pay absolutely nothing to send their child to camp. In July I spent a week volunteering as a companion at Camp Quality Michigan, in Fenton. Every child that attends is paired with one volunteer called a companion, and the role of companion is simple: make sure your camper has the time of their life this week.

I was told at training and by returning volunteers to prepare myself for a life changing week; but you never really know what is going to change your life, or in my case, who. First, the community of people running this program astounded me. From the Camp Director, to the Arts and Crafts Coordinator, to every companion, I was impressed by the excitement and compassion each individual brought. Then the campers arrived and the place exploded with enthusiasm. It was a mix between reuniting returning camper/companion pairs and a meet and greet for new matches. As a first year companion, I was a new match for my camper, and luckily we hit it off right away.

The kids were kids, there was no denying that. I woke up at 7 a.m. every day bombarded with eagerness and questions about what today’s agenda would look like, and running from activity to activity to pack as much fun into each day as possible. It was easy to forget that these kids had cancer, and I often did. But every now and then I would be reminded by how casually they spoke of chemotherapy and test results, or by visits to the Medical Center for daily medication. These simple reminders helped me realize the vast benefits of this place, and how refreshing and wonderful it must be for the kids to have this kind of community--one where their advanced medical vocabulary, scars, and physical limitations are not judged, but easily understood and embraced. Where the lows are consoled in common company, and the highs are ecstatically celebrated by jubilant victors.  

From horseback riding, to archery, to crafts and zip lining, the week flew by. The last day concluded with a closing ceremony and a graduation. Since the camp is for kids, once campers graduate high school they can no longer attend. This year five campers reached their last year, and walked across the stage in caps and gowns. Many of them attended camp for upwards of four or five years and their walk across the stage was so symbolic of just how far they’ve come. These young people have faced hard times with strength, they have persevered in times of doubt and this moment left me awe struck. I hope to see all of those kids make it across that stage and onto even greater things. 

As I look back on my photos from the week, and reflect on my time at camp I remember endless smiles, laughter, applause and fun. I remember kids being kids, I remember a community of volunteers working toward a common purpose, and I remember being inspired to chase life, even when it presents its most challenging obstacles.

[summerofrcah]

What have RCAH faculty and staff been up to this summer? Steve Baibak, the RCAH LookOut! preparator and instructor for the upcoming Reclamation Studio course in Spring 2015, has his work displayed in (SCENE) Metrospace's newest summer exhibition, Landsome: Landscape and Then Some.

RCAHers Ethan Tate and Caroline Caswell also have work as part of the exhibit. Stop by and see the show at (SCENE) Metrospace during their regular hours of Thursdays, 2 to 5 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, 2 to 6 p.m., and Sundays, noon to 4 p.m.