Please share a description of your research.

My essay explores the way women were represented in the art and poetry of the Pre-Raphaelite circle and situates this within the context of contemporary attitudes towards women in mid-19th century England. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood is often celebrated for going against traditional gender roles and depicting strong women that challenge beauty standards. While it is true that the Brotherhood’s art was controversial at the time for being blasphemous and depicting “ugly” women that went against the ideal beauty standards of the time, I argue that the Brotherhood continued to reinforce established ideas about women’s morality and even created a new, different beauty standard for women that romanticized frailty. I contrast the work of the male artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood with the work of Christina Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal, two women who were part of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. These women were models and muses for the Brotherhood, but also artists in their own right, and the way they represented themselves and women in general differed greatly from the way the Brotherhood represented them. The work of Siddal and Rossetti resisted the objectification of the Brotherhood’s art, presenting the true lived reality of women at the time.

Were you always interested in this area of research?

I’ve always loved art and art history, and Pre-Raphaelite art is one of my favourite periods in art history. I was drawn to it at first because of the subject matter of mythology, classical literature, epic poetry—it’s all very grand and romantic. Combined with the rich, earthy colour palettes they so frequently use, the work really appealed to me aesthetically and drew me in, leading me to want to know more about the artists. Pre-Raphaelite art is also strikingly different from what the dominant style of art was in England at the time, particularly in the way they painted women, which is very noticeable because women are the focal point of almost every single painting. When you think of a “Pre-Raphaelite face”, you immediately think of lidded eyes, a long sharp nose, pouty lips, and a strong jaw. One of my research interests is the way the media—from newspapers to television to artwork—both reflects and shapes the world around it. Thus, I wanted to know more about why they chose to depict their subjects in that way, and how the art world reacted. Of course, since women played such an important role in the Pre-Raphaelite circle, I wanted to know more about their experiences and point of view and focus on that.

What prompted you to submit your paper to the competition?

To be honest, I didn’t really expect to win, but I believe in taking every opportunity that’s presented to me. So, when I saw the email advertising the competition, I figured there was no harm in submitting just to see what would come of it. I chose this essay in particular because of the feedback I had received on it from my professor, which was positive but also had good suggestions for how to edit the essay. So having a supportive and helpful professor was also important.

Can you describe how you felt/what you thought when you found out you’d been selected as a winner?

When I opened the email, at first, I was surprised, but as I realized that I had actually been selected as a winner, I felt a huge smile spread across my face. My first thought was that I had to tell my parents, who had always believed in my ability even when I wasn’t sure if I should enter. I couldn’t believe that I had won a global competition with thousands of entrants. I think winning also helped me overcome some of the impostor syndrome I had felt about my work as a student, so that was a nice confidence boost.

What are your plans for the future – do you plan to continue in this field?

Now that I’ve graduated from Western, I’m currently taking a gap year to carefully consider where I want to go in the future. My plan right now is to get a master’s in library science, and go into the GLAM (gallery, library, archive, and museum) sector. My goal is to work in collections and archives in museums or art galleries. I believe that the arts, culture, and heritage are incredibly important, and I would love to contribute to their preservation while helping to promote access to knowledge.

What do you think the benefit of programs like the Global Undergraduate Awards is for students?

I think programs like this are a great way to get your work out into the world. When you’re in a very essay-heavy undergraduate program like history, and you’re writing five or more essays a semester, it can be easy to get so focused on just doing the research, writing the essay, handing it in, getting the grade and then forgetting about it and moving on to the next paper, that you lose sight of why you’re actually writing the essays. Programs like this are a good reminder that undergrad students aren’t just doing school work for a grade, they are part of the larger world of academia and conducting research that may not have even been done before. In the same vein, programs like this are important for connecting students with other students worldwide, so they can learn more about what research others at their level are conducting internationally.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

My advice to any students who are reading this: always take that chance and enter that competition. Take every opportunity that presents itself to you, because you never know what could come out of it. University presents students with so many more opportunities outside of the classroom, so make the most of it!