Where is your favorite place on campus?
My favorite place is the little area in front of the giant sloth on the fourth floor of Clapp.
What is Critical Social Thought?
This is my favorite spiel. Critical Social Thought is an interdisciplinary major that has a lot of different options available. To start, you take some classes to get a theoretical foundation. Whatever theories you want: literary theory, cultural theory, queer theory, gender theory, race theory, development theory, disability theory, whatever floats your boat. Then, based on which theories you latch onto, you pick a direction for a final project. For example, one of the seniors graduating this year had a concentration in education and science; her capstone project was a museum exhibit that taught kids the principles of design. One of the seniors who graduated last year did a queer theory analysis of a famous photographer’s work. So it is really whatever you want it to be. A lot of the times the capstone project ends up being a thesis, but sometimes it ends up being something completely different.
What extracurriculars do you do?
I’m the treasurer for Chorale and the treasurer for Conscious Poets Society.
What is Conscious Poet’s Society?
We are basically a group of people who love poetry. We are an org on campus and our meetings usually consist of writing. We are a flexible group. We hold workshops for slam poetry, writing, etc., and we also go to poetry events together. Actually, we are starting a newsletter that will come out later this month, which will list all the poetry events on campus, around the Five-College area, and in the general Western Massachusetts area. So keep an eye out for that if you like going to poetry events.
Why do you like poetry?
My parents always tell me the story of how I learned to read early and subsequently stopped talking to them because I kept reading. I’ve always been very fond of words and what they have the capacity to do. How they can communicate images and feelings, sometimes all captured in a word. I think that is amazing! And I like poetry as a vehicle for that. I kinda fell into poetry pretty early.
Which poets would you recommend?
For contemporary spoken word poets, Andrea Gibson and Sarah Kay are both amazing. I especially like reading a poem by Andrea Gibson called “Hook Line” to people. I’m also one of those boring people that is really fond of 18th and 19th century written word poets, like T.S. Elliot and Robert Frost.
What’s your favorite thing to cook?
I like baking a lot, actually. I like baking most things, but pumpkin white chocolate cookies are my favorite.
What’s the last book that you read for fun?
The last book I read was Citizen by Claudia Rankine. And then before that I read the new Hawkeye comic that’s out, which stars Kate Bishop.
If you could be a piece of candy, which candy would you be?
You know those Werther’s Old Fashioned caramel candies? I think I’d be one of those, because they’re classic.
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