Introducing Our New Undergraduate Intern
Hey everyone! My name is Bethany Slon, and I am a junior at Michigan State University. My freshman year I declared a major in Anthropology, and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I know it sounds cliché, but for as long as I can remember I’ve always been interested in anything that has to do with archaeology. I was always the one in my family who would wait for the NOVA specials on PBS because I loved learning about ancient civilizations or old bones or anything of the sort. I think the fact that we can learn so much about people who lived so long ago, and compare what is different and even what is similar to our modern societies is so fascinating. That interest has remained throughout college, and since then I have broadened my knowledge, taking cultural, physical, and archeology here at MSU. I haven’t decided exactly what I want to study when I go to grad school, but I do know it will be along the lines of archeology or even bioarchaeology.
Because I don’t know exactly what I want to go into, I figure that if I get as much experience in different fields of anthropology I’ll be able to narrow it down when the time comes. I emailed Dr. Goldstein over the summer about possible experiences, and she introduced me to Campus Archaeology and Katy. I volunteered for a brief amount of time with Campus Archaeology over the summer, and this led to my current internship. Since it’s only the beginning of the semester I haven’t done much for the internship, but what I have done so far has been enjoyable.
Last Thursday I joined some of the CAP members near the MSU museum to conduct an archaeological survey. Aside from a few nails and bits of glass we didn’t find anything, but since it was the first time I’ve ever tried my hand at actual archeological digging, I wasn’t disappointed. I will continue working with Katy and Dr. Goldstein throughout the semester on projects like this, but I will also be working on my own project, too.
The topic of my research project will be something along the lines of looking at how women impacted Michigan State University, specifically during the early 1900s. I visited the MSU Archives yesterday to get my research started, and I basically took notes on anything that had to go with women at MSU, even going back to 1870 when the first women began taking classes here. Because I don’t have a solid research topic yet, just the general idea, I figured it would be best just to write down anything that had the potential to be useful. I learned that while women were allowed to take classes at MAC in 1870, it wasn’t until 1885 that a women’s program at the college was started. Another little bit of information that stood out to me was about William Beal’s wife, and how she acted as a mother towards the boys who attended the university when it first started. She would care for them when they were sick, and was always available to give a hug if one was feeling a little homesick. Like I said, I’m not sure if any of this is information I will actually use in my project, but it was still interesting, and a good place to start. I also plan on looking into the women that the West Circle dorms are named after, because I’m sure there is plenty of information there that will add to my research. I’m back in the archives today, and I can’t wait to find out what else there is for me to look at.