Kaleb Harkins
After reading the autobiography of Ernesto Che Guevara for Dr. Jennifer Summey’s honors reading room, Kaleb Harkins’ class was asked to complete their final project by answering the question “who is Che Guevara?” and connecting this project to their majors. Harkins ’19 will now have his work published in the International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities.
A music education major, Harkins created a project with the use of music by creating a multimedia guided playlist.
“I ended up compiling a playlist that I felt described the different sections of Che’s life while also writing my reasoning for my choices,” said Harkins. “I tried to pick a variety of song styles seeing as how our own lives are a mixture of experiences.”
Summey, honors program director, thought highly of several presentations, but Harkins’ stood out as noteworthy with his knowledge on Guevara’s life and music, drawing in the audience and formatting the information in an interesting and accessible manner.
“He created a presentation that was superior in reflecting his passion, his profession and the course objective,” said Summey.
“Music teachers always try to validate the importance of music in the classroom and connecting music to other subjects is one way to accomplish that,” said Harkins. “I think having an organization seeing the value of music in a publication like this could be a great way of emphasizing music’s place in a student’s education.”
Summey is delighted for Harkins and hopes for more Reinhardt students to “engage in similar forums.”
“Participating in ‘real world’ professional activities, such as publishing, is one of the primary goals of the honors program,” Summey said. “Kaleb’s work went through a double-blind, peer-reviewed selection process from a pool of about 900 institutions.”
Following graduation next May, Harkins hopes to become a choral teacher in Georgia.
