Sweet Stories in the Dell Podcast
Trailer
The Value of a Woman
The first story is the trailer for the podcast, The Value of a Woman. It's the story I produced as the sample piece for my proposal. I had "met" alumna Carol McMurtry Fowler, '57 via Facebook and knew she'd be on campus while my family and I visited our farm nearby the College. You can listen to the story to learn the full story. But, I will add that though I knew Carol was an interesting woman, I had no idea that she was a phenomenal human being until she became the subject of my pitch piece.
Episode 1
Coming Home to Sweet Briar
The podcast episodes would follow the vision mapped out by Sweet Briar College's thirteenth president, Meredith Woo. To get a better sense of the mind who did this mapping, President Woo would become the subject of Episode 1: Coming Home to Sweet Briar. Like always, until I talk with a person, I only have the sketchbook image of who I think each person is. Like Carol, Meredith Woo blew me away. Though I had done extensive research, President Woo shares things that can't be found anywhere else on the World Wide Web. She's unflappable when it comes to taking big leaps and now I understand how this can be - because she's been taking huge leaps her entire life.
Episode 2
At The Core
This episode explores Sweet Briar's Women's Leadership Core Curriculum. I talk with President Woo and Professors Carrie Brown and Dr. Jeffrey Key who share their experiences teaching Core courses. Students Cailey Cobb '20 and Lucy Wasserstein '22 also share how taking these many of the 10 Leadership Core courses have boosted their confidence.
Episode 3 - Part 1
Centers Without Walls
This episode explores Sweet Briar's three Centers of Excellence. I speak with Carrie Brown, director of the Center for Creativity, Design and the Arts and professor of English and Creative Writing who talks about how the symbiotic collaboration with the Virginia Center of the Creative Arts benefits the students and how the fellows who instruct workshops also benefit from the experiences.
Episode 3 - Part 2
Centers Without Walls
This episode explores the Center for Human and Environmental Sustainability. Dr. Lisa Powell, associate professor of environmental studies and director of the Center for Human and Environmental Sustainability shares how the College's new 17,000 sf greenhouse has become a new classroom to her students. The hands-on learning experiences transform how students learn, as student Abby Cahill '22 corroborates.
Episode 3 - Part 3
Centers Without Walls
This episode explores the Margaret Jones Wyllie ’45 Engineering Program at the College. Dr. Bethany Brinkman, Associate Professor and Director of the Engineering Program, shares how her students thrive from using the campus as a laboratory. Students Angelica Lindburg, '20 and Rachel Logan '20 describe how the professors support their engineering efforts while having fun and how celebrating failure leads to success.
Episode 4 - Part 1-2
Sweet Briar's 21st Century Equestrian Program and it's Historic Roots
Sweet Briar’s 21st Century Equestrian Program and Its Historic Roots
E4 P1&2 explore Sweet Briar's historic riding program, which has hit its century milestone of educating equestrians. Equestrian program director Merrilee "Mimi" Wroten '93, is the multi-time recipient of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and is a joy to watch in action with her students. Mimi studied under retired Riding Director Paul Cronin who promoted the forward riding system. Mr. Cronin credits his career to Captain Vladimir Littauer, author of Common Sense Horsemanship and shares the history of Sweet Briar's Equestrian Program, which is a legacy that Mimi Wroten passes on to her students. Student Katie Balding '21, an equestrian who planned her professional career in the equestrian world while learning to work with horses through compassion, which she learned from Mimi.
Episode 5 - Part 1-2
Reasearching the Palimpsest of Sweet Briar's History
E5 P1&2 explore Sweet Briar's History Program with Professor Dwana Waugh. At the time of the interview, Dr. Waugh was the only black professor and she frankly shares how that affects her. She also speaks about the course History Detectives and how it profoundly affects one of her first year students, Ashanti Brown, '24. I speak with Ashanti too and hear how by reading her textbook she learned more about herself. The textbook was Invisible Founders written by Dr. Lynn Rainville about Sweetbrier Planation's enslaved community and how many of Sweet Briar College's employees can trace their ancestors back to this community. I speak with Dr. Rainville, the former Dean of the College and former professor of anthropology and archeology at the College, about how she came to research the invisible founders.
Episode 6
Coming Home to Sweet Briar
E6 explores architect Ralph Adams Cram's work at Sweet Briar College. Architectural historian, Travis McDonald, director of architectural restoration at Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, explains the significance of Ralph Adams Cram and how the world's Beaux Arts movement influenced his designs for Sweet Briar's campus. Travis and I take a walk around the historic campus and he points out the architectural elements of Cram's designs and what makes them special. Professor emerita Aileen "Ninie" Laing '57, wrote an exhibition booklet Dreams and Reality for the Centennial celebration of Sweet Briar's founding. She shares stories about her favorite of the historic Cram buildings and how Sweet Briar strives to uphold the integrity of the historic campus. Eric Kuchar, the project manager at Mesick Cohen Wilson Baker Architects, speaks about the process that performing assessments involves. Eric also shares the adventures involved in assessing Sweet Briar's historic campus and how this assessment will help create the path forward for preserving Sweet Briar's Cram treasures. I share background history to the building of the campus and how it lead to finding Sweet Briar's first president, Dr. Mary Kendrick Benedict.