Summer Intern Series: Liadan Shaw-Smith

Liadan Shaw-Smith is a rising senior at Atlanta’s Marist School. She will be blogging throughout her Summer internship at the Rose Library.

My name is Liadan Shaw-Smith, and for the next few weeks I will be interning in the Rose Library with the intention of creating a display for the Stuart A. Rose case and writing blog entries to highlight treasures within the Emory archives. My hope is to craft a display that appeals to an array of people, from those who possess vast knowledge on the topics as well as those who are just leisurely passing through.

Firstly however, I want to briefly introduce myself. I am a rising senior at Marist School in Atlanta, Georgia and have just finished my first year there. I was born in Atlanta to Irish and English immigrants, and had lived here all my life until my family decided to move to Dublin, Ireland, where we lived for 2 years. Those years were transformative for me, as I had lived in the same place my entire life and I experienced a slight culture shock and thrill at being able to become significantly more independent in a new, bustling city. I was thrown into an entirely new environment that petrified and animated me simultaneously. In those years I had the opportunity to explore things in the Irish curriculum that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise, and developed both intellectually and socially.

Once we returned to the U.S., I had a newfound understanding of my own interests, as taking classes in a different country had secured the notion that I am not, in fact, a person destined for mathematics, regardless of the continent. I have always been humanities driven and have explored subjects within that from psychology, to Latin, to world history. Outside of academics, I have explored theater and have been involved in different areas from head of costumes to lead in a production. Additionally, I am a board member for my school’s broadcasting club which films a live show that is broadcast to the entire school weekly. Through these experiences I’ve realized that at their core these activities explore how to present an idea in an entertaining and meaningful way. Similarly, this year I enrolled in AP Literature and AP U.S. History which both required me to present information and analysis in a way that was concise and interesting. I learned that literature and history often intersect regarding various movements and issues within politics; past and present. These two courses fostered my growing interest in politics and in part led me to join an organization that encouraged people to vote, primarily in the 2018 Georgia Gubernatorial election.

Furthermore, it is my interest in the issues and causes that shape our personal politics that is informing my internship. I am delighted to have this opportunity to delve into the archives and explore issues and causes such as feminism, LGBTQ rights, and racial equality. I hope that you, the reader, will gain some insights from my explorations as I assuredly will.