Xiao Blog Post 1 – Introduction

Hi everyone!

My name’s Claire Xiao, and I’m a sophomore majoring in statistics and history. I’m from a suburb right outside of Philadelphia, and I have one older brother. I first learned about Digital Durham through Bass Connections. And I was immediately intrigued. Digital Durham is a cross-disciplinary class that combines so many fields–history, visual media studies, education, etc. It seemed like such an applicable class for me to merge my different interests. I also really wanted to learn more about Durham. I’ve lived in Philadelphia for most of my life and don’t know much about Durham or the South. Digital Durham would allow me to interact directly with primary sources and the city.

Last summer, I participated in Story+ and had the chance to visit archives at UNC, NCSU, and (of course) Duke. It was fascinating and thrilling to be touching documents from decades ago. I’m looking forward to interacting with more archival resources this year!

On campus, I am involved with Club Table Tennis, Duke History Union, and The Chronicle. I played table tennis competitively for nine years, and I really enjoy being on a team at Duke since table tennis is primarily an individual sport. I also enjoy hanging out with my friends and reading.

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