Amanda Harris wears a lot of hats. Viola player. Guitar hero. Brainstorming magnet. But her two most recent endeavors might be her most meaningful yet.
Harris is a senior finishing up her Communication Studies degree. That major is what led her to taking and excelling in a class taught by Dr. Ashley Hall. But it was Harris’ French minor and semester ending project that proved to be the catalyst for her recruitment as an intern.
“I was recruited based on my final project for the Digital Media and Writing class. At least I like to think that’s why I was recruited. [The project] deals with how we teach foreign language here at Wright State. When I was doing that final project I really wanted to trouble the rote learning we use surrounding foreign language. It’s kind of like memorize, regurgitate, and then forget it. And there’s not a huge focus on foreign language. That’s something I really wanted to look at and change. The New Media Incubator could actually help with that.”
Harris is collaboratively in-tune with Jean-Michel Lamoine in the French department having been a student under his tutelage. “He’s just a great instructor. He’s hilarious,” said Harris.
This close connection between the two allowed her to broach the topic of collaboration. Talking about budgets affecting Wright State, Harris and Jean Michel noted that it was especially hindering the foreign language department.
“We were comparing the American students to French students, because in other countries – especially European countries – it’s strongly encouraged to learn a second language. We were just kind of talking like, ‘Why is that?’ and we just ended up collaborating. I was like, ‘Well, I am going to write this paper and I have a really cool idea…’ So he just ended up working with me and giving me the okay. He was just like, ‘Yeah, definitely use my classes as a kind of guinea pig.’ ”
A lot of research was completed by Harris before her complex, intensive project would unfurl within the Inc. confines. Anxiety swelled up within Harris in the days before the French students would arrive. But her steadfast refusal to succumb to that stress, along with an unshakeable belief in the overlap of academic disciplines, proved too strong to disturb.
“I think it’s important for students to learn a variety of different things. That’s why I chose a communication track because it gives you such a breadth of knowledge. Intersectionality is something personally that I’m very interested in,” Harris said. “You can apply skills like knowing how to operate [the Inc. studio] cameras. You never know when you’re going to need a skill. Even if you have a basic understanding of [Adobe] Premiere, it’s not a complicated program. I have tried to learn those skills and pass it on to the French students.”
Incredibly, Harris felt she was essentially a novice at the outset of her internship in regards to using the video-editing software Adobe Premiere, the studio, and its control room all located in the Inc. Like always, she learned as much she could from an instructor (Dr. Jennifer Ware) and on her own, emboldened by an inquisitive mind. And while Harris says that she’s still by no means a master using these various types of equipment, her skills and knowledge have expanded so much that she taught her French students to use the equipment themselves.
“For foreign language specifically, the project I oversaw, deals with [French students] final presentations. There’s one for the 1010 classes, one for the 1020. The 1010 [students] were recording short biographies about themselves entirely in French. And the 1020 [students] were encouraged to work in group of three to five people and they did just a short skit [in French]. They had complete creative license in that. One of my favorites was the Family Feud [skit], the French version of Family Feud,” Harris smirked. “And beyond that they were also learning French while also learning all these editing skills with [Adobe] Premiere, [learning] how the studio works. By their third and fourth recording sessions they were, ‘Okay. Let’s get mic’d.’ They knew the process and I think that’s an important part in the intersection of different disciplines is knowing how everything works.”
A lot of Harris’ research is primarily concerned with is Higher Pathway learning which investigates rote learning – memorization, regurgitation of information, and then forgetting it once the test is over.
“There’s always going to be students just looking for their grade, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Everyone’s not going to be like, ‘Yes, French!’ or ‘Yes, Spanish!’ or ‘Yes, German!’ There’s always going to be students using that as stepping stone towards getting their degree. But as for the positives there are tons. I’ve witnessed students that in the beginning of the semester their pronunciation wasn’t good or maybe - especially for the 1020 students - weren’t necessarily engaged in 1010. But now they’re like, ‘Wow. I’m learning so much more this semester.’ And I like to think that I helped a little bit in that and that the Inc. helped especially.”
Harris started in the orchestra in the fourth grade playing the viola. She can read music but mostly plays everything by ear. Her musical diversity has expanded enough that she can now play guitar, a little bit of drums, a little bit of piano, and a little bit of base. Her two main instruments are guitar and viola. From 2010 to 2012 was in a band.
“Anything with strings I can kinda figure it out,” said Harris.
The innate ability to expand her repertoire has allowed Harris to try on a new hat in a producer-like role. This semester she has come to know Tarik Woods. Woods is a student at Wright State. Along with a team of fellow students, he has been filming a talk show, Words with Woods, inside the Inc. studio.
“[What] I’m very interested in is covert and overt racism. And Tarik spends a lot of time interviewing young, black Americans. He does want to branch out into a variety of other topics and other people he’d like to interview. For me, it’s very important we give people a voice, marginalized groups. And I think the Incubator is a perfect space to do that.”
Now Harris has increased her contribution to Woods’ show to be almost like a manager. She started out by just making sure Woods and his team was using the equipment properly but now is trying to enlarge his platform. “He’s super, super talented with a super talented team. He wants to touch on some topics that are close to my heart that I’m very passionate about.”
Collaboration is instinctive in Harris. Perhaps it’s due to her musical background? Being a springboard for ideas is something she loves.
“Abby [Umstead] usually comes to me a lot and says ‘I have this idea. Let me talk to you about it’ and I say ‘Okay, lay it on me.’ Anthony [Davis] will come to me every now and then. It’s usually with character voices,” Harris laughed. “And they’re always hilarious. It’s just a creative space and that’s what I like to do - create ideas.”
When asked about how it’s been working under Dr. Hall and Dr. Ware, Harris can’t help but provide some of her own levity. “Awful,” Harris cackles. “No. I’ve worked at a lot of places. I’ve worked for good people. I’ve worked for bad bosses. They are absolutely the best people I have ever worked for. They care about what you’re doing. They care about what other people are doing. And they’re excited about it - they’re realistic about it - but they’re excited about it.”
Harris hopes to expand her already impressive academic resume by going to graduate school, possibly studying digital media and digital rhetoric. “Just because the things that our co-directors Dr. Ware and Dr. Hall do right now, those are the things I want to do because those are things for me that matter. I want to create these deeper levels of understanding in students.”
Amanda Harris has already proven she can hit the right notes in music, her collaboration with Jean-Michel, her brainstorming sessions in the Inc., and her important work with Tarik Woods. Next on her list: composing her masterpiece.
