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Resume

CECILIA WARD

cward25@gmu.edu

EDUCATION

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
M.A. History | May 2024

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
Certificate in Digital Public Humanities | Mar. 2024

VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
B.A. History and Classical Studies | Dec. 2021

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Librarian | Catholic High School, Aug. 2024 – Present

  • Operates a high school library for a student body of 500+ students.
  • Assists teachers and administrative staff with planning and running lessons, activities, and events.
  • Supervises classes of approximately thirty students.
  • Assists students with research and study problems, questions, and processes.

Study Session Administrator | Accepted Consulting LLC, Aug. 2023 – Present

  • Leads and supervises synchronous group study sessions of 10–25 members through Zoom, cultivating and engaging a welcoming community for members through our events and forum.
  • Coordinates and collaborates to program recreational events for our community, promotes member attendance and engagement, and contributes to social media outreach and marketing.
  • Monitors virtual chat windows and forum for inappropriate content, following company policy and procedure.

Graduate Research Assistant | George Mason University, Sept. 2022 – Aug. 2024

  • Wrote and published approximately one blog post per semester, including information about transcription processes, original research, and a tutorial on technology we use.
  • Created data visualizations using Excel, Google Sheets, Flourish, QGIS, and other technologies.
  • I created original research accepted at the American Historical Association, one of the most prestigious history conferences in the country, where I attended and professionally represented our team.

Education Intern | Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, May 2023 – March 2024

  • Supported “Traveling Trunks” (tactile in-person educational programs) research, development, copy, curriculum creation, and digital tool implementation.
  • Created and planned digital learning library programs for students in 5-12th grade on Information Literacy, Women’s History, Art History, and Latin American Culture.
  • Evaluated and reviewed field trip programming for improvements, implementation of new technologies, and strategizing possible digital program variants.

History Tutor | George Mason University, Sept. 2022 – May 2023

  • Mentored and advised students on fundamental college skills, including university library services and research skills.
  • A student excelled under my tutoring to the extent that he was granted early authorization to discontinue my services one month before the semester ended.
  • Tutored students one-on-one in college history courses, personalized pedagogical approaches based on student needs and learning styles, and taught reading and writing techniques.

Contractor | National Trust for Historic Preservation, June 2022 – Aug. 2022

  • Analyzed Virginia’s Department of Education Standards of Learning and identified overlap with historical sites to create recommendations on civics education and information literacy.
  • Recommended content, methods, and events for in-person and virtual educational programming aimed at both K-12 and adult audiences.
  • Suggested corporate and philanthropic partnerships for site collaborations and identified community growth opportunities.

Historical Interpreter | Preservation Virginia, June 2021 – July 2022

  • Researched and developed two sample educational programs (Site History and Lighthouse Technology; Historical Thinking Skills) with accompanying teaching materials for students in 4th-8th grade.
  • Conducted local and nautical history walking tours, educating, and interpreting the site for guests of all ages and backgrounds.
  • Assisted in the training of incoming historical interpreters through mentorship and shadowing.
  • Operated museum gift shop, including point-of-sale, answering inquiries, giving safety demonstrations, tour reservations, and shop tasks such as inventory, restocking, and cleaning.Intern | Norfolk Tour Company, May 2021 – Aug. 2021
    • Conducted original local history research leading to a lecture-style presentation on niche Norfolk history, and brainstormed appropriate social media outreach to accompany the lecture.

Student Center Receptionist, Shuttle Driver, and Ambassador | Virginia Wesleyan University, May 2019 – Aug. 2020

  • Answered information desk and campus switch-board inquiries incorporating best practices in customer service, transferring sensitive calls and concerns with discretion.
  • Operated ten-passenger shuttle van for campus transportation.
  • Served as Orientation Ambassador, redirecting crowds and answering questions about the university.

DIGITAL PROJECTS

  • Feb 2024: Reading the Canvas: American Art on the Margins- Created a Smithsonian Learning Lab for Middle School students, teaching about portraits of Marginalized Americans in Art History.
  • Jan 2024: Extra and Ordinary: Overlooked Stories of Extraordinary Women- Created an ArcGIS Storymap presentation teaching the history of twenty influential women from American History.
  • Jan 2024: Nice Tú Meet You – Created an ArcGIS Storymap presentation teaching about aspects of Latin American culture through the lens of four fictional teenagers’ identities.
  • Nov 2023: Flights of Friction: Facts and Fiction- Created a Smithsonian Learning Lab for High School Students, teaching informational literacy by examining whether or not AI can write a history essay.
  • July 2023: Wives of Agency Videogame Prototype- Created a visual-novel video game where the player plays Catherine of Aragon to learn Tudor History as well as transferrable historical thinking skills.
  • May 2023: Wives of Agency Interactive Timeline – Researched and created an interactive timeline about the lives and accomplishments of the wives of Henry VIII, told from a feminist perspective that humanizes the subjects.

Dec. 2022: Magic: The Gathering and Museums – Presented a small hand-digitized collection of Magic: The Gathering cards in Omeka Classic with research about the overlapping concepts between private collections and museums.

PRESENTATIONS

  • Jan 2024, American Historical Association Annual Conference: “Geographical Patterns of Death in the Early Modern London Bills of Mortality” Poster.
  • Mar. 2023, UMD’s HGSA (History Graduate Student Association) Conference: “Do Gods Mourn Their Followers?: Deities Performing Funerary Rituals in Classical Attic White Ground Lekythoi”
  • Mar. 2022, Phi Alpha Theta Research Conference, Chowan University: “The Fluidity of Orthodoxy and Heresy in the Early Christian Church”
  • Dec. 2020, VWU’s Undergraduate Research Symposium: “LeBaron Women: Memoirs of Polygamy and Violence”

Publications

  • Ward, Cecilia. “How Can You Map with Bills of Mortality Data?” Death by Numbers: The London Bills of Mortality. Death by Numbers (blog), March 13, 2024. https://deathbynumbers.org/2024/03/13/how-can-you-map-with-bills-of-mortality-data/.
  • Ward, Cecilia. “London, 1665: Living in a Deathtrap.” Death by Numbers: The London Bills of Mortality. Death by Numbers (blog), August 24, 2023. https://deathbynumbers.org/2023/08/24/london-1665-living-in-a-deathtrap/.
  • Meyers, Emily, and Cecilia Ward. “What Happens When ‘Is Missing’ Becomes More Literal?” Death by Numbers: The London Bills of Mortality. Death by Numbers (blog), April 10, 2023. https://deathbynumbers.org/2023/04/10/what-happens-when-is-missing-becomes-more-literal/.

HONORS & AWARDS

2023 Kurt Andrew Dodd Endowed Scholarship in History
2022 VWU History Department Distinguished Student Award
2020 VWU Lighthouse Undergraduate Research Essay Grant
2020 Classical Association of the Middle West and South Outstanding Student Award
2019 VWU Classical Studies Award of Excellence

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

American Historical Association (2023-2024)
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media Graduate Affiliate
Virginia Association of Museums
Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society (Alpha Pi Chapter President 2021)
Alpha Psi Omega Theater Honor Society
National Society for Leadership and Success
Eta Sigma Phi Greek and Latin Honor Society
International Thespian Society

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Aug. 2024: Accepted Society Research Symposium (Coordinating Assistant for Research Presentations)
Aug. 2023: Accepted Society Research Symposium
Jul. 2023: Smithsonian National Education Summit
Jun. 2023: Digital Humanities Summer Institute Online

CAPABILITIES

Communication & Language Skills: Public speaking, Historical Interpretation, Tour Leading Research & Writing: Chicago Manual Style, Historical Research, Academic Writing, Exhibit Label Writing, Educational Program and Material Creation, Grant Writing, Copy-Editing, Computational Analysis, Historical Mapping, Technology: Windows, Google Drive Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, WordPress, Omeka S and Classic, Digital Archive Creation, Tropy, ArcGIS Story Maps, TikiToki Timelines, iFVN videogame engine, Voyant Tools, Keplar.gl, GIMP Image Editing, QGIS Mapping, Flourish, Wondershare Filmora X video editing, Lightworks Video Editing, Canva Graphic Creation

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