From first-year student to lifetime scholar

For Lia Richter, learning to love academia was the first step in what she hopes is a lifelong path.

“I love the Binghamton community. I thought the campus felt very easy to navigate, it was close to home and so much more,” she said. “The biggest thing for me, though, was that I was invited into the Source Project, which is the first-year research program for humanities students. And that was so exciting to me because it is something I can only do at Binghamton, and it’s something that will shape my undergraduate career.”

First-year students invited into the Source Project are placed into “streams” where they focus on a specific topic during two four-credit classes upon arriving to campus.

Students engage in research while guided by experienced faculty in their chosen fields, and present their findings at the end of both courses. Richter was part of the disinformation and naiveté stream — which, following the 2020 election and coming out of the COVID-19 lockdown, felt especially timely. Disinformation is about studying false information that’s spread intentionally with the intent of causing harm, she explained.

“So many of my opportunities and desires for my future came because I learned, ‘Oh, I actually like research,’” she said. “I want to study and learn and conduct my own historical thinking. And the Source Project opened a lot of doors for me — from relationships with professors to new research topic and skills. It built a foundation.”

Now a senior double majoring in history and economics, she credits the program as her inspiration to come to Binghamton and all that she has accomplished since. In the Spring 2025 semester, she will take it one step further and TA for students following in her footsteps.

“What the Source Project showed me is that the work we do in history is always going to be so much more complex, nuanced and multifaceted than the one paper we’re writing at that time,” she said. “As I’m in classes, as I’m doing research, I have to keep in mind that this story we’re hearing, this topic or book, is only one element of the picture.”

Originally from upstate New York, Richter had a unique educational upbringing. Attending Emma Willard School, a private girl’s boarding school in Troy, N.Y., she had the opportunity to become the co-editor-in-chief of the school newspaper — preparing her for her future electives while developing a passion for history.

“I had an amazing teacher named Dr. Naeher. He was my freshman year advisor and taught every single one of my history classes,” she said. “He taught me how to think about history as a complex story that we had to untangle and that fascinated me.”

Richter also grew up learning ballet and, with 12 years of experience, she soon stepped into the roles of student teacher and rehearsal assistant. These experiences in education contributed to her desire to one day become a history professor.

Many paths

At Binghamton, Richter has been able to pursue many paths. She was able to attend the London School of Economics for a summer abroad to further her knowledge. She also serves as the managing editor of the student-run newspaper, Pipe Dream, as well as the managing editor of the Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal (BUUJ).

“I thought the BUUJ was a great bridge between my interest in journalism and the actual history academia sphere that I wanted to enter,” Richter said. “Obviously, the BUUJ has papers across all disciplines, but experience in a journal is something I wanted to get involved with.”

Because of her involvement in the history department and with the Source Project, Richter was able to join the Summer Scholars and Artists Program, where she gained archival research experience. There, she continued her Source Project research into eugenics and the 1930s trial of Anne Hewitt, a socialite whose mother had her sterilized without her consent.

Although she appreciates the diversity of her classes, Richter said that faculty are her favorite part of the Binghamton experience, from the networks she built to the personal relationships she has fostered.

“When I’m a history professor or when I’m moving forward in this career, I want to have that same open-door support and willingness to have relationships with students that I had at Binghamton, because it is the only reason I’ve been able to do the things I’m doing,” she added.

As she continues forward, Richter is excitingly applying for the next step in her journey: history PhD programs. She hopes to begin in Fall 2025 in a program focused on modern U.S. history with an emphasis on women and gender.

“I’m interested in the ways in which women have sometimes worked against their own interests, either with discussions of body image or maybe coming of age resources in schools,” she added. “That’s where I see myself, hopefully, going into the future. I love economics and journalism, but I feel like history has always been where I wanted to go.”