Penn Libraries Announces Winners of Seltzer Family Digital Media Awards 2009

2009-05-05 18:15:04 -

Thanks to the generosity of Penn Libraries Overseer Jeff Seltzer W’78 and his wife Annie, the University of Pennsylvania Libraries is proud to announce the five students who have received 2009 Seltzer Family Digital Media Awards: Jacob Finkel, Daniella Mak, Sheyla Medina, Molly Mitchell and Daniel Urgelles. Each student will have exclusive use of $1,000 of technology for one year.

Proposed technology items include videocameras, audio recorders and multimedia software.

This is the second year that the Seltzer Family Digital Media Awards have supported specific student projects. The awards are managed with the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF). The five funded projects are.

Under the guidance of Alvin Felzenberg, Adjunct Faculty at the Annenberg School for Communication, Jacob Finkel C’12 will continue work on a documentary film exploring the career and accomplishments of former Senator Harris Wofford (D-PA). Jacob will begin post-production on the documentary, which includes interviews with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Gen. Colin Powell and former President George H.W. Bush, and discusses Sen. Wofford’s friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his role as President Kennedy's Civil Rights Advisor, and his advocacy for National Service, among other topics.

Under the guidance of Michael Katz, Professor of History, Daniella Mak C’10 will interview members of the Angolan American community.

She will explore the psychosocial shifts in "home" and "citizenship" for refugees, migrant workers and asylum seekers. Growing from her personal interest in cultural identity issues and her experiences in Angola in 2008, this project will draw connections across immigrant communities.

Under the guidance of Timothy Powell, Research Specialist at the University Museum, Sheyla Medina C’10 will explore the intersection of traditional and western medicine and its contemporary use within the Leech Lake Ojibwe Indian reservation in Minnesota. She will use video and audio to collect interviews with traditional healers and community members.

Under the guidance of John Jackson, Jr., Associate Professor of Communication and Anthropology, Molly Mitchell C’11 will create a video documentary on art and urban social change, the subject of which is the work of Urban Mourning, a Philadelphia based non-profit organization. Focusing largely on the mission of the organization and the experience of the children involved, she will take a critical look at the role of art as intervention and healing in the urban space.

Under the guidance of Emily Hannum, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Daniel Urgelles C/W’11 will use video and photography to capture the experiences of the fellows in the YouthBank program for disadvantaged youth in Lagos, Nigeria. By recording the testimonies of these young Nigerians as they learn how to start and run their own businesses, he hopes to demonstrate the success of these microfinance endeavors and better understand the social aspects of international development for his independent research in that field.

Daniel is in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business.

The Award Committee consists of Inge Herman (Executive Director, Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business), John MacDermott (Director for Instructional Technology, SAS Computing), Kristen Stromberg Childers (Assistant Professor of History) and Anu Vedantham (Director, Weigle Information Commons, Penn Libraries).

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University of Pennsylvania LibrariesAnu Vedantham, Director of the

Weigle Information Commons215-746-2659 vedantha@upenn.edu : mailto:vedantha@upenn.edu