INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION

making. I gained experience in working remotely with a team, in giving and brainstorming

my own creative ideas, and in terms of producing, harmonising and promoting a company’s

brand.

I greatly enjoyed working with my fellow intern from Oxford, we have been able to learn

together and potentially continue the internship in person next summer. It has shown me

the more practical side of the film industry that I am interested in pursuing, demonstrating

the need for marketing, advertising and promotion for any company, no matter if it is a

creative business. I would be interested in working closer with the inspirational women

from low income countries who are the focus of the documentaries, having the opportunity

to use film to promote their own stories and achievements is definitely something that I’d

be happy to follow.

NETHERLANDS

INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION

Madeline Routon, Christ Church, MPhil in Nature, Society, and Environmental Governance, Remote working

Work Projects

I largely assisted with the development of an

interactive map of all of the case studies the

IHJR has worked across. This entailed lots of

data cleaning - in other words, reading over

300 case studies, in various states of

completion, and pulling the core information

out and organising it into a spreadsheet that will be legible to GIS software. This map will

likely launch in 2022 and eventually be integrated across the Contested Histories website. I

also contributed original research in the form of a case study on Bde Maka Ska (formerly

known as Lake Calhoun) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was well-supported on both tasks by

two separate research associates, and had regular check-ins with the director of the

organisation herself.

Daily Life

I usually started around 9am, reading case studies as I took my coffee and ate breakfast. On

the days when we had team calls in the morning, I started a bit earlier. One of the

advantages of remote working is being able to set your own schedule, so I would usually

work straight through lunch and head out for some outdoor exercise around 4pm. If I still

had more to finish up when I got back, I would work until dinner time. It was nice to be in

Oxford during this period as many of my friends were setting off for their new jobs or PhD

programs, so weekends and evenings were spent catching up with them before they leave

town.

Lasting Impressions

It was a fantastic experience, and I plan to continue working with the team in an informal

capacity after the internship wraps up. I really valued the opportunity to work on the

Contested Histories project, and believe that the map and case studies will continue to serve

as a great tool for educators and policy-makers.

It was a privilege to contribute to it, and a great pleasure to learn from all of the case studies

they have compiled. It's a mission I truly believe in and I am excited to continue to research

for the organisation. I enjoyed the experience greatly and loved working with everyone

involved, as they all made me feel very welcome.

It affirmed my career interests, and even broadened them slightly to focus more on

historical memory. I also can't walk by a statue now without reading the placard and

wondering who built it, why, and whether its legacy is or may one day become contested.