Iris Afantchao is the Blackwell Post-Baccalaureate Fellow for Smith College Special Collections. In this role, she works to co-curate an exhibit using the rich materials from Special Collections. Iris also assists staff members as she learns about the many functions of special collections libraries. This training includes reference services, instruction, collection control, and more.

Prior to their time as a fellow, Iris was a government major and archives concentrator at Smith, graduating in 2020. Outside of the library, Iris enjoys watching movies with her sister, going to concerts, and learning about dialects and accents. After high jumping and playing volleyball at Smith, Iris hopes to pick up a new sport and explore more of western Massachusetts.

Committees

Exhibition Team

Research Interests

Research interests: traditional knowledge, trauma and public memory, oral histories, digital humanities, public outreach in libraries and archives.

Publications

Afantchao, Iris, et al. “Training the Next Generation of Professionals: Robert Frederick Smith Internships” presented at the Association of African American Museums Conference, Jackson, Mississippi, August 2019.

Afantchao, Iris, et al. “Training the Next Generation of Professionals: Profile of an Inclusive Internship Program” presented at the National Council on Public History Conference, virtual, May 2022

Professional Affiliations

Society of American Archivists, Association of African American Museums, We Here