Hailey Hart-Thompson
In what would become a pattern for Hailey Hart-Thompson at Boston University, her academic career took an unexpected, and rewarding, turn.
During a nine-hour bus ride in northern Uganda, part of a Study Abroad research trip with a renowned professor, she began questioning aspects of the program and why things were done in a certain way. Instead of pushing back, Prof. Muhammad Zaman challenged Hailey to propose alternatives for consideration.
“My professors really trusted me and said that if I wanted to change something, then I should do it myself. They were so willing to put their faith in me and that made me feel more capable.”
When she got back to the US, with the help of Prof. Zaman and another faculty member at the Kilachand Honors College, where Hailey was a student, she helped “develop a triage system for a local clinic in Uganda that utilized visuals rather than written language, as most of the community was not literate. We worked with master’s students at Makerere University in Kampala to pitch the idea to local NGOs and community stakeholders.”
“The only way I’ve been able to gain the confidence to keep doing what I’m doing and take on more projects is because someone has invested time, mentorship, energy, and funds into me and my ideas.”
In fact, the challenge not only led to new aspects of the Uganda program but to Hailey co-founding the Stateless Collective, a collaborative initiative that prepares Study Abroad students to work in diverse communities. Recently, the collective created a series of antiracism training modules for college students.
“We’ve been partnering with the student government and the Black Student Union, Umoja. We filmed short videos where we brought students in to film a variety of challenges where they would be pushed to examine their privilege and viewpoint. It has grown into a larger student-driven project and was accepted into Innovate@BU’s Summer Accelerator.”
Not surprisingly, Hailey pursued a dual degree. One, an independent major in the College of Arts & Sciences, focused on anthropology, English, and classics, with an anthropology thesis. And the other, a film and television degree in the College of Communication.
“I’m one of those people who likes to be involved with just about everything,” she said. “To be able to literally create my own degree pathway as well as earn multiple degrees in multiple colleges simultaneously, that was really something that captured my eye before I even stepped foot on campus.”
At the center of Hailey’s intellectual curiosity is a passion for storytelling, as evidenced by the marriage of her talents for research, global service, and social justice with filmmaking. While on campus, she produced several documentaries, with subjects ranging from the plight of Syrian and Palestinian refugees to the student experience with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beyond BU, Hailey plans to pursue a PhD, an idea that, again, occurred serendipitously. The summer after her first year, she created a film about ancient Greek classics that focused on happiness. She showed the documentary at the Kilachand Honors College and moderated a panel discussion afterward. “Someone came up to me after the event and asked me what PhD program I was in. I was taken aback. I never thought I could actually pursue a PhD, that someone believed that I’m intellectual and collaborative enough to create something and present solidified ideas. It was a eureka moment, that there was so much more I could pursue moving forward.”
We caught up with Hailey to learn more about her academic path at BU.
Q: How did you envision your academic path when you came to BU?
A: I applied to be a classics major in the College of Arts & Sciences. But then I found out that BU offered an independent major and a dual degree. I’m one of those people who likes to be involved with just about everything. To be able to create my own degree pathway, as well as earn degrees in multiple colleges simultaneously, that was something that really caught my eye. I applied to the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) as a first year to do research in classics. Then I realized I wanted to do something with film, too, so I started the dual degree process.
Q: Was there anything that challenged you academically when you first got to campus?
A: I took a senior-level Latin class as a first year. It was unnerving to be in a class with people who were completing their senior thesis. I didn’t think I could do it. There was one other first-year student in the class so we stuck by each other. But I had one of the most incredible professors. I sat in her office for hours and she said, ‘”You’re going to stay in this class. You’re going to figure it out.” It was the lowest grade I ever received at BU, which was a hard hit in my first year. But I realized how much a professor can really push you to become better and believe in yourself. It showed me that I could succeed in upper-level classes as long as I put in the work.
Q: Were you surprised that as a first-year student you were able to take an upper-level class?
A: Yes. I have been able to take a lot of upper-level courses and sometimes questioned whether I was truly qualified. I’ve really appreciated having professors to help me through even the toughest classes. I’ve been lucky to take a lot of PhD-level anthropology classes.
Q: Can you describe an important faculty relationship?
A: There are two, but they’re interconnected. I was a fellow at the Initiative on Forced Displacement, which was cofounded by Dr. Muhammad Zaman in the College of Engineering and School of Public Health, as well as Dr. Carrie Preston, who is in women’s, gender & sexuality studies and English, and the director of the Kilachand Honors College.
I was lucky enough to go on a trip to Uganda with Dr. Zaman. We had a nine-hour bus ride to the northern part of the country, and I started questioning aspects of the program and why things were done in a certain way. He listened and pushed back on some things and said, “If you want to change things, let’s do it when we get back to the United States.” I took that very seriously. I decided to focus on what I could do instead of just complaining about it. How could I improve the quality of the program?
So back at BU, Dr. Zaman took me under his wing and I worked with him and Dr. Preston. We developed a triage system for a local clinic in Uganda that utilized visuals rather than written language, as most of the community was not literate. We worked with master’s students at Makerere University in Kampala to pitch the idea to local NGOs and community stakeholders.
My two professors really trusted me and said that if I wanted to change something, then I should do it myself. They were willing to put their faith in me and that only made me feel more capable. I could not be more thankful to them.
Q: Can you talk about an academic or research experience where you collaborated with others from different backgrounds?
A: Going into my junior year, I served as the principal investigator of a team of five students. There was a professor and students from the College of Fine Arts and College of Communication, and a psychologist from outside of BU. The mission was to visit a children’s home in northern India to collect data on familial ties, and create an album of their songs to understand how music education helps manage trauma. It was incredible as an anthropologist to collect data, then give it to a music education student who could talk about music and health trauma. At the end of the day, we’d all sit around and debrief. We had five different viewpoints of what happened that day. It was one of the most amazing experiences to spend a month in India with professors and colleagues from completely different backgrounds, but with a very similar goal.
Q: How about a significant non-classroom experience?
A: I’m a cofounder of the Stateless Collective, which focuses on Study Abroad education. We’ve been partnering with the student government and the Black Student Union, Umoja, to create a set of antiracism modules. We filmed short videos where we brought students in to film a variety of challenges and where they would be pushed to examine their privilege and viewpoint. It has grown into a larger student-driven project and was accepted into Innovate@BU’s Summer Accelerator.
Q: Can you describe an “aha” moment where the light bulb went off and you felt changed by a professor, a class, or an intellectual experience?
A: I knew coming in that I probably would pursue a master’s degree, but I had never considered a PhD. I was able to do a research project the summer after my first year where I created a film about how Aristotle’s eudaimonic happiness is seen in the modern day.
The Kilachand Honors College gave me a day to show the film to students, and I pulled together a panel of people to talk about happiness from the classics viewpoint. I had people from Boston Medical Center, along with some film professors. After the panel, someone came up to me and asked me what PhD program I was in. I was so taken aback that someone would ever assume that. I never thought that I could pursue a PhD, that someone actually believed that I’m intellectual and collaborative enough to create something and present solidified ideas. It was a eureka moment that maybe I could earn a PhD. It was really exciting to realize that there was so much more I could pursue moving forward, all thanks to my experiences at BU.
Q: How has BU changed you as a student and as a person?
A: There aren’t a lot of undergraduate institutions that fund non-STEM work. I’ve talked to friends at other institutions where the funding is so scarce for student activities, for student innovation. The only way I’ve been able to gain the confidence to keep doing what I’m doing and take on more projects is because someone invested time, mentorship, energy, and funds into me and my ideas. BU is saying you don’t have to wait to be a graduate student to have your work validated. You can make mistakes, your work might not be perfect or publishable, but we have faith that you’re going to be able to do this. That’s a very powerful thing.
Q: Do you have a favorite study space on campus?
A: I’d say at the BUild Lab. You can reserve office space for free, and three sides of the wall are whiteboards. If you’re a creative, visual person, you can do nearly 360° of writing.
Q: Any tips for students to get the most out of their academic experience?
A: Office hours are the holy grail of learning. If you like a professor’s research, you should read their papers, and have a meeting with them to talk about their work.
