We wanted to hear more from our students about why they are a part of the department, so we interviewed a student about their experience!
Q: What is your name, year, and major/emphasis in CCS?
A: My name is Joce. I’m a senior in Comparative Cultural Studies with an emphasis in Public Humanities and minors in Museum Studies and Art History.
Q: What drew you towards studying the humanities?
A: Coming into college from high school all I knew was that I have always been drawn to studying human history and the human condition. I felt like I wanted to learn as much as I could about culture, memory keeping, religion, art, and history as I could. Being in CCS has allowed me to explore all of these avenues of knowledge in such a fulfilling way.
Q: Why do you feel humanities work is important? Both for your personal beliefs and for our society?
A: Personally, I love the feeling of learning about myself and others through humanities work. I feel like I am able to understand and think critically about the world we live within today in a way that is deeply informed by the past.
I also feel that humanities work is important as we move towards a world progressively more entwined with technology. Humanities work allows us to consider everything — the historical implications and connections, who is being left out and who is benefited, how we can use technology to connect more deeply, and how it draws us apart.
Q: Who is one faculty member that has influenced your path in CCS?
A: Dr. Becky Pratt-Sturges has been an incredibly influential faculty member in CCS for myself and many others. She is a phenomenal mentor who dedicates herself to the success of her students and has pushed myself and my classmates to continually challenge ourselves and produce the best work we can.
Q: What is your favorite memory from the time you have spent in the CCS department?
A: One of my favorite memories from my time in the CCS department so far has been receiving positive feedback from Dr. Pratt on a HUM 395 Digital Humanities project from the Spring 2022 semester. She built up me and my skills as a student so much in that conversation it felt for the first time like my hard work was really paying off. Receiving good grades is one thing, but getting that verbal confirmation that your hard work is being noticed makes it all feel worth it. I really feel like that conversation ignited a kind of confidence in myself I had not felt until that point and I have carried with me in these following semesters.
Written by CCS social media intern and major Mckenzi Monical