Junior Honors Art History student Kate Hodgson recently attended the 6th Annual MWSU – ALbrecht Kemper Museum Undergraduate Art History Symposium where she presented her research paper “A Mirror of Conscience: The Hours of Joanna Castile I”
Author: Kate Hodgson | Major: Art History | Semester: Spring 2022
My name is Kate Hodgson and I am a junior Honors Art History major and anthropology minor. This past April, I traveled to St. Joseph, Missouri to attend the 6th Annual Missouri Western State University and Albrecht-Kemper Museum Undergraduate Art History Symposium where I presented my research paper: “A Mirror of Conscience: The Hours of Joanna Castile I.” My research was a continuation of a final paper I wrote for Dr. Lynn Jacob’s special topics course on medieval manuscripts in Fall 2021. My paper focuses on a late 15th-century book of hours given to Joanna Castile I, Queen of Spain, by her husband, Phillip the Handsome. In my paper, I explore how her private prayer book function as a tool for religious devotion and a guide for social instruction. Using a selection of miniatures, illuminations, and texts within Joanna’s book of hours, the paper demonstrates how the contents of Joanna’s private prayer book reveal the concerns and motivations of the patronage as well as how iconography, style, and text come together to respond directly to Joanna’s devotional needs.
I was one of 11 students chosen to present and was given 20 minutes to share my research, followed by a five-minute Q & A portion. We began our day at 9:00 am with six student lectures encompassing a wide range of topics, such as Byzantine Art, Roman Art, Thai Art, Chinese Art, and Museum Studies. After the first session, we had the opportunity to tour the Albrecht-Kemper Museum and enjoy lunch with my fellow presenters. One of the highlights of my day was getting to meet for the first time (in person) one of my advisors for my honors thesis, Dr. Larisa Grollemond, who was the keynote speaker for the symposium. After lunch, Dr. Grollemond gave a presentation on her upcoming exhibition, The Fantasy of the Middle Ages: Medievalisms and the Museum. After her presentation, the five remaining presenters, including myself, shared their research during the second session and we concluded our day at 5:30 pm.
I am very appreciative of this experience because it allowed me to hear presentations on a wide array of art historical topics, ranging from Medieval to Islamic to Native American art. Participating in the symposium was a fantastic opportunity to present my research in front of art history scholars and students from across the country. I was able to meet and connect with students and art history professors from the University of California, the University of Alabama, the University of Denver, and the University of Washington (among many others). My research was well received by my fellow presenters and the faculty in attendance, and I was asked very insightful, thought-provoking questions about my research. Although intimidating, presenting the research I had worked very hard on for months to a large group of scholars helped me grow as a student and emerging art history scholar, especially as I plan to pursue graduate work in art history. Furthermore, the process of research, writing, and sharing my ideas with the larger art history community was excellent practice for future conferences and symposiums I will attend.