As you begin your college career, you will be presented with an array of opportunities, both personal and professional. Sometimes, you will be provided with instances that fulfill both simultaneously. That is what happened to me this past Spring semester as I worked for Dr. Kimberly Katz of the History Department as a Research Assistant.
Dr. Katz is the advisor for the newly established History & Human Rights minor. My first exposure to the minor was at the end of my Spring 2019 semester, when I wrapped up Dr. Dombrowski-Risser’s Ethical Perspectives in History course. She announced that the History Department was working on a new minor and that any of us interested in the material covered in her class could be further explored through this new program. I loved Dr. Dombrowski-Risser’s class and found the topics that we had covered interesting and relevant, (some topics included refugees and resettlement, fighting a “peaceful war,” and war crimes, among other things). Adding a minor in this particular field of study sounded like something that I would not only enjoy completing the work for, but sounded like a way for me to better understand the world that I live in and how I can improve it.
I mulled over the minor for a few months and officially enrolled at the end of my Fall 2019 semester. At the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester, History students received an email from the Department stating that Dr. Katz was searching for a Research Assistant. The Research Assistant would aid Dr. Katz in researching internship opportunities for Human Rights minors and aid in any promotional events for the History Department. Since I was now officially minoring in Human Rights, I thought that there was everything to gain with this position. To me, it would be mutually beneficial: I would be imbursed to help develop a program that I was interested in and piloting, while the minor would continue to be cultivated with student input— an important part of education!
After submitting a resume and cover letter to Ms. Shelley Cotton, the History Department’s Administrative Assistant, I was called in for an interview with Dr. Katz. A few days later, I received an email stating that I had been selected for the position and that I could meet back with Dr. Katz to begin discussion of my research. I would continuously update an Excel spreadsheet listing potential organizations that would be interested in both providing internship opportunities to TU students and hosting a “guest lecture” in HIST 200 (Introduction to Human Rights), where the speaker can reach out to students directly about their work. Throughout the course of the semester, I completed around seventy hours of research and gathered around fifty to sixty different organizations that were either providing internships in the future or were organizations that I thought could provide a guest lecture to interested students.
Though I am not completing any research for the History Department or Dr. Katz during the summer, there is a possibility that I can continue to do so in the coming fall. Dr. Katz and I have been discussing implementing further research on TU courses that could count for minor credits. We’ve also discussed researching and reaching out to TU faculty members that could contribute some of their time towards a HIST 200 lecture. Though the Human Rights minor functions out of the History Department, it is taught through a collaborative approach, meaning that certain English, Psychology, Anthropology, Political Science, Geography, and Mass Communication courses could count as units towards the minor. Having some input from professors in other departments on campus would help refine this idea of Human Rights as an interdisciplinary study. In the future, I’m hoping to integrate more courses from COFAC (College of Fine Arts and Communication) and Fisher College into the Human Rights curriculum and make the minor more appealing to students in the arts, mathematics, and science.
While I contributed a lot of work towards the development of the minor, there was much that I had gained personally, too. Because of the research that I completed for Dr. Katz, I have a better understanding of what I would like to do for my required internship. Throughout my time in undergrad, I’ve developed a deepened interest in immigration. Researching internships for the Human Rights minor has allowed me to determine refugee and immigrant oriented organizations that I could intern for in the coming semesters. I’ve also become more knowledgeable on a multitude of issues across Baltimore, the U.S., and the world at large. For instance, one of the organizations that I discovered focuses on food insecurity specifically within Baltimore’s Black community. Much of the research that this organization, (the Black Yield Institute), completed shows the disparity in access to nutritious and affordable food between Black and white communities, and how Black people’s inability to access nutritious foods stems from a lack of corporate and land ownership. While food insecurity is not a topic that I think I will pursue directly through the Human Rights minor, it is a phenomenon that I need to be cognizant of and care about. One of the most important skills that the Human Rights minor has granted me was the skill of empathy. While it’s also an emotion that people can feel, empathy is experienced across a spectrum. The more that you practice empathy, the more engaged you are with the people around you and the struggles that they face every day. Reading the various mission statements and research conducted by these organizations has made me a more empathetic person, sensitive to the wants, needs, hopes, and desires of others— the very core of the Human Rights minor.
If I did not have this research opportunity, I don’t know if I would be as aware of some topics that I am now familiar with now. It is my hope that each and every one of you will have the chance to complete a project or research within your own area(s) of interest and have an experience as rewarding as I felt mine had been. Of course, part of the challenge to obtain opportunities is finding out about open positions in the first place. As a student in the Honors College, however, you’ll have some additional help in this area. In addition to the Career Center, the Honors College sends out a weekly email with links and information to open internships, job positions, and programs that students can partake in and apply to. I highly recommend reading through the weekly Honors College email to take a peek at what on-and-off-campus opportunities are available to you!
Towson also utilizes a platform called HandShake. Similar to LinkedIn, HandShake is a website where departments on campus and organizations off campus can post job postings and internships to undergraduate students. HandShake also provides a link to each organization posting a position, so you can be assured that the information you’re receiving is legitimate. It’s a fairly easy website to navigate, and pulls up hundreds of positions that are fitting for your chosen major(s) or minor(s). If you have a free moment this summer, I would recommend setting up your HandShake profile and familiarizing yourself with the website.
There are so many opportunities like this that are or will be available to you in the coming semesters. Whenever you see a posting, especially in an area that you are interested in, seize it! Send in an application or request an interview. Though it may be intimidating to do so at first, think of all the benefits that await you on the other side: experience, knowledge, and a deepened understanding of the topic that you hold a passion for. If you’re unsure of what you’d like to study at the moment, that is okay! You have plenty of time to discover and explore your interests as an incoming first-semester student. Regardless of your major or field of study, be assured that Towson will provide a host of opportunities for you to develop yourself personally and professionally.
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The Human Rights and History minor introduces students to the origins and development of human rights. Students explore a range of topics for the purpose of investigating the role they have played in human history. These topics include: slavery, genocide, sexual assault, forced migration, environmental degradation. The Human Rights and History minor will challenge students to think about issues historically, geographically and thematically. The minor will also investigate how human rights have been implemented, abused and restricted. If you are interested in learning more about the History and Human Rights minor and how you can enroll in it, feel free to send an email to tpaint2@students.towson.edu. I’ll be more than happy to tell you about the program and my experience with Human Rights coursework.
Taryn Painter ’22 is a History and Political Science Major with a History and Human Rights Minor. You can read more about her on our Student Bios page.