Congratulations to ALL our SSAC Grads!
Art History Grads …
Elizabeth Stewart – MA Art History
Pursuing my MA in Art History and my Graduate Diploma in Curatorial Studies at Carleton offered great academic, professional and personal growth. One highlight of my studies included completing my MRP under the supervision of Dr. Brian Foss, whose endless guidance, feedback and reassurance pushed my research and writing to new heights. I would also like to acknowledge my colleagues and professors for encouraging me to consider my research through different lenses. Finally, completing practicum placements at the National Gallery of Canada enriched my time at Carleton, allowed me to build my skillset as an emerging professional and connected me with long-lasting mentors. As I close my chapter at Carleton, I enter a new role as a Research Consultant for Boston-based company Arxero, which travels the collections of museums and private collectors internationally.
Beth Shepherd – MA Art History
Having two undergrad degrees at Carleton (BSc in Biology (1974) and BA Honours Psychology (2003)), I came back to my alma mater in 2010 to apply for a Master’s in Art History when I wanted to start a new career as an art instructor. I was advised to take a few undergraduate art history courses, which I did from 2010 to 2018, when I finally applied and was accepted into graduate school. Concurrently, I was also taking studio art courses at the Ottawa School of Art, where, while working on an “intervention art” project, I learned about the harms of factory farming. From then on my art practice and my life changed. Besides learning a lot about art history during the last decade at Carleton, I found my professors very accommodating in allowing me to incorporate my ongoing research on intensive animal agriculture, representation of animals in art and more recently ecocriticism into many essays and my Major Research Project (“Mishka Henner’s Feedlots: New Perspectives on the Contemporary Ecocritical Landscape”). Looking back, I have many fond memories of people and my accomplishments—from collaborating on a pop-up exhibition to making my first video! Looking forward, I dare say, we all have had to rethink our next steps graduating during a pandemic. I am currently using my research at Carleton as inspiration for a number of visual art projects. As these are completed, I will publish them on one of my two websites: bethshepherd.ca and artthatmakesadifference.ca.