History is filled with stories that haven’t gotten the attention they deserve or been made accessible to a wider audience.
Compiling some of those is the mission behind a collaborative summer research project that pairs a senior strategic communication studies major at the College of Saint Benedict and a senior computer science major at Saint John’s University.
Elizabeth Wold and Matthew Utsch have spent the past few months working on a project titled “Digitizing the Past: Constructing a Digital Archive for Women’s History.”
The goal is to take written biographies, source material and videos spotlighting women who have made an impact in a wide range of areas throughout history and place them on a website that can be used by both students and faculty creating lesson plans.
Wold is handling the content creation and editing, which includes going through a plethora of student projects that have been completed in various classes at CSB and SJU over the years.
Utsch, meanwhile, is focused on the technical side of website development.
In the process, the two have gained valuable insight and knowledge into what goes into all aspects of bringing an idea like this to life.
“It’s been helpful to me to learn more about what goes into actually building a website, and to see how what I do impacts what Matthew is doing,” Wold said. “Then seeing how our two roles come together to build this needed tool.”
It’s a collaboration that appealed to Utsch as well.
“I saw this posted on one of the summer research pages and it seemed like a project that really fit my interests and skillsets,” said Utsch, who last summer was part of a research project that created a new web-based tool for use in the introductory computer science course sequence.
“It’s been interesting working together with someone in communications because it’s been a chance for both of us to combine our skills and create something pretty cool.”
The project was the brainchild of Emily Berg Paup, an associate professor of strategic communication studies at CSB and SJU, who has taught a wide range of courses dealing with women’s history (especially in the political realm) and other gender issues.
“This is something I’ve been wanting to build for several years now,” Paup said. “I’ve built up a treasure trove of student work over time that I’ve been looking for ways to make use of.
“I’ve found there’s really a lack of resources like this out there – places that pool together not just biographies, but first-hand source material, videos and more. When I’ve taught classes, I’ve had to put things together piecemeal from a lot of different places. I wanted to combine it all into one site.”
That led Paup to approach Peter Ohmann, an associate professor of computer science at CSB and SJU, about creating a summer research project that would pair the research and development skills needed to make her vision a reality.
“We thought why not give a computer science student the chance to build it from scratch rather than me just trying to do it with something like WordPress,” Paup said.
The project remains a work-in-progress, but Wold is excited by what’s come together so far.
“It’s been really cool to learn more about these women and all the things they’ve accomplished,” said Wold, who is minoring in global business leadership. “A lot of times, these women didn’t get the full credit for what they achieved. I think it’s important to find a way to preserve their stories in one place to make more people aware of their contributions.”
Both Wold and Utsch said the project has allowed them to take things they’ve learned in classes and apply them in a new setting.
“That’s been the most valuable part of this experience to me,” Utsch said. “Being able to approach problems outside the context of an assignment and use previously learned skills to come up with solutions. Then working together as a team to create something brand-new from the ground up.”
Karyl Daughters, the dean of curriculum and assessment at CSB and SJU, said that’s part of what makes summer research projects so valuable.
“Summer undergraduate research is a cornerstone opportunity for our students,” Daughters said. “It is a transformative experience during which students forge mentoring relationships with faculty on meaningful projects that help them develop problem-solving skills, technical proficiency and intellectual curiosity.
“Summer undergraduate research transforms students from learners into creators, contributing to insights and knowledge about the world.”
Wold and Utsch have been working independently while meeting regularly with Paup and Ohmann via Zoom, and occasionally connecting in person.
“I’ve been living in Brainerd at my cabin this summer,” Wold said. “Matthew has been working on campus and Emily and Peter have been everywhere.
“But we’ve been able to use technology to work together, and that’s been a really valuable experience to be part of as well.”
“I think a project like this has a lot of relevance when it comes to a future career,” Utsch added. “Hopefully, it’s giving me a leg up that will help when I get out into the field after graduation.”
