Internship: CDT Arts Ltd.
Location: Kingston, Jamaica
Program: Student Summer Funding Opportunities, Lewis Center for the Arts
Major: African American Studies

What did you do over the summer?

This summer I was in Kingston, Jamaica and I was working with CTD Arts Ltd. to create a digital library database for their entire repertoire since 1989. Lots of pictures, lots of videos, photographs, promotional materials, show programs, oral histories, all that type of stuff, putting it all together for them.

What skills have you learned or developed? 

I think definitely database construction, something I never thought I would do, especially as someone who doesn't know how to code or any of that kind of stuff. Trying to find innovative ways to collect and compress data, in a way that's also accessible for people like me who don't know how to work code, how to work these much more rigorous academic websites and platforms, and may not have access to them by not being an institution like Princeton. 

How do you think this opportunity will impact your career path, future goals and/or academic path at Princeton? 

I think I ended up doing a lot more in intellectual art law and intellectual property law, a lot of conversation about that when I was trying to get this published at a local library in Jamaica. That raised a lot of interest for me in terms of thinking about how to represent artists and their work especially after they've passed, and after they're out of commission. What does it mean that I'm handling these things that belong to someone else and their creative visions. That really sparked an interest in me in terms of pursuing art law and at the same time public history and culture preservation.