Chelsea Berwick, a junior history major in secondary education, is experiencing life on two college campuses this semester as she completes her history honors thesis. Berwick has been selected to join the McNeil Center for Early American Studies Consortium Undergraduate Research Workshop at the University of Pennsylvania. This opportunity allows advanced undergraduate students researching early American studies to connect with peers, graduate students, and faculty to exchange ideas and research methods.
“This experience provides me with a new community to lean on for support,” Berwick stated. “I now have 10 other students to turn to for advice in the process, and a mentor who is an expert on my topic’s time period.”
Her thesis, titled “We Are Persons, Not Things,” examines how Black people in the pre-Civil War North countered and responded to biological racism, focusing on the types of protests they engaged in to fight against the notion of biological inferiority.
Berwick’s participation in the MCEAS workshop also allowed her to explore UPenn’s Kislak Center, which houses special collections, rare books, and manuscripts that are beneficial to her research. She applied to the workshop upon the advice of her advisor, who saw the potential of her work in contributing to historical scholarship in early American studies.
Craig Hollander, associate professor of history, reflected, “I knew from my experience with Chelsea, both as her professor last semester and as her advisor this year, that she would make the most of the opportunity to have outside scholars review her work and provide her with additional research support.”
Berwick emphasized the importance of the workshop, saying, “The experience of writing, receiving feedback, and revising has taught me to always seek opportunities to improve, and to never stop advancing my work. It’s shown me the importance of resiliency and dedication.”
The workshop participants are scheduled to reconvene in late April to present their research findings in a conference-style setting.
