(L to R)Graduate intern Amelia Golcheski, and undergraduate intern Halle Fowler both came to Foxfire this summer from Brown University.

As in, Brown University students Halle Fowler and Amelia Golcheski. Perhaps it was serendipity or just coincidence, but this summer we have the honor of hosting these two outstanding young scholars on The Land. If Halle looks familiar, it may be because she was one of our Foxfire graduates and scholarship awardees last year. She just finished up her freshman year at Brown and was looking for productive ways to spend her summer break. It was a no-brainer for us to invite her back to Foxfire to assist us for part of the summer. Amelia, who just graduated with her Masters in Public Humanities from Brown, applied for our summer graduate internship program and was our clear choice for the position.

We are a little tardy in posting this introduction as Halle has just wrapped her time with us and will be departing this Wednesday, June 27th, for a two-month teaching position in China. During her time here, Halle has been assisting us with a number of projects associated with our NEH grant project as well as sharing strategies about how to improve access for hearing impaired visitors to the museum. While at Brown, Halle was drawn to a course in American Sign Language and is looking to ASL and its related course of study as a potential minor. We look forward to continuing our work with Halle to improve access at the museum.

Amelia is beginning a Ph.D. in History at Emory University in Atlanta this fall. Her area of concentration will be in Southern Appalachian History, which makes Foxfire the perfect fit for her as an internship program before she begins this new chapter in her life. Amelia will be with us for another four weeks or so, leaving on July 20th to settle into Atlanta living. Aside from her academic credentials and skills, Amelia is also an accomplished podcaster, co-producing a program called Public Work, which you can find on iTunes and Soundcloud. Amelia will be sharing her experiences and know-how on podcasting with our Foxfire Fellows to help them develop their own program.

We have really enjoyed having both of these students with us on The Land – be sure to give them a warm welcome should you see them around.