Sevilla Kent '25 Expands on Semester Abroad with Research Internship in Denmark
Name: Sevilla Kent
Class Year: 2025
Major: Independent Major in Health Studies
Hometown: Cold Spring, N.Y.
Internship Organization: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Internship Title: Intern
Location of Internship: Copenhagen, Denmark
What's happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
At DIIS, I am assisting with two different research projects. The first is “Wars, Pandemics, and the Human Mind,” which examines the mental health crisis that emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and how frontline healthcare workers changed the narrative around mental health and psychiatric care. For this project, I am helping write a chapter on the BBC series “This is Going to Hurt,” as it touches on experiences of trauma, moral injury, and burnout.
The second project is fairly new and builds on a recently completed work, “Bodies of Data. The Power of Female Technology in Sexual and Reproductive Health in Kenya’s ‘Silicon Savannah,’" which looked at the emergence of female technology for sexual and reproductive health in Kenya. Currently, I am writing a literature review for this project as well as an opinion piece which will aid in situating the fieldwork data collected later on within broader anthropological contexts.
Why did you apply for this internship?
I sought out work at DIIS because I wanted to contribute to meaningful research and experience what is involved in research production. This will inform my interest in pursuing a Ph.D. post-Bryn Mawr. Additionally, I was attracted to DIIS’s emphasis on accessible research, as they work to inform the public, politicians, and other important social figures.
Was there anything special about how you found this internship?
Yes, there was! I was abroad in Copenhagen fall semester of 2023. During my semester, I took a class with Vibeke Schou Tjalve, who had just left DIIS after her accomplished career there as a senior researcher. I volunteered to be Vibeke’s student representative for her class, and we had coffee after class one day to chat about the position. What was supposed to be a 20-minute convo lasted an hour and a half. I asked her if DIIS had any opportunities for students and she immediately put me in contact with a higher-up at the institute. I went in later that week for a meeting, and that was it! They hired me on the spot. Certainly pretty unconventional, but I enjoyed how naturally this opportunity formed.
What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn't expect?
I didn’t expect this internship to provide me with so many independent projects, which I really value. In return, I also feel valued as an employee. This internship has also taught me important skills such as time management and immensely improved my writing. An important and certainly unexpected experience has been navigating immigration services and learning how to self-create internship opportunities. It has made me critically reflect on what skills I want to achieve after this internship is completed and why.
Working remotely for the first time? What has that experience been like for you?
I have been working remotely for this position, and while the beginning was certainly a learning curve, I have grown to value it. It has helped me become more intrinsically motivated and structure my time in a way that most benefits my work and me. For a portion of the internship, I also needed to work against a time difference which required lots of flexibility.
Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?
Being a research assistant requires much growth, let alone one with international institutions. I have learned how to communicate with those from different cultural backgrounds and how to learn different international standards of writing and what is the most valued. As someone who wants to work internationally or live abroad in the future, this has been a critical skill for my professional development. My internship has also helped me develop my skills in digital literacy and online research which will certainly help me in the semester to come.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced at your internship?
The biggest challenge has been not becoming too overwhelmed by research, as it never feels complete since you always feel there is more you could possibly do. So far, learning when to stop and move on to the next topic has been difficult but is something that I am improving on as I go.
What is most rewarding about your internship?
It is incredibly rewarding to contribute to research that will impact sociopolitical and health discourse and, hopefully, people’s lives. It has been a fantastic opportunity to use the skills I have developed at Bryn Mawr to make an impact on the academic landscapes I am most passionate about.
Through the Career and Civic Engagement Center Beyond Bryn Mawr Summer Internship Program, Bryn Mawr students pursue opportunities in fields such as nonprofits, government and law, health care, research, sciences, business, and the arts. Thanks to the generosity of our alumnae/i and donors, over 150 students across all academic departments are funded to pursue unpaid internships or research experiences in the U.S. and abroad each year.