19th Annual Art History Symposium Student Research Paper Prize and Research Presentation
We ended the academic year on a high note, showcasing some of our students’ ongoing art historical work through our annual prize competition for best research paper and best research presentation. Our students submitted entries that drew from their work in various art history courses, with fascinating subjects ranging from the influence of classical art on Ghirlandaio, to a study of ecofeminism in contemporary Kenyan art. A highlight of the program was the presentation of original research on a sixteenth-century painting, Tax Collectors, graciously loaned to the de Saisset Museum by a Silicon Valley collector. The painting was the focus of the research projects conducted by art history majors in their capstone seminar and the resulting exhibition catalogue is available.
We thank and congratulate all our undergraduate scholars who shared their hard work and contributed to this event. The faculty committee that reviewed submissions looks forward to seeing more of their efforts next year, alongside new participants and contributors, in this ongoing end-of-year competition.
An additional warm (virtual) applause for the prize winners noted below.
Best Art History C&I Paper Prize: Grace Fujii ’28 (Engineering major) - Where Are You Really From: Understanding Where Chinese~American Adoptees Are Really Coming From
Best Art History Research Paper Prize: Abigail Rappin ’26 (Communication major & Graphic Design Minor) - Ecofeminism and Kenyan Art
Best Art History Symposium C&I: Lillian Shapona ’28 (English major & Environmental Studies major) - The Sacred Roots of Silk: the Mulberry Tree in Chinese and Italian Art
Best Art History Symposium Presentation: Calyn Gem Ellacer ’25 (Studio Art major & Art History minor) - To Hold Antiquity: On Domenico Ghirlandaio's Creation of a Classically Influenced Modern Style
Recognition for presenting at the Annual Art History Symposium at SCU: Andrea Hu ’25 (Art History major, French & Francophone Studies major & Graphic Design minor) - Space and Memory: The Gendered Remembrance of Funerary Art in Early Renaissance of Florence
