Year: 2014
Hometown: Concord, MA
Major: Anthropology
Minor: Journalism and Classics
Her Campus: Why Brandeis?
Joanna Nix: Well, I applied to a bunch of schools all over the country, I didn’t have one school as my favorite really, I just wanted to see what was out there, and I got into a few, and I narrowed it down, and I chose Brandeis because it had a lot of extracurriculars that I was interested in, like theatre and A Capella, and it was really strong in social sciences which I knew I wanted, though I didn’t know exactly what I wanted, and the people here just seemed really nice, and it seemed to just click with me, and I’m really happy with my choice because I really enjoy it here.
HC: Can you tell us about the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism? What do you do there currently?
JN: They have a bunch of different projects related to social justice and human rights: they have a human slavery project, they’ve done work on illegal adoption, on food safety, and what I do there is work on their innocence project. There are a whole bunch of innocence projects all over the country and they basically help people who claim they were wrongly convicted of any crime. The case I’m working on, and have worked on for the past few years, is a man who says he was wrongly convicted of murder in Boston. He’s in prison and has been for a long time now and so we’re investigating his case, looking at alternative suspects, going through the police reports and investigation, seeing if and what they did wrong. There’s a lot of work involved.
HC: In addition to journalism, you are also involved in A Capella and theatre on campus. What A Capella group are you in?
JN: Company B.
HC: What’s your favorite memory throughout your time spent with Company B?
JN: Lots of great memories, lots of great friends, but I have to say it’s something that doesn’t involve singing: after one rehearsal a bunch of us were just having not the best day and we decided to go to someone’s room and we bonded and told each other that we love each other and why. It was a nice, gushy time.
HC: And Brandeis theatre: what shows have you been in?
JN: A bunch (basically one a semester). I was in Footloose a couple years ago and I’m in Hairspray now (playing Velma Von Tussle), so I’m looking forward to that. I really enjoyed Boeing Boeing last semester; that was really fun.
HC: What was your favorite role?
JN: I really liked my role in Boeing Boeing last semester because I got to try a German accent and be crazy, like whip people across the body with a purse. I was also Logainne SchwartzanGrubenierre in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which was really fun.
HC: Word on the street is you’re performing in Liquid Latex this year. Can you tell us what you’re doing in the show? Is this the first time you’ve been involved with Liquid Latex or have you done it before?
JN: Dancing naked, in front of a lot of people. I’m in this Grease-themed number, I’m Sandy in her famous black suit; it’s gonna be interesting and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve seen it every year I’ve been here, but I’ve never done it. I’ve always admired it and I kind of saved being in it for my last semester because I wanna go out with a bang.
HC: As a senior, what advice can you give to the underclassmen about having a successful and happy time at Brandeis?
JN: Break outside of your bubble as much as possible. It’s great to sign up for new clubs, go to events on campus (because they’re always awesome and not enough people go!), go to lectures, coffeehouses, etc. Just take advantage of all the outside opportunities!
Favorites
Food: Dark chocolate and anything Mediterranean or Middle Eastern
Movie: Zoolander (but I also like more serious stuff)
Book: Atonement
T.V. Show: Scrubs, Mad Men, and I’m recently into House of Cards
Broadway Show: Urinetown holds a special place in my heart; it’s the first show I ever saw on Broadway.
Class at Brandeis: Anything with Eileen McNamara (she’s a journalism professor); and I really liked this class I took on Pompeii