Honors Graduate Maggie Sardino Featured in Humanities for All

This past spring, recent Honors graduate Maggie Sardino ’23 published a piece in the National Humanities Alliance’s initiative, Humanities for All. Maggie’s article, “Discovering My Passion for Public Arts & Humanities”, highlights her experience as a research assistant for the Engaged Humanities Network (EHN), an initiative in the College of Arts and Sciences that connects students, teachers, and artists and supports creative work within the city. Sardino also discusses her research assistant work as the documentarian for the Narratio Foundation, a leadership program that assists resettled refugee youth with sharing their stories and creative work.

In conjunction, these experiences aided Maggie in the creation of her own thesis project, a self-made documentary titled “A Blueprint for Re-renewal”. Sardino’s project showcases the stories of individuals in Syracuse living in public housing, as well as the issues with upcoming plans to replace the complex. Maggie was able to produce her documentary with the help of City Scripts, a joint program between the Maxwell School of Citizenship and the School of Architecture that examines the intersection of politics and our built environment.

“During the open panel discussion, attendees shared a range of responses: polished political statements, impassioned demands, genuine inquiries and scathing critiques,” Maggie told Honors. “As voices filled the air at the Dunbar Center in the Southside of Syracuse, I thought, ‘This is how it should be. This is what storytelling looks like when it’s done right.’” When asked to reflect on her experience, Sardino stated, “My work with City Scripts helped me to realize what engaged research and community-based storytelling can do. It was a life changing experience that has shaped me as a student, researcher and person. The events of the screening and public discussion were instrumental in my decision to work towards becoming an academic who supports community-based storytelling.”

Maggie will be pursuing a master’s degree in digital humanities at King’s College London this upcoming fall as a Marshall Scholar. We celebrate and congratulate her for all her efforts, and we wish her luck in her future endeavors!

Here is a link to Maggie’s article.