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For archives, museums and other historical institutions, digitization is basically a must in this day in age. And one recent Emmanuel graduate is aligning her career aspirations with that next phase of the archival world.
History major Emilly Rezende ’26 became one of Emmanuel’s first to graduate with the digital history concentration, and she has been putting her course knowledge to the test at the country’s oldest – and one of its most prestigious – archives, the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS).
Rezende spent both semesters of her senior year as an intern with the MHS, and is continuing as a part-time employee this summer while she takes a gap year and then plans to pursue a museum studies program in graduate school. Her real-world application of the digital history concentration is exactly what faculty had hoped for graduates – and in Rezende’s mind, it’s what helped her land the internship in the first place.
“I think this concentration is what got me into the MHS. When I applied for the internship, I wasn’t even sure if I had the experience for it!” Rezende said.
As someone who’s always been captivated by history, art and visiting museums, she quickly felt at home at the MHS, where she aids the research librarians, handles archival materials, and completes special projects. Seeing it firsthand made her realize even more how vital digital literacy is and will continue to be for in her field. “It’s about accessibility – archives basically have to be digital now! This is the future of the career path,” Rezende said.
Interdisciplinary at its core, the digital history concentration was created to prepare students for that reality, said Associate Professor of History, Dr. Jeffrey Fortin, who developed the program. Folding in art and computer science courses like graphic design and introductory programming, the coursework helps students develop variable, practical digital media skills that can be applied to historical research, analysis, and academic scholarship.
“I think in our new era of AI, the concentration challenges students to think about the nature of the digital world in terms of producing and sharing knowledge. Digital history fulfills Emmanuel’s mission of producing intellectually curious majors who have strong research, communication and analytical skills,” Dr. Fortin said.
From her studies, Rezende developed a foundational understanding that she was able to put into practice at MHS, like encoding – digital structuring of archival records – and graphic design, which she uses to craft simple and appealing print outs. Nowadays, she said, college graduates have to be a jack of all trades, and the digital history courses help shape you into a well-rounded student who graduates prepared to wear multiple hats in a new job.
“Associate Professor of History, Dr. Jeffrey Fortin"This is what we envisioned...but Emilly kind of showed us how it would work – she put it into practice and did it.”
Finding her path at Emmanuel
Rezende’s decision to pursue museum and archival work all links back to her Emmanuel experience – and getting the most out of highly supportive and accessible faculty mentors.
In one of her earliest courses, Professor of Art Dr. Cynthia Fowler helped Rezende visualize a much broader range of career opportunities that aligned with her interest in history.
“She basically unlocked a whole different world for me,” Rezende said. From there, she put the work in to get the best out of such a rare opportunity to work at MHS. From her day-to-day presence in the archive, Rezende met so many people that shared their own experiences and gave advice – which “changed the game,” for her career planning.
“I realized that this is the world I want to go into,” she said.
Having graduated just a month ago, Rezende looks back on her choice to attend Emmanuel as “the best decision she could make.” The College was her top choice, because she knew she would be able to succeed by making genuine connections with her professors – and in her case, she felt blessed to have such great support and mentorship.
Her faculty advisor, Associate Professor of History Dr. Violetta Ravagnoli, said Rezende’s progression is “awesome evidence” of the program’s effectiveness. Between what she gained from her undergraduate studies and from the work at MHS, she’s built the knowledge base she needs to succeed in the field, Dr. Ravagnoli added.
This goes for Emmanuel’s approach across departments – from faculty knowing a student’s talents, affinities and ambitions – and helping students progress every day.
“Every student is catered to based on their own talents,” Dr. Ravagnoli said. “We nurture them so they can reach their full potential.”
Along with Dr. Ravagnoli’s constant support, Rezende said she was constantly being pushed to strive for high quality work, which helped her get the most out of her academic experience.
From the moment she arrived and got immersed within the history department, Rezende felt it: the way she was encouraged to pursue her interests, how she was reminded of all the different pathways she could take for her career, and how faculty were always there to help her along the way.
“Emilly Rezende '26It’s about understanding that they want to get to know you, and their doors were always open. All you have to do is advocate for yourself and ask for help. I had this motto, closed mouths don’t get fed."
