Erin Campbell has received two prominent awards in the College of Arts & Letters – the 2019 College of Arts & Letters Outstanding Senior Award and the Experience Architecture Student of the Year Award.
On May 5, Campbell received her B.A. degree in Experience Architecture and minors in Spanish and Digital Humanities. During her time at MSU, she worked at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, the HUB, and she also was the Digital Scholarship Lab’s (DSL) first ever intern. At the DSL, Campbell utilized the lab’s resources to research and present “Hidden in Plain Sight,” a multimedia experience and panel presentation on the topic of human trafficking.
“The DSL internship was the biggest blessing because I fell in love with the process of researching and bringing awareness to human trafficking. Professionally, that’s my track now,” Campbell said.
(Photo courtesy of the Michigan State University Libraries)
Now that she has graduated, Campbell is moving to the Middle East for a year for a cultural exchange program.
“After that, I hope to work for an anti-trafficking organization, which is something I had never considered before my internship at the DSL,” she said.
CAL Outstanding Senior
The College of Arts & Letters Outstanding Senior Achievement Award annually recognizes a graduating senior for academic excellence, service and leadership, commitment to personal and professional development, and commitment to cross-cultural sensitivity and diversity.
Campbell has spent a lot of her time at MSU giving back to the community and other students. Her fondest memories of MSU come from her experience leading a worship band for a campus ministry for the past two and a half years.
When I look back at my time in the College of Arts & Letters, I am in awe of the support I received throughout.
“Throughout that experience, I got to see a group of people who would not have naturally associated with each other become like family,” Campbell said. “I’ve learned what it looks like to lead and what it looks like to disappoint. I’ve learned what it looks like to care for people for more than just the skills they bring to the table.”
This experience, her internships, and academic successes earned her the Outstanding Senior Achievement Award, which she received on stage at the College of Arts & Letters commencement ceremony on May 5.
“When I look back at my time in the College of Arts & Letters (CAL), I am in awe of the support I received throughout,” Campbell said. “Receiving the CAL Outstanding Senior Achievement Award feels like a cherry on top of all of this. I am truly honored.”
XA Outstanding Major Award
Every spring, the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures (WRAC) gives the Experience Architecture (XA) Outstanding Major Award to a graduating XA student. This year, Campbell, who says she wound up in XA by chance, was that student.
“When I came to MSU, I had no idea what I wanted to do,” she said. “I knew I liked analytical thinking, but I also had a deep passion for people. In some strange way, XA has allowed me to tell stories and has taught me how to do so with the user, or the protagonist of the story, always at the center of the process.”
Campbell credits the XA program with enhancing her college career in more ways than one, stating that her biggest take-away from the XA program is learning to “approach every problem with empathy and curiosity.”
“Receiving the XA Outstanding Major Award feels surreal. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in my first XA class, learning about the human-centered design process,” Campbell said. “Receiving this award is one of the highest honors I think I could receive from MSU. This program has done so much for me, so to be recognized as an important part of it is truly a privilege.”
