Intercession Research Plan

     Although I will be extremely busy during the intercession, I intend to read as much as I can, about the Prospects of Mankind as well as the exhibition design plan and their practical methods for the steps. I will read the documents regarding the Prospects of Mankind, the TV show, that Eleanor Roosevelt hosted to discuss the important issues, specifically about human rights issues in the home [US] and abroad. Then I will design the exhibition floor plan because it will help me understand how it may look and develop the description of the exhibition itself. 

     However, I am concerned that I may not be able to find the research books in my hometown in Oxford, AL, and the wifi in the home is so terrible, but at least, I already downloaded as many books as I can find through the Internet. I will try to visit the local libraries in both Oxford and Anniston at least.

Besides, that is exactly how I am feeling right now when my laptop is slowing...

Evolution of Prospects of Mankind

    In the beginning, I was thinking about the development of digital collection for Prospects of Mankind, but I realized I didn't want to research on it because I felt like that it may limit me to research on a digital collection itself. I changed my focus from the development of the digital collection to the exhibition development process where I am very motivated to explore the exhibition elements and observe the appropriate interpretive media in order to understand its consequences and how those affect the visitor engagement. Of course, it gets difficult to narrow down on particular tools for the exhibition development. Therefore, I then chose Prospects of Mankind that I worked on transcribing the transcriptions as an intern last summer to use for the exhibition. Thanks to people who helped me get through this difficult task, I managed to find many sources regarding exhibition development process and Prospects of Mankind. Right now, I know I am in right path in process!

Senior Thesis: Eleanor Roosevelt and Prospects of Mankind

During my internship in Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project, I found many interesting facts about Eleanor Roosevelt and her fervent interests in world affairs. Not only that, but she also had published more than 8,000 columns, 580 articles, 27 books, 100,000 letters, delivering over 1000 speeches, and appearing on more than 300 radio and television shows, which the Prospects of Mankind is one of their shows.

For those who do not know what the Prospects of Mankind is, This monthly series show, first aired on WGBH in October 1959, was not only a forum for leaders and decision makers to discuss the issues with Eleanor as mediator and host but also a rare assemblage of some of the most distinguished figures of the 20^th century.

Furthermore, the documentary record of her work is invaluable because it resonates with powerful examples of policies, debates and implementation strategies essential to contemporary discussions of democratic values and human rights policies.

I realized, to my disbelief, that her voice has been silenced, her vision and influence shrouded in stereotype or confined to obscure footnotes. In order to spread her voice and vision as well as the Prospects of Mankind, I intend to create an actual exhibition; somewhat, I have to focus on the questions concerning the reflection of her work on the current issues and the visitor engagement;

·      How can an interactive history/politic exhibition engage visitors ESPECIALLY kids in meaningful ways?

·      Will the stories reflect the current issues and people that have been marginalized by mainstream society?

That's what it looked like when I worked on my blog last night. Ha.

Learning Research Methods

After 5 weeks in Research Method course with assigned scholar readings and senior thesis research, I have discovered sufficient information related to analytic research, structuring thesis and how to approach and apply these ideas to my senior thesis. From our assigned readings, there were several various readings provided somewhat interesting approach with its ideas, its concepts and its exhibitions to allow me understand better with the research process especially with Emily Fekete and Timothy Arnold.

Comparing the articles between Emily Fekete to Timothy Arnold. Emily focused on the cultural significant with local traditional dishes in a particular city  and on the other hand, Timothy Arnold focus on preserving and collecting Twitter posts related to protests in Egypt and Global Audience.

Emily Fekete's article focused on the meaning of cultural signifiant especially with signature dish, garbage plate of the Rochester city and how the people in the community saviors these kind of dishes. " Other aspects of the local food culture have not read beyond the confines of the region.Though these foods have a rich history thin the area, their importance has not transcended place." Same time, she used applied her creativity writing to elaborate on the Greater Rochester's homegrown culinary traditions.  Therefore, this reading covers the subtopics of cultural significance and people who enjoyed participating Fekete's research by sharing their insights with Garbage plates.

Timothy Arnold and Walker Sampson's article focused on digital collection development of Egypt's 18 days peace protests'  twitters and how the digital collection preserved within amount of data that Twitter platform provides including with limited tools. " A review of scholarship on media and the Middle East reveals a lack of engagement with digital media content, whether as primary sources or in critically questioning the tools and analytics provided." In addition, the article focus on the protests and roles of social media.


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1. Emily Fekete, “I Know When I’m Having One: The Cultural Significance of the Garbage Plate in Rochester, 
NY " Material Culture (2014) :1 

2.  Timothy Arnold and Walker Sampson, “Preserving the Voices of Revolution: Examining the Creation and Preservation of a Subject-Centered Collection of Tweets from the Egyptian Days in Egypt,” The American Archivist 77, no. 2 (2014) :4