Past Fellows

Jainyn Boyd
Major: International Studies and Spanish
Class: 2027

“During my internship at the Museum of Memory, I contributed to research and preparation for focus groups exploring the experiences of LGBTQ populations in Chile before, during, and after the Pinochet Dictatorship. My work primarily involved conducting historical and archival research, organizing bibliographic materials, analyzing digital oral-history interviews, identifying significant themes and experiences, and developing discussion questions and guides for different generations of LGBTQ participants. I also helped design support materials for guided museum tours that would precede the focus groups. The goal of my work was not only to develop these materials, but also to ensure that they allowed participants to share their stories in a manner that honored and accurately represented their lived experiences. This was another invaluable opportunity to listen to and compare the experiences of Chilean LGBTQ individuals, recognizing both their similarities and differences. As Spanish is not my native language, this task was challenging, but it allowed me to learn about diverse histories, and to become more familiar with Chilean Spanish and its specific manners of expression. 

This internship significantly strengthened my understanding of the societal impacts of Pinochet’s censorship, the Chilean people’s struggle for autonomy, liberty, and freedom, and the challenges faced by LGBTQ individuals during a time when their identities themselves were censored or could be grounds for punishment. I also deepened my understanding of the dictatorship’s lasting impact on the social fabric of modern-day Chile”

Enrieth Martínez Palacios
Major: History and Women’s and Gender Studies
Class: Third year doctoral student

“The internship aimed to revive women and feminist memories at the MMDH through collaborative  efforts with feminist individuals, groups, and organizations. It also intended to strengthen  connections between the museum and various feminist groups across Santiago and other parts of  Chile. The internship was conducted in two phases: initially, performing diagnostic interviews  with stakeholders to identify key issues, opportunities, and challenges in shaping feminist  memories in Chile; and subsequently, creating a pedagogical proposal to activate these memories.  The final outputs included a pedagogical toolbox for working with feminist memories and a  roadmap for two feminist meetings planned for 2026 and 2027. Additionally, I carried out 7  interviews with 11 representatives from different feminist organizations and recorded two oral  histories for the University of Michigan’s Global Feminism Project….

This fellowship helped me forge meaningful connections with professors and professionals in  social sciences, history, memory, and archiving. I especially value relationships with Juan Carlos  Vega and Rodolfo Ibarra, documentation assistants at the museum's Documentation Center  (CEDOC), who generously shared their time. They provided details about the MMDH's collections  and helped me connect with documentation experts at other institutions, like the Villa Grimaldi  Peace Park Corporation—a former clandestine detention center now a memory museum—and the  National Memory Stadium, a memorial for political prisoners during the dictatorship. I also had  the opportunity to meet Professor Hillary Hinner, a feminist historian and part of a new scholarly  wave exploring feminism’s influence on Chile's social changes at the end of the twentieth century.”