Vanessa Braganza
2015 4th Year Undergraduate, Renaissance English Major, Take Back the Archive
I had an academic interest in Renaissance women's studies coming into the Take Back the Archive. My particular passion is Renaissance drama, and I love reading plays to see how early modern dramatists approach ideas about women and their sexuality. Take Back the Archive helped me to extend this interest chronologically and personally, since I was daily archiving and researching cases of sexual assault that occurred on my own campus! Not only did it increase my awareness of sexual assault, but it actually helped me to view my Renaissance interests in a new light: On the one hand, I was able to see a lot more clearly how Renaissance plays' treatment of women compared and contrasted to our own attitudes. There were both striking similarities and differences! Now I go into the classroom with a more longitudinal perspective, knowing that the culture I study may be centuries old, but is highly relevant in many ways to our own. Pro-tip for future interns: Professor Goff, as well as the folks at Scholars Lab and Special Collections are so supportive! Talk to them, ask them questions, tell them if you have an idea for an exhibit you might want to curate...they will get excited about it with you and help you make it happen! (At time of writing, I am currently designing an exhibit on semantic trends in discussions of sexual assault with their help, and it is fascinating!)