The Intersection of Us
Creators: Taiwo, Amy, Caroline, Julia
School: High School Students from NY Historical Society
About this Project
Our project is the first episode of a podcast we are developing called “The Intersection of Us”. The first episode of our podcast covers Black activist, writer, and speaker Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s intersectional activism as well as an example of how young people today are leading intersectional activism in education today, continuing Watkins Harper’s legacy. To give our audience an example, we reached out to Freedom and Citizenship, a free educational program for New York City high school students run by the Center of American Studies at Columbia University. Each year they recruit 45-low income high school juniors to attend a free four-week residential program, participate in a year-long civic leadership project and are provided college application guidance in the autumn of their senior year. We interviewed 3 program students to share their 2023 Project Education Access with us. We also interviewed Alison Schettino, a director of curriculum and instruction at the New York Historical Society, to share some commentary on the National Organization of Colored Women cofounded by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.
Originally, we thought of focusing on modern-day intersectionality to educate our audience about multifaceted identities through researching contemporary movements. However, as we completed research on the proceedings of the Eleventh National Woman’s Convention (1866) and the National Convention of Colored Men (1864), we realized that intersectionality actually has a long history dating back to the Reconstruction Era. We chose Frances Ellen Watkins Harper as our focus because she is a pioneer for intersectional analysis, the majority of her activism focused on prioritizing her identity as both a black person and woman.
Historically, marginalized groups of people are often pinned against each other or not adequately represented within our history classes. We want our podcast to show our listeners—many of whom may be members of marginalized groups—that their intersectional experiences and identities are not a novel occurrence but rather have long historical precedence. Through this podcast, we hope to foster interest in intersectional analysis while providing a safe space to learn more about multifaceted identities with figures like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Originally, we thought of focusing on modern-day intersectionality to educate our audience about multifaceted identities through researching contemporary movements. However, as we completed research on the proceedings of the Eleventh National Woman’s Convention (1866) and the National Convention of Colored Men (1864), we realized that intersectionality actually has a long history dating back to the Reconstruction Era. We chose Frances Ellen Watkins Harper as our focus because she is a pioneer for intersectional analysis, the majority of her activism focused on prioritizing her identity as both a black person and woman.
Historically, marginalized groups of people are often pinned against each other or not adequately represented within our history classes. We want our podcast to show our listeners—many of whom may be members of marginalized groups—that their intersectional experiences and identities are not a novel occurrence but rather have long historical precedence. Through this podcast, we hope to foster interest in intersectional analysis while providing a safe space to learn more about multifaceted identities with figures like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Project Links
What the Judges are Saying
This project could be very useful.
Super interesting that the team chose to do a podcast. This episode was incredibly well-researched and produced, from concept through development and launch. These are skills that will take you far in any role, especially the attention to detail.
To better hook listeners, Id recommend giving a bit of an overview of where you plan to take the series and previews of whats up next. Initial adoption is always the most difficult stage of engagement when trying to get individuals to use new products.
Overall, thank you for sharing the in-depth research you did on the subject in a compelling way. Nice job.
To better hook listeners, Id recommend giving a bit of an overview of where you plan to take the series and previews of whats up next. Initial adoption is always the most difficult stage of engagement when trying to get individuals to use new products.
Overall, thank you for sharing the in-depth research you did on the subject in a compelling way. Nice job.
Love that you chose a podcast as the medium of your project. Every year they prove more and more popular, and are an excellent form factor for this type of research and storytelling. I thought it was very well produced, well researched, and did a great job on the storytelling side.
I would encourage you to think beyond this first episode and tell your audience what this series could turn into, what they should expect from future episodes, and really lay out the vision that you wrote so eloquently in the last paragraph of your product description here. Otherwise, really great job, would subscribe!
I would encourage you to think beyond this first episode and tell your audience what this series could turn into, what they should expect from future episodes, and really lay out the vision that you wrote so eloquently in the last paragraph of your product description here. Otherwise, really great job, would subscribe!
