Bryn Mawr College paid undergraduates to research alongside faculty for a second summer, expanding a humanities program the college launched in 2025.
The Humanities/Social Science Summer Program grew in 2026, according to Bryn Mawr, with student-faculty teams tackling projects that ranged from annotating Paul Thomas Anderson films to tracing classical mythology in video games. The program was scheduled to run from May 26 through July 31 and is separate from the college's longer-running Summer Science Research program, which gave 92 students stipends for lab and math work this year.
The college said advances in digital tools and large data sets are creating new collaboration opportunities in fields where research has traditionally been solitary. The program's exact enrollment was not disclosed, but Bryn Mawr profiled four research projects across disciplines.
Associate Professor of Russian José Vergara has participated both summers. In 2026, he worked with Ada Griffin, a junior English major and film studies minor, Senior Digital Scholarship Specialist Alice McGrath and four other Digital Scholarship Fellows on an online project to annotate Anderson's filmography. Griffin spent much of her time in Bryn Mawr's Special Collections, identifying magazines and books that appear in Phantom Thread. Her essay on the topic is already posted on the Paul Thomas Annotated website.
The college said the research team also visited the Bryn Mawr Film Institute at 824 W. Lancaster Ave. for a screening of There Will Be Blood, where they examined the film strip and individual frames in the projection room.
"Getting to work doing truly some of my favorite things (writing, analyzing, and discussing film) is still pretty unreal to me," Griffin said.
She added that seeing her work become a tangible part of the project felt rewarding.
Other projects spanned three fields. Akosua Boatemaa Sarpong and Theresah Tawiah, both seniors, worked with Associate Professor of Anthropology Melissa Pashigian on research into how people identify with and mobilize around dizziness, migraines and concussions as invisible illnesses. The pair helped organize prior findings and develop interview and survey questions.
Willa Romer-Mack, a sophomore, and Cee Jaklevic worked with Assistant Professor of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies Benjamin Eldon Stevens to study how video games use markers of classical Greek and Roman myth to invoke a sense of antiquity.
Amina Antora, a junior, and Felicia Famularo worked with Professor of Social Work Kerry Lee on research into the effects of adverse childhood experiences and intimate partner violence on Black men and women. Lee included Antora as a co-author on the project, according to Antora.
Many students worked remotely over the summer, collaborating with professors via Zoom, the college said. Bryn Mawr has not announced application dates for a 2027 session.
