Ava Harvey ’26 Earns Leadership Alliance Summer Research Fellowship

Ava Harvey ’26 received a Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP) Fellowship from the Leadership Alliance. The fully paid summer internship gives undergraduate students mentoring opportunities and research skills training, so they are positioned to apply to PhD or MD-PhD programs.

Harvey, a Greek and Latin double major from Lansing, Michigan, will be presenting some of the findings from her research (which she details below) at two conferences, the University of Chicago Research Symposium in Chicago, Illinois, and The Leadership Alliance National Research Symposium in Hartford, Connecticut. 

What were you able to do this summer thanks to this fellowship?
Earning an SR-EIP Fellowship at the University of Chicago allows me to conduct research on the concept of race in classical antiquity and its reception by modern white supremacist groups. 

I am especially interested in how the Roman historian Tacitus’ ethnography, the Germania, influenced 20th-century Nazi ideology and the ways in which it influences white supremacy movements today. Specifically, I hope to explore how the Third Reich misappropriated the Germania to generate Hitler’s idea of “the master race,” and how this corrupted reading continues to influence digital age hate speech and white supremacy in online chat rooms and forums.

By building on Christopher Krebs’ work in A Most Dangerous Book, which outlines how the Third Reich created a lasting doctrine of white supremacy, my research aims to show that the white supremacist doctrine created by the Third Reich using the Germania continues to manifest in hate speech today, coming full circle as hate groups and their leaders misappropriate Roman symbolism and literature to further messages of hate.

What sort of mentorship have your Oberlin faculty mentors, Professor of Classics Chris Trinacty and Nathan A. Greenberg Professor of Classics Kirk Ormand, provided—and why has it been so valuable to you? 
Professor Trinacty and professor Ormand are role models, mentors, and true friends. Aside from reading countless drafts of fellowship statements and refining my thesis, both have played a seminal role in cultivating my love for classics. 

Professor Trinacty’s Latin 101 class was my first class at Oberlin as a first year, and both have advised me academically and personally during my time at college. As an inhabitant of the classics library, I enjoy impromptu translation at the board and morning chats in the office with my professors. 

The guidance I receive from my mentors, often on a daily basis, encouraged me to pursue this kind of fellowship, but it also spurs me to be the best student I can be every day. They have taught me that consistent practice and hard work adds up and makes opportunities like this fellowship possible. 

Tell us about the research you’ve done so far in your academic career and how it aligns with your career goals.
In February 2023, I was invited to join a team of linguists on the MI Diaries Project by Dr. Betsy Sneller. The project is supported by the Michigan State University Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures and the National Science Foundation and was initially begun during COVID-19 to track speech tendencies of Michigan residents during quarantine. Since then, it has evolved into a successful initiative to engage undergraduates in linguistics and linguistic research. 

As a lead research assistant on the MI Diaries Project, I taught Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)-assisted transcription and analysis to project participants, who are both undergraduate and doctoral students. I have also worked both as a student researcher and as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) researcher on the project. From May through July 2023, I onboarded the project's NSF REU cohort, teaching transcription and analysis. This experience will support my research at the University of Chicago this summer because the misappropriation of classical texts occurs mainly in online settings dedicated to hate speech and white supremacy. 

In order to find patterns of misappropriation, it is essential to consider the effects shared language has on community. The language of hate speech has patterns, just as any other language does, and it will be critical to map these patterns before I am able to draw connections between online conversations and the ancient sources they reference. My research background in sociolinguistics and linguistics will be key to identifying these patterns and ultimately showing how classical texts have become embroiled in online hate speech.

Researching both classics and linguistics has impacted my career goals. As someone who is interested in pursuing academia, building strong research and writing skills during undergrad is an important step toward graduate school. The opportunity to teach students from all walks of life as a research assistant at Michigan State taught me skills that will support me on this path, including time management, organization, project management, data collection, and analysis. I am excited to continue this journey by doing research in my own field this summer. 

What is your favorite thing about doing research?
I find that the research process is often as rewarding as its results. Exploring new concepts and piecing together a unique understanding of concepts that are thousands of years old in the classics world is an exciting process that lets you discover new lenses for viewing the past. 

What’s the best advice you’ve received from your Oberlin faculty mentors?
“Don’t worry, it’s just Greek,” from professor Ormand, or “Practice your paradigms” from professor Trinacty. 

Activities in which you were involved at Oberlin: During the 2022-2023 school year, I was a peer career advisor in Law and Public Policy and a member on the Student Honor Committee, and during the fall 2023 semester I worked in the Office of Undergraduate Research as a Research Ambassador.

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