by For my internship, I have been accepted to work with the Folklife Digital Magazine with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage serves as the Smithsonian Institution’s research and educational unit in Washington DC. The Center produces and hosts a variety of events for people to enjoy, such as the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and Cultural Sustainability initiatives. Their works and productions display exhibitions, symposia, publications, educational materials, and documentary films and videos for interested individuals to view and access at leisure. The Center is well known for its Folklife Festival, and has had a hand in producing major national cultural events, such as the National World War II Reunion, the First Americans Festival for the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian, and the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in September 2016.
Their mission is simple, to build understanding, strengthen communities, and reinforce our shared humanity through the power of culture. Through the promotion of greater understanding and sustainability of cultural heritage, both domestically and internationally, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage takes pride in displaying the sanctity and diversity of different cultures. Their philosophy of utilizing high-quality scholarship with strong community participation and engaging educational outreach is achieved through research, education, and engagement with our community. Due to these factors, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage has affected cultural heritage policies and practices at local, national, and international levels through its programs. These programs have also earned serious scholarly review, popular acclaim, broad media attention, and professional recognition due to the Center’s strength in cultural diversity, sensational productivity, and combining interdisciplinary scholars with technical specialists.
Regarding my role with the Folklife magazine and the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, I will serve as an author who researches, articulates, and publishes articles and videos about different topics that revolve around cultural or national identity. Washington DC and the surrounding areas are a hotbed for different cultures and national groups to engage with and talk about, and I am honored to help take up that task. I aim to take several angles of approach for my articles, focusing on things that unite, embrace, or discuss cultural diversity or national identity in the Mid-Atlantic area, as well as across the United States. My first article is already underway, focusing on the national identities of professional futsal teams across the United States. Future articles are currently being organized as well.
What I am most excited about is being able to interview people, research my topics, and formulate them into a written or video article for people to access through the Smithsonian. Having this opportunity is a blessing on its own, and I aim to maximize this opportunity. Through my love of sports of futsal, for example, I am able to combine the cultures and national identities in the sport for people to read who may or may not know about the futsal scene in the United States. I also believe my celebrating cultures and identities are important for people to learn about. Overall, I am excited to see where this opportunity takes me.
