Madelyn Stone
“I discovered my passion for history while on deadline. I contributed weekly stories to The Huntington News, became an editor in my second semester and decided to double-major in history, expecting this would enrich my reporting. Instead, my history classes captivated me in their own right.” – Madelyn Stone
Double major in history and journalism Madelyn Stone continues to add to her list of academic accolades, which now includes the Compass Award and Dr. Ruth E. Sullivan Memorial Award. The prestigious Compass Award recognizes exemplary students from the senior class who during their time on campus have demonstrated a true commitment to a core set of values: leadership, volunteerism, academic integrity, and commitment to Northeastern. The Dr. Ruth E. Sullivan Memorial Award honors a senior who has demonstrated excellence in interdisciplinary research.
Approaching the end of her four-year tenure, Madelyn Stone has already made an indelible mark as an undergraduate at Northeastern. A National Merit Finalist, Madelyn attended Northeastern University on a full scholarship. She initially enrolled as a Journalism major with a minor in History. However, her experience during a Dialogue of Civilizations in Berlin studying the city’s history and culture in summer 2012 cemented her decision to double major in history.
Madelyn represents the best of the experiential liberal arts. For instance, her co-op at the Cape Argus newspaper in Cape Town, South Africa complemented and extended her course-based research and presentations on apartheid resistance art. Madelyn returned to Cape Town in January 2015 to research the relationship between visual art and resistance during apartheid, mining archival sources from the National Gallery and Johannesburg Art Gallery to sketch the narratives of artists and their work.
Madelyn has also been honored with the Gideon Klein Award. This annual award from the Northeastern’s Jewish Studies Program is given to a student to create original work, prepare a performance, or do research related to a musician or artist persecuted by the Nazis. Madelyn received this recognition for her project on Jura Soyfer, a Viennese journalist, satirist and playwright, who was imprisoned in Dachau and perished in Buchenwald. Madelyn integrated deep analysis of Soyfer’s role as an artist with engaging storytelling at the university-wide Holocaust commemoration.
While maintaining her academic success, Madelyn managed to work as a Resident Assistant and to volunteer with The Food Project, Head Start, and the Boston Vegetarian Society. She also has been involved with the Civic Engagement Program. Furthermore, Madelyn has written for The Huntington News, working as editor of the paper’s Art & Culture section and eventually as the newspaper’s news editor.
In August, Madelyn will pursue her Doctor of Philosophy in History at Emory University in Atlanta, where she will study African history with a focus on South African cultural and political history. She hopes to pursue a career as an educator and public intellectual.
