In my Digital Media and Communications class, I was tasked with finding a website that I wanted to redo and modernize. I used Adobe InDesign to create a PDF mock-up, with notes and placeholders for what I would do with the website.

In my class on writing for business applications, our last project was to put together a project proposal for a real art competition that had happened in Savannah, GA. For this project, we worked as a team to put the proposal together. For my part, I wrote the Project Description and the Conceptual Design for each square. I also did the final compilation, putting everyone's work into a graphical context in Adobe InDesign. 

After I graduated, a peer and I started a YouTube Channel/Podcast project based around Archaeology and video games, following up on my previous thesis research. I captured and edited all the footage for the videos and designed the graphics/site. The project ended when our schedules no longer aligned, but the idea evolved into my M.F.A. thesis.

I put together a table top exhibit looking at vase paintings from Greece that depict scenes from  Homer where the hero encounters dangerous women. The exhibit consisted of a tri-fold poster (left) and a corresponding map (right) both created in Affinity Design. It included a visitor interactive quiz, to guess which femme fatale had what traits. 

I put together an exhibition brochure for the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts for the 2020 year. This involved researching the collection, gathering information about each exhibition, and doing the graphic design for the brochure on Canva. 

In my Digital Media and Communications class, we put together a portfolio of blog posts and a long-form feature article. I chose to expand on the work I had originally done on my MS research on Star Wars to inspire a series of blog posts using pop culture references to talk about Archaeology. The long-form article later became the backbone of my MFA thesis.

In my professional writing class, the final project was to put a full media kit together for a company of our choice. I interviewed the CEO of Faith2Influence and was given various materials to use to create this kit. 

My research for my M.S. thesis looked at previous stereotypes of archaeological themes and references in speculative fiction (e.g. sci-fi, fantasy, horror) and analyzed how those tropes appeared in Star Wars. Specifically I analyzed themes of gender, politics, and pseudo-archaeology. 

Image Credit: Marvel Comics, 2017 (Cover artist Kamome Shirahama)

I researched and presented on an object from the MPM collection. This object was a marble frieze, likely from the Hellenistic Period in Greece, depicting a typical motif from a funeral banquet. I also used this object again to create a YouTube presentation to a general audience.

I put together an interactive, educational exhibit at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts. This project involved researching museum interactives, designing and assessing the cost for the interactive, building the exhibit, and programming the board to theme with the next four exhibitions at the museum.