Spotlighting the History Department

History Major, Olivia Larson, is panning for gold and unearthing stories. At Queens, students complete an internship and create a capstone project before graduation. For Larson, these two opportunities struck the same vein.

Larson interned at Reed Gold Mine, a National Historic Landmark and the first documented discovery of gold in the United States. “I was a historic interpreter. I led tours, taught classes, and taught [visitors] how to pan for gold” said Larson. “I think the internship process at Queens is really valuable. It helps clarify what you want to do.” Her experience inspired research and refined her goals.

For her year-long project, she dug into the local history she had been showcasing. Her research considers “how gold mining in North Carolina led to class stratification and eventually helped set up Charlotte to be a banking city Post-Civil War.” Larson sees this history as not only enduringly present industrially, but also relevant socially. She argues that mining influenced “how attitudes towards blue-collar workers developed and how they mingle with racial nuances.”

Tangible evidence and tons of hands-on archival work are the support system for Larson’s thesis. “I found a lot of stuff,” she said. “I drove around to all the counties in North Carolina and found different records they had on gold mining families.” She explored the property and graveyard at Reed Gold Mine and examined ledgers.

Larson’s capstone paper is sparkling, and currently being submitted to academic journals, but at the beginning of her education at Queens she was drilling a new passageway. “I came [to Queens] as a nursing major. I was dead set. I come from a family of nurses,” said Larson. After taking a History course at Queens, she found new direction.

Faculty involvement and support illuminated the way. “The passion the History teachers have drew me into the program” said Larson. Those professors continued to provide help and guidance, all the way through her final project. She specifically appreciated “access to records [she] would have had to pay for.” This allowed her to tunnel deeper in her research. Queens faculty “are able to really funnel resources in at you when you’re passionate about something” said Larson.

As a student in the College of Arts and Sciences, Larson has found her passion. “I fell in love with the way you can tell the stories of people who got left behind in the historical narrative or are misrepresented [by it]” said Larson.

Struck by how much has yet to be excavated, she is excited to pursue a career as an educator. “I grew up in Charlotte, and this is a local history paper, but it is something I had never thought about before I started this capstone.” In simplification of a vast wealth of research, she wants people to know that in “1799 a little boy found a piece of gold and that is why we have Bank of America here today.”

From mines to archives, knowledge and ideas are constantly being created and discovered. In the College of Arts and Sciences at Queens University, all that glitters is academic excellence.

Gabrielle Girard

Spotlighting the Biology Department

In the Biology department at Queens, students are afforded the opportunity to participate in an authentic and hands-on research experience through the Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program. Hosted by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Easterwood and Professor Katsanos – both faculty within the Biology department – saw an opportunity in applying to join the program in 2015. After being accepted, the SEA-PHAGES curriculum was implemented in the Fall 2016 semester.

Students in both BIO 201 and BIO 303 are able to be involved with the SEA-PHAGES program. While Queens provides lab space and computer lab space for the work involved with this program, BIO 201 students are tasked with collecting local soil samples, and through learned microbiology techniques, isolate and characterize new species of bacteriophages – or viruses that infect bacteria. The genomes of the newfound species are then sequenced and characterized by students in BIO 303. While BIO 201 students employ microbiology techniques, students in BIO 303 work within the branch of Biology called bioinformatics – the combination of biology and computer science.

Dr. Easterwood and Professor Katsanos feel that this program is beneficial to their students and contribute to their learning in many ways, and say that “our students are participating in an authentic research experience rather than traditional laboratory exercises. They have the opportunity to isolate phage species that have never been previously discovered,” and mention that “student authors are also published in the Genbank database.” During the years the SEA-PHAGES program has been running at Queens, students have identified 14 new species of bacteriophages – and of those 14, six have had their genomes sequenced, characterized, and published within a national genetic sequence database. Dr. Easterwood and Professor Katsanos are also in the process of working with students to publish manuscripts that describe four genomes, which will be featured in a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Society for Microbiology.

The SEA-PHAGES program, offering a hands-on research experience with tangible results, has become an integral part of the experience for Biology students at Queens. With the opportunities to find new and unique bacteriophages and have their work featured in peer-reviewed journals, Queens students not only learn, but are able to contribute to the greater world of Biology.

Alex Carver

Spotlighting the Psychology Department

At Queens University of Charlotte, creativity and cognition reach out of the classroom and into the community. This semester, Psychology and Studio Art double major, Molly Bloomer and Professor of Psychology, Dr. Cherie Clark, are leading Queens students in restarting the Beat It! Program at Hopewell High School. They are employing music and clay to enhance mental health and combat violence.

“It all started with me cleaning Tillet, (Queens’s ceramics and studio art building,) and finding a box of goat skins,” said Bloomer. Discovering drum building materials in the studio inspired Bloomer to approach faculty about revitalizing the program.

Utilizing her networking skills and faculty donations, she secured two hundred pounds of clay from a local business, Carolina Clay Connections. These materials will now be donated to Hopewell High School.

Throughout the semester, Hopewell students will use this clay to build their own drums and then participate in weekly drum circle activities. Jordan Kramer, Arts Leadership and Administration and Studio Art double major, minoring in Professional Writing, is one of the students assisting with the building process. Kramer explained “we’re rolling out slabs and then we’re taking a tar template and laying that on top. We cut [the clay] . . . and then lift it up and wrap it around” into a cylindrical drum shape.

Creating a drum is a tangible activity that supports communication, expression, and human psychology. “We are building peer mentoring relationships” said Bloomer. Students often feel incapable of art, and Bloomer hopes to create a “safe space” to “disprove that idea.”

Ceramics and percussion are healthy artistic outlets that provide new ways of coping with stress and complex emotions. Beat It! allows students to interact with art as a tool for mental health. “Even if they don’t consider themselves to be good at art there is still something they can take away from it . . . and it is a clay experience they might not otherwise be able to have,” said Bloomer.

In turn, Queens students have experienced the importance of these learning relationships first-hand. “I definitely wouldn’t be able to do this without the amazing faculty support. [My professors] not only encouraged [the project], they’re there for me when . . . I don’t think I can do this,” said Bloomer.

Once the drums are fired and ready for percussion, students will begin working in groups. “To finish the project, we’re coming together to make a song” said Rachel Wallace, a Studio Art major assisting with ceramics and the project’s musical component. She describes the activity as “layering beats  . . . like a drum line, but with bongos.”

At the end of the semester, Hopewell students will have more than just a drum and some new skills. Bloomer hopes that they experience “increased self-efficacy and self-esteem and learn leadership and team work.” This artistic and team-building experience contributes to healthy self-image, positive behavioral patterns, and non-violent outlets for stress.

Beat It! has opened up interdisciplinary connections within the College of Arts and Sciences. “Being involved in this project is helping me understand what I want to do futuristically, with my career path, because I’ve always had a foot in each world” said Bloomer. This semester, art and science unite, molding a new rhythm within the community.

Gabrielle Girard

Spotlighting the Political Science Department

Amongst the many fellowship opportunities at Queens available for students to pursue, one position stood out during the last round of midterm elections – the “Democratic Engagement Fellow” – and with student Alyssa Pacheco at the helm of this position, voter engagement and education was front and center!

Alyssa, a third-year student at Queens majoring in Political Science with a minor in International Studies, is passionate about all things politics and current events. Her position as the “Democratic Engagement Fellow” sees her taking the lead in educating students on voting and local politics in a nonpartisan manner. “I really just want to get students excited about being active members of the community,” she says. Registering students to vote on campus this past election involved starting efforts early, beginning one week after the start of the fall 2018 semester and lasting until the final day for registration. Even students that aren’t eligible to vote were able to be involved by volunteering to register voters and help out on election day.

While serving in the position of “Democratic Engagement Fellow,” Alyssa has been afforded the support of a faculty mentor through Queens – Dr. Margaret Commins. Dr. Commins, a Political Science Professor and the Director of Academic Civic Engagement on campus, worked closely with Alyssa during the months leading up to the election. Together, they planned things such as events surrounding National Voter Registration Day, as well as competition prizes for the Clubs and Orgs voter registration competition. Alyssa also works closely with DICE, the College Democrats, and Pi Sigma Alpha – the Political Science Honor Society – during many of their events. In addition, both Alyssa and Dr. Commins partner with organizations outside of Queens – primarily North Carolina Campus Compact, which promotes civic engagement in North Carolina, and the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement run by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, which measures Queens registration and voting rates every election. As a result of the efforts of the “Democratic Engagement Fellow” and the position’s supporters, Queens was designated as a “Voter Friendly Campus” in 2016 – the very year that the “Democratic Engagement Fellow” position was created!

Along with receiving a stipend to fund their work, and having the support of various organizations on campus, Dr. Commins says that the “Democratic Engagement Fellow” is afforded “hands-on experience navigating areas like the voting system and city and state government. Fellows learn about the impediments to civic engagement, and think deeply about ways to overcome them.” Past fellows have also developed relationships with leaders throughout North Carolina that have helped them after graduation with their professional goals. The 2017-2018 fellow, Isabel Perez, is now working for Senator Bob Casey in Pennsylvania.

Alyssa has learned many important things about civic engagement as the “Democratic Engagement Fellow.” She feels strongly that it is an important position for any school to have, and that our education system in general doesn’t prepare us enough to participate in civic engagement. She says “the very ways in which our society functions just aren’t being taught, despite the fact that they control literally every aspect of our lives.” Alyssa also stresses that if someone hasn’t been taught things such as the rules and regulations of voting or how elections work, they shouldn’t be embarrassed to speak up and ask about it. She goes on to say that “students everywhere should have someone they can go to in order to ask the tough questions,” and that “when that someone exists, young adults get the opportunity to give back to the community in ways they couldn’t before.”

While she continues to serve in this position for the rest of the 2018-2019 academic year, Alyssa says that “while I’m technically our fellow, I can’t stress enough how much the Queens community made this possible. I owe every success to them!” As for other ways Queens students can engage with the democratic process outside of campus? Alyssa says that students can “serve their community through volunteering with nonprofits, going to town halls, or even just calling their representative to voice their opinion on any number of policy issues,” and that “any step you take to improve your community and the lives of the people around you is civic engagement in action!”

Alex Carver