Mercuri Lam Loomis Chaffee GESC

My Global & Environmental Identity

My experience with the GESC started in freshman year. As a new student to Loomis from Texas, I met and interacted with people all over the world for the first time. This experience inspired me to look into the GESC as an option to further my understanding with the people & stories which now surrounded me. I also love studying media (film, podcasts, books, shows, music, etc.), and storytelling is a central part to how I express myself and understand the world. Working at an antique store my sophomore year and a reference intern at Gilder Lehrman the past year furthered my love for personal histories. This fed into my interests for the GESC as a program where I can explore the deeper themes and issues behind the objects and media I interact with daily.

For me, global and environmental studies is the understanding of the world and the multi-faceted narratives we are expected to hold. A person has many identities, and so does society. Global and environmental studies notices these facets of group identity and manifests them into change for good. Whether through something like film or poetry, we are able to call forth powerful emotions that can unite us in our understanding of each other.

My goal this year for the GESC is to tell stories—by helping the community narrate their ideas and backgrounds, I hope that I can use the resources of the GESC to encourage understanding and empathy within the community. By using creative mediums to their fullest, I hope to create spaces of love and safety. One of my favorite creators described love as a method of stewarding, and I believe that in order to create lasting understanding and connection, we have to hold love. I hope the GESC can help me take a step towards that goal.

Global & Environmental Resume

GESC-designated Courses

World History
CL Latin IV
CL European History
CL Statistics
CL Modern East Asian History
CL English IV: Literature and the Environment
CL Environmental Science
CL Guided Research in Environmental Science

GESC Experiential Education

GEF-funded trip to Scandinavia: Studied Sustainability, Innovation, and Technology. Traveled to Copenhagen, Samso Island, Aarhus, and Malmo and learned about food, urban planning, and more.

If applicable ...

STARTalk Russian Immersion Grant: Studied Russian for three weeks in an intensive, government-funded program at Oklahoma City University.
Yale Young Global Scholars: Studied as a Literature, Philosophy, and Culture Scholar for two weeks at Yale University. Created a capstone project focusing on highlighting sustainable restaurants in local New Haven area.

Farm sunset on Samso Island

Learning Artifacts

GESC Coursework

read here???

I did an analysis paper for different types of films and how they connected to techno-orientalism as a concept for my CL modern east asian history class titled "Mechanical Cities: Techno-Orientalism in Alita: Battle Angel & Neon Genesis Evangelion." This connected to the alvord center matrix as I learned new information and synthesized it through my comparison of existing media forms. This paper, which analyzed the TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion and the film Battle Angel: Alita, allowed me to understand not just the cultural nuances but also how it was something directly impacted by themes of colonialism and imperialism. I also felt that the idea of media studies was something which is radical in itself, as it examines not just text but other types of media and what it reveals about culture.

GESC Seminars

After the GESC seminar #2, I explored the intricacies of Ukrainian immigration to the United States as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian War. This research assignment enhanced my understanding as it allowed me to understand the current political state more amongst Eastern European immigrants, but also it made me question what aid has been given to refugees in other states– or are they immigrating there at all? Some states which come to mind are Montana, Minnesota, etc. Through this assignment, I have been allowed to question my assumptions, understanding local v. global issues, and develop empathy for other perspectives.
For. my GESC #4, I went to the talk about GLITTER with Nicole Seymour who talked about the intersection between queerness and other socio-environmental issues. This class made me realize the connections for my own capstone research and my GERP project, which combined both science and art and other themes of queerness and identity. I really loved the talk, but I wondered about a lot of the other factors which consumerism has exasperated in our society- Nicole mentions the fact that glitter is only 2% of all plastic in the ocean, but if we really think about it, 2% is still a LOT of waste. Therefore, is it really as insignificant, and how does it impact wildlife and storytelling?
For GESC #5, which was the financial literacy session with Dr. Fisher, we learned about the different ways which the environment is impacted by capitalism, and what different methods or solutions can be made to help it. Our modeling of the tragedy of the commons was also somewhat ironic—given the setting of our privileged boarding school atmosphere—but it showed to us the impact of community when we talk about financial literacy and changemaking in our communities.

GESC Electives

Last year we did a queerness and identity panel for SPECTRUM and PRISM, and I found this to be super insightful and contributed a lot to my time at Loomis and my udnerstanding of other cultures. We talked not only about queerness but also in the context of our respective backgrounds- for example, Iris shared the homophobia and lack of empathy towards queer and GNC individuals in Kenya, and I talked about my own experiences. I also did plenty of other panels throughout my time at Loomis which included the AAPI mental health panel, "forgotten Asians" panel, and more. I really love doing panels and hope to continue!

GESC Experiential Education

Here is my friend Lucas while we were on the trip for Scandinavia, when we visited a workshop for VR and tech development. I really liked this because it showed the future of what human-environmental interaction could be: instead of our harshening reality, could humans escape to an alternative? Here, I am thinking about the film Ready Player One, where too many have lost touch with what is real in trade for the virtual oasis that awaits them. With the new launch of the apple goggle, I think this reality is becoming closer and closer into our lives.

Me with a bunch of strawberries we got from the supermarket. Although this may seem silly and insignificant, I feel like it really captured the essense of what I wanted to explore- the food and organic freshness of produce in Denmark. The fruits themselves were inexpensive, but the quality was much, much better than what we could get in the United States.

At Legoland I was kind of interested in exploring how artistic and creative tools could encourage cultural connections and also facilitate learning. This village was super cute, but all sides of it (not pictured) showed different biomes and environments which visitors worldwide could find themselves relating to. I wonder if toys and these methods will become the best way to educate people about other cultures using soft power.

On a farm stand in Samso, we saw fresh produce directly being bought, and this showed me once again the amount of transparency in food that was present in Scandinavia, as well as the lack of food deserts and/or inaccessibility to food that people in the US (including my own past experience) face on a daily basis. This made me think about the decreasing amount of small-scale accessible farms in the US (something I hope to tackle with a grant fellowship this summer!!)

Capstone Project

Global perspectives through film studies

Project rationale

I wanted to create a project that involved both my passion in film and a demand for class which I've personally experienced over my four years at Loomis- I felt like there were no art history or media studies classes, and I wanted to create something which discussed that but also introduced new modes of thought and cultural analysis to the Loomis community. At the same time, I felt that a lot of the media which we consume at Loomis are forced to be in English or euro-centric, and film would be a good way to introduce people to global arts and perspectives.

Target Audience

My project aims to be something that anyone in the Loomis community, no matter their background, can use as a way to be introduced to film studies. I do think someone has to be open minded, and the fact that this is a unit within a feminist art history elective narrows some of the people who would take the class. Regardless, I found this to be super flexible and a great fit for most people.

Project Process

For my proposal, I focused on the addition of two narratives to the art history course in order to create a vibrant film unit: queer, speculative films as well as global familial perspectives. I discovered these films through DEI conference workshops, my own friends, the library-associated movie site Kanopy, and also the Yale Young Global Scholars Program I did this past summer. For the readings, I went and read through articles and selected ones I thought were interesting and added to my perspective, and I created all the guiding questions as frameworks to approach individual films. I also (obviously) watched every film I selected (including ones that did not make it to the chopping block), and decided from there what films fit with the approach and vision I had.

For a large part of my project, I had to interview and meet with Dr. Nisselson and Ms. Carr to understand basics of lesson planning and how to best fit this unit into class. I also watched a few films repeatedly to understand different themes and come up with assignments and discussion questions for these different films. For me, the hardest part of this project was creating reflection assignments in both art and history that was interactive for the student yet relevant to the film. I also found curating the films to be more challenging than anticipated, as I had to cover many different topics, races, and issues over the span of four films. After I came up with assignments and questions and selected the films I found best fit, I created a website using the builder CARRD, and input all the points I had made in my syllabus in module-form for easier understanding and organization.

Project Reflection (To be written upon conclusion of your Capstone, 250-300 words)

While creating this capstone, I found the hardest part to be making activities which went well with both the preexisting structure I was working with (a DEI-based art history course), and what I wished for it to be (a DEI-based film studies course). This is not to say the two were not compatible— in fact, they feed directly into one another. However, I found myself becoming more burdened with the idea of making this a more art-based class, with subsequent deliverables, rather than focusing on activities that emphasized and accompanied the films themselves. What got me over the rut was the fact that I could do *both* without compromising one or the other. I also found that the most challenging part for me wasn't watching the films but curating them: in such short spaces which I had for lesson implementation, there were a lot of choices I was forced to make to cut, or add, to the global narrative I wanted to show to students. However, this act of pick-n-choose was a form of erasure in itself—if I was showing these students the diversity in perspective, why would I be cutting films out? Personally, I struggled with this idea for a long time.

GESC Reflection (150-300 words)

I remember applying for the GESC in sophomore year after swearing never to enter the program freshman year, and then subsequently being convinced by Ms. Engelke to "just do it." My application statement also reflects my hopes and dreams at the time—to go into food and studying food and its impacts on people. Through pieces of the GESC, I was able to explore this topic. From my Denmark trip to working with PASA on events such as Asian Bev night, I feel that I've been able to deepen my passion for good food and better people.

I think this certificate also reflects a lot of my initial feelings and apprehensions about attending Loomis, and my time throughout this school as a whole. For the longest time, I thought I had to pick between different parts of myself to represent who I am, while who I am is truly an encompassing culmination of all different influences. Coming out of senior year and my time at Loomis as a whole, I am glad that I can become something different; I am a film enthusiast, a writer, an art lover, and now, a GESC alumni. Ultimately, doing this capstone allowed me to delve deeper into my passions and reinforced to me my attitude as I approach new chapters of my life.