MiddLab

A MiddLab Project

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Armelle Crouzieres-Ingenthron

Learn more about the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity at Middlebury College.

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In her interview, Armelle Crouzieres-Ingenthron discusses the freedom she gained from learning new languages, teaching French and English in Switzerland, the importance of being the first in her family to graduate from college, the difference in suburban life between France and Boston, why leaving your own country makes you more aware of your status in society, overcoming the aloofness of peers and forming friendships with international professionals at Middlebury, learning from a student who hated France, and the advantages of raising bi-lingual children.

People

Armelle Crouzieres-Ingenthron
Professor of French

Susan Burch
Associate Professor of American Studies; Director, CCSRE; Head of Life Stories project

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Interview Transcript

A MiddLab Project

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Susan Watson

Learn more about the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity at Middlebury College.

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In her interview, Susan Watson discusses adapting lessons from High School to teaching in college, her strategy of isolation for dealing with being a woman in a predominantly male field, the TA who became her mentor in college, lunch discussions with past generations of female physicists, the importance of brutal honesty in mentoring colleagues, how the size of Middlebury has helped her get to know students, and creating an environment where people are encouraged to succeed.

People

Susan Watson
Professor of Physics

Susan Burch
Associate Professor of American Studies; Director, CCSRE; Head of Life Stories project

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Interview Transcript

A MiddLab Project

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Erin Fuller

Learn more about the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity at Middlebury College.

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In her interview, Erin Fuller discusses attending college close to home, being a personal care assistant to a boy with autism, being a ski instructor for people with disabilities, pursuing her academic interest in disability studies, the differences in dorm life between boarding school and college, and how she plans to integrate these experiences in a medical profession.

People

Erin Fuller
Middlebury Class of 2011

Susan Burch
Associate Professor of American Studies; Director, CCSRE; Head of Life Stories project

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Interview Transcript

A MiddLab Project

Promotion of Chastity: Saint Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins of Cologne

Learn more about the History of Art & Architecture at Middlebury College.

Beginning in the thirteenth-century, artists in Cologne created reliquary busts to contain the physical remains of Saint Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins. These reliquaries are visually unique because they are strikingly life-like and coney obvious feminine qualities. It is odd that the reliquaries’ approachable femininity is celebrated because women were often damned as the instigators of the original sin. With this central Christian idea in mind, it is therefore all the more surprising that Christians venerated Saint Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins, a group of female martyrs, whose reliquaries and legend have highly gendered characteristics. In my presentation, I explicated the significance of these reliquaries through examining the symbolism of the Passion of Saint Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins, the formation of the cult of their relics, and the meaning of these reliquary busts in late medieval society.

People

Elizabeth Hirsch
Researcher

Eliza Garrison
Sponsor and Assistant Professor of History of Art & Architecture

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Symposium Presentation [PowerPoint]

A MiddLab Project

Between Traditional Practice and Secular Law: Examining Honor Killings in Modern Turkey

Learn more about International Studies and Middle East Studies at Middlebury College.

Turkey maintains the image of a country bridging the divide between the Middle East and Europe; however, the continued prevalence of honor killings testifies to the difficulty in uprooting traditional patriarchal practices that remain widespread throughout the country. Although the Turkish government has enacted legal reforms – for instance, in 2002 and 2004 – aimed at eradicating the practice, new laws have been mostly ineffective and evidence indicates that both honor killings and the practice of “honor suicides” are actually increasing. My research explores this tension between secular government laws banning honor crimes and the continuation of honor killings within traditional and tribal communities. I argue that despite government efforts to educate the Turkish populace and institute legal reforms, the complex relationship between the cultural, patriarchal, and religious bases of honor killings makes it challenging to eradicate this practice in modern Turkish society.

People

Clara Rubin
Researcher

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Symposium Presentation Slides

Essay; Between Traditional Practice and Secular Law: Examining Honor Killings in Modern Turkey

A MiddLab Project

Good Mother/Bad Mother: Cultural Motherhood from “Hansel and Gretel” to Coraline

Learn more about English and American Literatures at Middlebury College.

This project examines how the figure of the split mother in folk tales has changed over three historical eras. First, it focuses on two oral tales originating in the Early Modern period: “Hansel and Gretel” and “The Juniper Tree.” It also looks at Lucy Lane Clifford’s “The New Mother” (1882) and Neil Gaiman’s novel, Coraline (2002). The project examines the cultural and historical anxieties involved in this Good Mother/Bad Mother split. Finally, it questions whether today’s notion of the unattainable ideal mother continues to reflect the prejudices of the Early Moderns and Victorians.

People

Emily Culp
Researcher

Elizabeth Napier
Sponsor & Henry N. Hudson Professor of English and American Literatures

Marion Wells
Sponsor & Associate Professor of English and American Literatures

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Symposium Presentation Slides

Essay Title Page

Essay Table of Contents

Essay Text

A MiddLab Project

“Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!”: The American Social Order through the Lens of the Jerry Springer Show

Learn more about American Studies and Media Culture at Middlebury College.

This project examines the continued success of The Jerry Springer Show. Does the show promote the inclusion of the “other” in the American social order or is it a profit-seeking mechanism that proves only to further uphold a hierarchal American social structure in which some are excluded? By viewing scholarly articles on the talk show format, footage from The Jerry Springer Show, and other critical works in American Studies, I set out to prove that The Jerry Springer Show uses coded mechanisms to create the illusion of a democratic forum which promotes oppositional culture and challenges social norms. This, in turn creates a “participatory illusion” that veils the underlying profit-based motivations of the show. The goal is engaged viewers that question the motives of a seemingly un-refined format, “cheap amusements.” What is the show telling us about American society, and how is its shaping of perspective relevant to how we function as a society?

People

Carl Culicchia
Researcher

Michael Newbury
Sponsor & Professor of American Studies and English and American Literatures

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Symposium Presentation Slides

Essay Report

A MiddLab Project

American Poverty in Context: Understanding Social Determinants of Health

Learn more about Service Learning at Middlebury College.

Samantha Marder is the Program Manager of Project Health in Providence, RI. Prior to joining the Project HEALTH staff team, Samantha worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Rhode Island Department of Health as a Project Specialist with a focus on healthy and affordable housing. Hannah graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in sociology and continues her work with Project HEALTH after volunteering at the Family Help Desk at the Providence, RI site.

People

Samantha Marder

Project Manager, Project Health Providence

Hannah Nichols

Talent and Technology Coordinator, Project Health National Offices

Yuan Lim

Student Organizer

Veronica Muoio

Student Organizer

Dan Murphy

Student Organizer

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Full Symposium Schedule

Samantha Marder and Hannah Nichols

A MiddLab Project

American Poverty in Context: Poverty, Gender Politics, and the Origin of Labor Legislation

Learn more about Service Learning at Middlebury College.

Robert E. Prasch is Professor of Economics at Middlebury College where he teaches Monetary Theory and Policy,

Macroeconomics, American Economic History, and the History of Economic Thought. He is the author of over

90 academic articles, book chapters, and book reviews in addition to Op-Eds and interviews in several outlets

including The Burlington Free Press, The Huffington Post, VPR, and WBAI (New York City).

People

Robert Prasch

Professor of Economics

Yuan Lim

Student Organizer

Veronica Muoio

Student Organizer

Dan Murphy

Student Organizer

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Robert Prasch’s CV

Full Symposium Schedule

Professor Robert Prasch

A MiddLab Project

American Poverty in Context: Housing Issues, Homelessness and Community Action in Vermont

Learn more about Service Learning at Middlebury College.

Ingrid Pixley is a long-time Vermont resident, working as a Property Manager for Addison County Community Trust, a local non-profit organization that provides affordable housing to the low- and middle-income people of Addison County. Doug Sinclair’s the co-founder of the Middlebury Community Care Coalition (MCCC), which since 2004 has since grown to 600 members who contribute over 18,000 volunteer hours per year supporting the housing and food needs of families and individuals who need a helping hand.