Undergraduate Research: Jen Wachtel
UR@UMBC
Jen is a History major and her research takes her back to in the Hongkou District of Shanghai known as the Shanghai Ghetto during the years 1933 - 1941. She intends to examine the experience of survivors in Shanghai as well as the Shanghai Ghetto’s significance in Holocaust history by studying oral histories, written testimony, and scholarly publications in both German and English.
“If not now, when?”
As an undergraduate at UMBC, I found my niche conducting research and working in the Special Collections department of the A.O.K. Library. The best recommendation I can make to current undergraduates is to get involved in your field as early as possible. UMBC provides the ideal environment for connecting with professors and conducting individual research projects. My meetings with Dr. Meredith Oyen, my faculty mentor, provided the impetus for an honors thesis. I am so grateful that my research with Dr. Oyen is fully funded by an Undergraduate Research Award.
Success at UMBC means finding your niche and finding balance between all of your interests. Here you can see me in the places I feel most at home at UMBC: working in Special Collections, spending time in the Interfaith Center (1:55), transcribing oral history interviews in the Retriever Learning Center (1:35), or meeting with one of my mentors, Amy Simon, in the History Department (1:46).
