This activity seeks to instruct and inform students about feminist standpoint theory and structuration theory through a screening of Hairspray. By analyzing historical events and confronting their own biases, students engage with themes in the film and the real-world events that contribute to those themes. This lesson can ideally be concluded within a single-class setting, although it may be conducted across multiple periods or supplemented with external work. For best results, activities should be completed with a medium to large class size; however, topics covered may be reduced to accommodate smaller groups. Instructors may extend the activity beyond the classroom by providing community-level resources and opportunities for student involvement.

This project seeks to uncover more details about the Observatory’s construction and establish whether it used enslaved people or indentured servants in the construction of the building. Additionally, should our findings prove that such people performed the construction, we want to educate the public regarding their work’s importance and historical significance. To carry out our research, we applied both a virtual and an in-person approach. We utilized the information that was digitally documented by the Library of Congress (LOC) and the National Archives (NARA) to go over various documents relevant to the Observatory’s construction and the current state of slavery at the time. Furthermore, in September of 2024, we traveled to Washington, D.C., to visit and review the records of the Library of Congress (LOC) and National Archives (NARA). In this report, we will discuss our current findings regarding the Observatory’s construction as well as our future steps and plans for continued research.

Welcome to the United States Chancery, located within the World Heritage Site of the Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura , housing the US Mission to Italy. While the historic buildings located within the Chancery complex serve an important role as an embassy for US citizens and an epicenter for diplomatic personnel in Italy, their significance to the cultural heritage and historic character of the city cannot be understated. In the following sections we will discuss the iconic Palazzo Margherita–which serves as the primary Embassy building–both before and after it became a US diplomatic space.