May 2023 Updates
The summer is quickly approaching and our program and participants are gearing up for their seasonal plans!
Our BridgeUP + OUT Scholars are getting ready for summer and gearing up for their various break plans. Some of the students will be attending Camp Coniston, as part of our BridgeUP Summer Camp program. They will be up in New Hampshire for a few weeks this summer, getting to mingle and meet others similar in age. It’ll be a wonderful experience as it always has been in years prior. Most of the seniors have decided on where they will attend college, and are headed to incredible schools! Additionally, two of our BridgeUP + OUT Scholars are working at Hearst for a few weeks, helping out with administrative work and getting professional exposure and advice in the summer before college. We are so proud of each and every single one of them. The hard work and dedication they’ve put into both their school work and themselves is admirable.
Many of our BOLD scholars celebrated their college graduations this past month. We are SO incredibly proud of all the young women who are on their paths to success. We can’t wait to see where they go! At the end of the month, Lanae A., a BOLD Scholar from Rutgers-Newark, was featured during the Rutgers-Newark commencement ceremony. The video was displayed on every screen at the Prudential Center. Lanae is also the BOLD Fellow at Rutgers and will be working with the ACLU after graduation. Congratulations to Lanae!
At Colby-Sawyer, HGB Foundation President, Eve Burton, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during their graduation ceremony. The degree recognizes an individual of humanitarian character and superior intellect whose life and work have brought about positive, far-reaching change for individuals and organizations. Congratulations to all!
Woolly Mammoth had a magical evening at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, honoring Michael R. Jackson, A STRANGE LOOP, and Rayceen Pendarvis during this Mammoth moment. Maria Manuela Goyanes is a part of the BOLD Theater Women’s Leadership, and is the Artistic Director at Woolly Mammoth. Nemuna Ceesay is a BOLD Associate Director and was there for the show at Woolly Mammoth as well.
Lately, there have been some really interesting talks taking place at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia University. Graduate student, Gurman Bhatia, gave a talk on data-visualization, “Around the world through dataviz”. With an intentional exclusion of US-based examples, she provided colorful insight to historical and contemporary examples of data collection and displays. I had the chance to attend this talk, and found it incredibly fascinating. When I think about data-visualization in modern times, I feel as though it has certain associations to it, in regards to who is involved in dataviz and what it applies to. In the historical examples she provided, it was illuminating to see the ways in which data-collection was woven into everyday life and society - it was something for everyone to participate in. From knotted ropes and cords in South America, to extravagant hand woven embroidery in Punjab, data-visualization has been part of cultures for multiple centuries. This talk captured examples of data-visualization and stories from across the world, spanning different decades, continents, and economies.
The 2023-2024 Magic Grant recipients have been announced! This is the twelfth cohort of grantees within the Brown Institute for Media Innovation. Within the grant recipients, there are journalists, filmmakers, an oral historian, computer and data scientists, political and social researchers, engineers, a sound artist, a cinematographer, and even a philosopher. This wide array of fields underscores the diversity within media innovation and the overlap between journalism and engineering. “Notably, nearly half of this year’s projects explore the practical uses or protective measures for generative AI,” says Mark Hansen, Director of the Brown Institute at Columbia Journalism School. “With these fast-moving technologies being picked up to help report and produce the news, we need to support work that crosses disciplines – and this year’s Magic Grants are excellent examples of such thoughtful media/tech partnerships.”
We are so excited to see the development of these initiatives and projects! Congratulations to all!