Zooms and Protests: A Summer of Remote Research
About the author: Nicole Pofcher ’22 is an FSI The Europe Center Intern at Carnegie Europe in Brussels, Belgium. She is currently an International Relations major and Sustainability minor at Stanford University.
After anticipating spending the summer in Brussels working face-to-face with scholars in Carnegie Europe’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, I struggled to instead picture the experience from the confines of my childhood bedroom. Yes, I was right to assume that remote research would undoubtedly lack first-hand interaction with European culture. Yet, I was wrong to think that the work I’m doing behind my computer screen this summer wouldn’t connect me more strongly to my own community outside of Chicago or the community at The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
My work at Carnegie Europe has revolved around the book that my supervisor is currently writing about European democracy’s resistance and renewal. During the first week, I focused on gathering information for him on citizen responses in the forms of protests and civil society organizations. One of the main areas that I researched my first week was the European Black Lives Matter protests which were spurred by the anger and frustration over the death of George Floyd and countless others in the United States.
Given the remote, flexible nature of the work due to Covid-19, I don’t have to be behind my computer screen daily like a typical 9–5 job. Instead, I am able to do the research on my own time, while also getting involved with protests and my own personal anti-racist education at home. I helped organize a walk against racism in my hometown that brought thousands of people together, and then later that day read about similar movements in Europe for my supervisor’s book.
During my second week at Carnegie Europe, I was able to listen in on a Global Carnegie call where the president, Bill Burns, gave a strong speech on the role that the organization should play both internally and externally to be anti-racist. Over 180 members of the organization listened to him and then offered ideas based on their personal experiences.
I feel blessed to be part of an organization that considers its social impact and encourages me to do so in my own life at home. I am looking forward to a summer of Zooms, protests, and drawing connections between the two.
