Kayla Wingfield is one of three English, Theatre, and World Languages students who is a fellow in the 2023-2024 cohort of REACH. Established in 2019, thanks to a $950,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, REACH—“Research. Engagement. Action. Community. Humanities”—is an opportunity for qualified students who have a sincere interest in pursuing graduate work and a career in academia. In partnership with a faculty mentor, each fellow takes part in a summer research exploration program on campus, develops a research project, and receives funding for research, travel, graduate school entrance exams, and an application to a graduate degree program in the humanities. Members of the ETWL Publicity Committee asked Wingfield, whose mentor is associate professor Peter Grimes, to share how her REACH research is inspiring her, her aspirations for her project, and why she values the humanities.
Q: How does your research in REACH inspire you as a student and as an English major in particular?
A: As a student working toward an English major (with a creative writing minor), my research in REACH inspires me to get better at writing and analyzing, an essential skill for students in general. A big part of my research involves taking a broad number of several types of resources, including memoirs, and taking what I learn, picking it apart, and seeing what concepts from the resource could be put into my story, whether it be for my characters, setting, or themes. My research has deepened my appreciation for literature and writing in this way. In a broader sense, my experience with REACH has inspired me to take small steps toward academic goals as a student. I'm eager to continue conducting research, pushing the boundaries of my knowledge, and contributing to the conversations involving child labor.
Q: What are your aspirations for your project, and how will it prepare you for life after college?
A: I hope my project ends up being something that opens people’s eyes to the experience of children in exploitative labor. I want to invite people to think about the many reasons that could lead a child to go into labor in the first place. While we can simply say that child labor needs to be stopped, we can’t ignore the fact that some children (who aren’t forced) voluntarily work in these dangerous occupations to provide for themselves or their families. I also hope my project reflects accuracy when it comes to the experiences of children, whether they be pre-Labor Act or migrant children. This includes cultures. For one of my characters, I’m planning to write from an Indigenous boy’s perspective. As a Black person, I need to be aware that I’m an outsider when writing from this perspective. I can’t ignore my character’s life before he moved from Guatemala—I can’t ignore his identity. A lot of consulting and research is needed in my story if I hope to have a project that is both accurate and respectful. Even after college, I think the project will help me to create future writing projects that could help talk about different issues in the world. Even going through the research phase (like consulting with professors and anthropologists) will help me to work with people after college because, as someone who is shy when collaborating with people, doing my project has been getting me out of my shell.
Q: Why is humanities research important for you personally?
A: For me, humanities research is important because it allows me to step into the shoes of people from different periods and people from different cultures. In general, I view humanities research as a way for the public and the researchers themselves to learn about topics and groups of people not really talked about a lot. I love the aspect of bringing awareness of certain issues which I can see not only with my own project but with my other REACH peers. The REACH program and humanities research in general also allowed me to get out of my comfort zone when it came to academic research and collaborating with different people. Things like this were something I avoided, things like conferences, public speaking, and meetings, out of anxiety. Taking part in this research though has made a small dent in my little bubble.