Getting to know PA Humanities intern Amelia Spielman

PA Humanities is excited to welcome Amelia Spielman as an intern this summer. A native of Austin, Texas, Amelia just completed her sophomore year at Haverford College and is double majoring in English and economics. 

She’s a student assistant at Hurford Center for the Arts & Humanities, where she’s worked on their social media team creating video and other content. She’s also a community outreach and multicultural liaison in the Institutional Diversity, Equity & Access Division, and has helped to envision a new direction for how those in her position can address gaps in student engagement on campus. Last fall, she initiated a thank-you card drive to show gratitude to underrecognized campus staff. As the events co-head for the Pan-Asian Resource Center, she helps to plan and facilitate events including performances and community-building programs.

All these skills and interests will come into play as she works primarily with the programs and communications teams this summer, assisting with projects including The Window Keeper: Civic Honors. 

We look forward to working with Amelia throughout the summer. Get to know her better below.

Q:  Why did you choose English and economics as fields of study?

A: I’ve always been a big reader and had a love for English literature, but economics is a bit of a newer passion of mine that was sparked by a very passionate teacher in my senior year of high school. To me, studying English is a way of understanding culture and varied human perspectives and I find a lot of value in stories, both true and fictional. And while economics is definitely more methodical and quantitative, it’s still a study of human behavior and I enjoy a lot of the theory behind it. 

Q: What made you want to intern with PA Humanities?

A: I think that the work that PA Humanities does is invaluable. In my own childhood, I was lucky enough to be a part of several different clubs and programs that taught me the importance of intrapersonal understanding, creativity, and fostering community, which are all values that I see in PA Humanities. In the future, I would love to be a part of work that puts good back into the world and focuses on human connection, which is exactly what I feel like I will be doing at PA Humanities. 

Q: What do you hope to learn from this experience?

A: I’m hoping to learn anything and everything possible from the experienced staff here at PA Humanities. This is my first look into the non-profit world, so I’d really like to gain an understanding of the planning processes and communications work that go into humanities initiatives. I’m also hoping to grow as a writer, as most of my recent writing experience has been in an academic setting. 

Q: You love to read, and you also love film. What are some of your recent favorites, and why?

A: I tend to have a hard time progressing through my TBR list during the school year because I read so much for my classes already, but I took a romantic poetry class during spring semester and was reminded of my love for Percy Shelley’s “Ozymandias” and its depiction of the temporality of individual power. And though it’s not necessarily a recent release anymore, I loved Park Chan-wook’s capitalist critique in his most recent film, No Other Choice. I love the style of his movies because I feel like his storytelling takes on such a unique and precise form. 

Q: One very cool fact about you is that you once performed at Carnegie Hall. Will you please share that story? 

A: I played piano intensively for 13 years from kindergarten to senior year of high school and participated in a lot of competitions over those years. One of those competitions honored the winners with a recital at Carnegie Hall, so I got the chance to perform there during my sophomore year of high school, which was definitely the peak of my musical career. Piano and music have always been a huge part of my life, so even though I don’t practice regularly anymore, I still really cherish it and the memories that come with it.