By Kate Hawthorne, Staff Editor
Bryn Mawr’s Leadership Innovation and Liberal Arts Center (LILAC) partnered with the Career Professional Development office (CPD) and the Civic Engagement office to create a new program of events called “Meet Ups.”
The events were created to help students learn about community organizations and their available internships, field placements, volunteer, work study, and employment opportunities. These two-part events featured a number of organizations in various fields of employment.
The first 45-minute section was a panel during which some of the attendees shared information about their organizations and their work. The second 45 minutes acted as an informal networking session between students and attendees. Jennifer Prudencio, who helped organize the events, and other members of the CPD shared in an email exchange the rationale behind the creation of these events.
“We have … seen a national trend with Career Centers offering more intimate, industry-focused events to encourage students to make connections with organizations in an informal setting and we wanted to try that format on our own campus.” Additionally, there was the first annual Tri-College Financial Showcase this year, whose format was used to inspire these events.
Three fields were explored in the Meet Ups: museums, social justice and advocacy, and public health. Prudencio said that these fields were chosen based on “student interest areas, past career fair data, and direct inquiries from organizations seeking to connect with BMC students.” These events called upon many local organizations and alums to connect with Bryn Mawr students, along with students from the other two colleges in the Tri-College Consortium. Two of the three Meet Ups were also organized in conjunction with Bryn Mawr departments.
Professor Monique Scott, director of the Bryn Mawr Museum Studies Department, helped organize the Museums Meet Up. The Public Health Meet Up was organized in conjunction with the Bryn Mawr Health Professions Advising Office and featured information on the BMC Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research (GSSWSR) as well as the College’s 4+1 program with the Boston University School of Public Health.
The CPD also chose to put a spotlight on graduate schools and other educational opportunities, especially regarding the Public Health Meet Up. According to the CPD, most of the organizations that were invited accepted the invitations; although, there were also some last minute cancellations and changes, such as the Penn Museum who could not make the Museums Meet Up due to weather conditions.
The Museums Meet Up featured four individuals who work at museums in Philadelphia. one of whom is a PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania (who worked as a Curatorial Assistant at the Philadelphia Academy for Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art) and another who created the Till Arts Project – a grassroots organization that works to provide a safe space and resources for LGBTQIA+ artists to create and exhibit art, network, and collaborate.
The format of this Meet Up differed from the others as it was primarily a Q&A session, with far less time reserved for networking. It was also the only Meet Up to take place outside of the Great Hall in Old Library (and was instead hosted in the Dorothy Vernon Room in the New Dorm Dining Hall). Each of the individuals gave a brief summary of their position; from public events and community engagement, to access services and inclusion, to curation. After introductions, the floor was opened up to questions from the audience.
To a question about creating programming, one panelist stated that the im portant thing to remember is that you don’t need to accomplish everything in one project; in fact, it’s better to do things over a long period of time in order to create stability. To another question about incorporating technology, there was a general feeling that the panelists should love it but “it’s a double-edged sword” and that “it requires another level of being on your toes, especially if there isn’t a technology department,” as complicated technology can easily break down.
One student from the current Byzantine Textiles 360, which will be show casing an exhibit at the college, asked about creating a discussion space for installations. Many of the panelists made it clear that it was important to interact with the artifacts in a respectful way, pointing out both the aesthetics of the piece as well as their cultural significance. One panelist stated that “You have what objects you have. It’s what you do with them” that matters. Other questions included those about how to get started in the field, ways to deal with short term fellowships, how individuals from minority groups can thrive in the field, and how museums go about recruiting new artists.
Surprisingly, this exhibit included a large number of Swarthmore students. When asked about this, the CPD stated that the Meet Ups were Tri-Co events and they were “excited to see interest in the events across all three Colleges!”
The Public Health Meet Up had more organizations present but a much more informal format, (following the previously mentioned two-part format). The format was possibly due to the large number of organizations that participated or the fact that the organizations were less well-known in the community. The CPD provided a pamphlet that explained the organizations’ mission statements and what they were looking for in terms of vol unteers, employees, fellows, etc.. There were 12 panelists at this Meet Up which included eight Bryn Mawr alums and three alums from the GSSWSR from a number of primarily local public health organizations. For the panel portion of the session, the Public Health Advisor, Gail Glicksman, asked the panelists to explain a bit about their position and answer the question “What is the biggest public health issue the country/world is facing currently?” While exact answers varied between the individuals, access to care was mentioned often with other answers including stigma, lack of attention to the social determinants of health, education, and poverty (which went along with the cost of healthcare). After each panelist had the opportunity to answer the question, they moved to a small table set up for their organization, between which students could travel and informally discuss their interest with the panelists.
The CPD was very pleased with the turnout from students and the positive comments shared about event format. They are in the process of seeking further feedback from attendees and plan to do further Meet Ups in the future on a wider variety of topics.
Photo credit: Bryn Mawr College
