Week 10 update

 Today, the draft of our literature review was due. Writing the literature review was pretty challenging and it felt like a lot of work. What I found challenging was developing the correct tone and I still am not sure if I accomplished that. I also found it challenging to find sources on posters as communication but I think I framed it in a way that works better by focusing specifically on rock posters and how they were communicated instead of posters in general. I feel good now that the bulk of it is done and I can now make final edits and additions to it. I am nervous about the final thesis proposal approaching but also excited to share my work. 

Thesis Progress

 Oh boy! The semester seems to be flying by. Final thesis proposals are creeping ever closer and closer. I feel both good and bad about where my thesis is right now. I feel very supported and like a lot of work is getting done towards the final project, which is good. I also feel like I'm working in an order and method that I'm not very good at working in and haven't ever really done before. I understand that that is due mostly to the large nature of this project, but it is still throwing me a bit. 
In general, I'm learning a lot, both about my topic and about myself as a writer. I am excited to keep moving forward and learn even more!

Thesis progress and stuff

 Hello everyone!

The short summary of my thesis project is that I am visualizing quantitative data collected from the green infrastructure showcase at the Rochester Museum and Science Center, using digital visualization software such as tableau. We're collecting a lot of different data, so recently I've been trying to narrow down what specifically I will be working this. To do this, I had to set up criteria for what I wanted people to learn about green infrastructure, so I've spent a lot of time outlining that and thinking on paper. 

I'm thinking that I can answer a lot of these questions using the new ecosystem services data that we are about to begin collecting in correlation with weather data from the meteorological station. These topics highlight the importance of green infrastructure, and are relevant to the daily lives of your average Rochester citizen. Furthermore, I think they'll be fun to visualize. I've also visited the museum earlier this week to help me think about how these visualizations might be implemented digitally or physically. Soon I would like to start conducting visitor studies, I think that will help me understand what I need to do a lot better. I'm also making a mental note to take more pictures of the things that I'm doing so I can include something fun in these blogs. 

Week 8 Update

Things really feel like they're starting to come together, I am feeling pretty confident about the sources I've found thus far and I'm excited to use them to develop my methods of data collection. The work for creating the letter of inquiry made it feel like everything was finally being tied together and this project is starting to have a focused plan and goal. I think that the most difficult step going forward is going to be contacting the zoos that I will be visiting, just because of the distance and language barriers that may come up, but I am also excited to try to develop a relationship with them and I am hoping they will be excited about the research I am doing! 

Thesis week 8

 Now that we are in week 8, things are starting to come together. I feel that every week we have added a new piece to the puzzle. We've selected our first readers which makes me more excited to start diving deeper into researching. There is still a lot of work to do and I am feeling slightly overwhelmed but I will hopefully use this week to get my thoughts organized. I am excited to select the posters that I want to include in my project soon. 

Thesis Progress

 Now that we are heading into Week 8 of the school year, things are really starting to get underway with our thesis papers and projects. Although I have definitely made progress since I started, I feel like things are still moving slowly for me, as I still am having a hard time seeing how my thoughts and ideas are going to come together with the sources and research I have so that I can have a well-organized and successful paper at the end of this. 

  Hi everyone!

My name is Vanesa Chiodo and I'm from Penfield, NY. I am a 4th year Museum Studies major, with minors in history and legal studies, as well as being on a pre-law track. It is my hope to go to law school and study art law or cultural heritage law. I would love to one day work in a museum and deal with legal issues regarding repatriation of art and artifacts. 

I've been able to have some amazing internship experiences over the years, the first of which was at The Strong National Museum of Play. I was a public programs intern and was able to create fun programs from children that revolved around different exhibit themes going on in the museum. For my other internship, I worked with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, where I lead all of their social media accounts. I was able to do research on many different cultural holidays and events so that I could post about them on social media, which was a great learning experience! 

                (This is a photo of me at The Strong Museum next to the Berenstain Bears Exhibit)

Corrina's Introduction

 Hello, My name is Corrina Mullins, and I am a 3rd year Museum Studies major on the Public History track with a theatre arts immersion. 

I am from Northeast Ohio, around the Cleveland area. I have twin sister and a younger brother, Kayla and Wyatt respectively. When the three of us were little, my dad worked days and my mom worked nights. Over the summer, my mom would take us on day trips to museums, zoos, and libraries around the area. I can't remember a time when I didn't have a interest in museums. Specifically, I've always been drawn to living history and live interpreters in historical spaces. 

This summer I got the opportunity to work with the Rochester Museum and Science Center expanding the Changemakers exhibition online. This opportunity helped me to grow my research and writing skills and helped me realize a passion I have for researching an individual. This new found passion works very well with my passion for live history and creating stories for interpreters based off of real people's lives. 

I hope to bring all of these passions together in my thesis project and am very exciting for the upcoming semester!

An image of me portraying the wife of a Revolutionary War Veteran at a live history installation