The Anna Julia Cooper Internship is named after the Black classical educator Anna Julia Cooper, who was a former slave. After Emancipation, she went on to earn her bachelors and masters from Oberlin and taught classically in DC public schools. She also trained future educators in the classical tradition. One of her students was Nannie Helen Burroughs who went on to open the Nannie Helen Burroughs school in Washington, DC and in its early years used a classical curriculum. It is our hope that just as Anna Julia Cooper passed the classical tradition on to the next generation, that this internship will raise up a new generation of people who will help to carry on the message that classics and the works of the canon are for everyone.
The internship is for college and graduate students who want to spend time learning about the work of Dr. Anika Prather in bringing the Black Classical Tradition to all people. Interns will support her work during the summer through working in Camp Kush, the Blacks in Classics Museum, hosting seminars and other events. Internships can be 2 weeks or the entire summer June-August. Housing is provided at the center and only 3 interns are chosen per summer. Summer 2022 is our inaugural year for the internship. Below are the interns for summer 2022:
Regent University
With a passion for spiritually mentoring others, it brings me inestimable joy seeing others draw closer to the ONE who loves them most. It is to this end that I hold an Associate of Biblical Studies, a Bachelor of Christian Education, and am currently completing my Master of Practical Theology with a concentration on church and ministry at Regent University with a graduation date of December 17, 2022. Operating in the gift of encouragement, administration, and perception the Lord has fashioned me to passionately and spiritually coach a plethora of others as they walk in their purpose and God-given calling.
Alexandra Zeppeiro is a Howard University sophomore from Greenwich, Connecticut. She is working on her bachelor’s in philosophy and is pursuing a career in the academic field. Currently, she is the Managing Editor of Current Events for the Howard University Journal of Philosophy and serves on the editorial board for Ukweli, the Howard University Undergraduate Research Journal. During her freshman year at Howard University, she received the Carol James Round Hill Association Women in Business Scholarship. Besides working toward her degree, she works on topics in metaphysics, philosophy of race, and the social impacts of current events in regard to race and gender. This summer, she looks forward to being an intern at The Living Water Center, working for the Blacks in Classics Museum.
Biola University
India is a senior at Biola University currently majoring in English Literature and minoring in Social Justice, Human Rights, and Conflict Transformation. She is involved with the LEAD Scholars Program, Student Government Association, and the Department of Student Enrichment and Intercultural Development which all help bolster DEI efforts and advocate for underrepresented communities on campus. She is also a part of the Torrey Honors College, a Great Books program which has fostered her love of literature and classics. She has a passion for seeing more representation in the literary Canon and advocating for minoritized communities in higher education and beyond.
The Living Water Center 