“We are heartbroken by the sudden loss of Danielle Joyner, whose dedication to teaching, learning, and personal connection defined her time at Lawrence,” said President Laurie A. Carter. “An inspiring scholar, teacher, and mentor, Danielle brought deep intellectual curiosity, compassion, and joy into every space she entered. Her passion for art history and her care for students shaped lives far beyond the classroom. She connected with people with a warmth and generosity that made our community stronger. While her time with us was cut tragically short, the mark she made on Lawrence will endure in the minds she challenged, the hearts she touched, and the vibrant spirit of inquiry she embodied.”Ìę

Danielle joined the ÌÇĐÄvlog faculty in 2018 and quickly became a vital member of the campus community, as both a beloved professor and cherished colleague. She delighted in sharing the art, architecture, and culture of the Middle Ages in her classes. Her hands-on approach to teaching helped to vividly bring art history to life for her students.ÌęÌę

Nathan Wall ’25 met Danielle for the first time as a classmate rather than as a professor. She was participating in a colleague’s class and he just assumed she was a guest or non-traditional student. Even so, she made an impression, and when it was time to take a fine arts class to fulfill a graduation requirement, he chose Danielle’s Greek and Roman Art class – despite the 8:30 a.m. start time. It quickly became one of his favorites.Ìę

“Every single day, Danielle was kind, encouraging, thoughtful, and lively,” Nathan said. “She was a good reason to get up and be ready for class. Her positivity could make your day better. She understood that many students in an intro class may not be particularly interested in the material. Instead of taking it personally, she did what she loved because she loved it, and she tried to make the class fun for every student. Danielle could have made ‘Watching Grass Grow’ a fun class.”ÌęÌę

“An incredibly accomplished teacher and scholar, Danielle was a fierce advocate for her students, her colleagues, and everything related to medieval studies,” said Provost Peter Blitstein. “She was very kind and sought out meaningful connections with people all across our campus. Losing Danielle is heartbreaking for our community.”Ìę

Intelligent. Enthusiastic. Collaborative.Ìę

The study of the Middle Ages, by its nature, crosses many different disciplines, ranging from history, art, archaeology, literature, religion, music, biology, anthropology, and more. Danielle frequently partnered with faculty from other departments to co-teach classes that explored the medieval world from diverse points of entry.ÌęÌę

She collaborated with Associate Professor of Music Sara Gross Ceballos and Associate Professor of Spanish Madera Allan on on an interdisciplinary course exploring the intersections of art, music, and literature found in the hundreds of 13th century songs and miniatures that are part of the Cantigas de Santa Maria. That led them to co-teaching a course that featured a trip to Toledo, Spain,Ìęwhere the topics explored in that earlier course came to life with an exploration of the places and cultural dynamics that define that stretch of European history. She described the hands-on approach in a 2022 article for the LU news blog.ÌęÌę

“To get at any aspect of an object made 1,200 years ago, you have to do history, you have to do literature. If it’s a church object, which many of them are, you need to understand the liturgy. I think all of art history is very interdisciplinary, but medievalism especially opens itself up to those different approaches” Danielle said. “Most people don’t go around thinking about the Middle Ages or medieval art or art history. And, so, the interdisciplinary approach I feel gives students ways of finding connections between the long ago and the now, connections that they maybe never would have thought about.”Ìę

A class she co-taught with Martyn Smith, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, examined the differences between the travels and lessons of two famous explorers, Marco Polo, a Venetian traveler of the 13th century, and Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveler of the 14th century.ÌęÌę

“It ranks among my favorite classes ever because we would transfer the reins to lead discussions and students were exposed to discussions between faculty,” he said. “I don’t think there could be a better way of introducing students to the medieval world than a class like that.”ÌęÌę

Danielle had similar collaborations planned in the months ahead. She was scheduled to co-teach a summer immersion course for high school juniors and seniors with Associate Professor of Physics Megan Pickett and Associate Professor of English Celia Barnes, exploring the universe through the lens of cosmology. She also had a Fall Term collaboration planned with Martyn Smith and Massimiliano Veritá, instructor of Arabic, Italian, and Religious Studies, that would take students on an exploration of Dante’s Inferno.

Caring. Generous. Effervescent.Ìę

“We strongly felt that we needed to be evangelists for the old stuff,” Martyn said. “She believed it was important that ancient materials continue to be taught and studied. She was passionate about that.”ÌęÌę

Soon after coming to Lawrence, Danielle formed a group called LASER, an acronym for Long Ago, Still Extremely Relevant, that engaged faculty from numerous disciplines who taught about ‘old stuff.’ÌęÌę

“She felt we should band together and support each other and co-teach in as many ways as we could.” Martyn said. “She will be so greatly missed at ÌÇĐÄvlog, and one reason was the way she could connect with people and bring them together.”ÌęÌęÌę

Danielle was instrumental in creating the Appleton Lyceum, a monthly series of well-attended talks by Lawrence faculty hosted at the Appleton library and aimed at engaging the local community.ÌęÌę

“It was an ongoing project we worked on to get the Humanities living outside of the university, and helping people see that the past is relevant to the present and future,” Martyn said. “This was our vision for it.” He added, “We spoke about the project the week before she left for her spring break trip. She was just energized and full of plans for what came next. She was so enthusiastic about showing and interpreting the medieval world for people. That was her life’s work.”ÌęÌę

Kind. Encouraging. Hopeful.Ìę

Associate Professor of History Brigid Vance also collaborated with Danielle on the Appleton Lyceum project.ÌęÌę

“She was a brilliant community organizer, within the campus community and the broader Appleton/Fox Cities community,” Brigid said. “Danielle held herself to really high standards and did it with such enthusiasm and joyfulness that it was infectious. She was curious and spontaneous and had this brilliant long-term vision for community engagement. Her work was really starting to bear fruit.”ÌęÌę

Brigid admired Danielle’s generous spirit and her whole-hearted way of celebrating the success of others. One example she recalled was when Danielle organized a trumpet fanfare at the monthly faculty meeting for professors who were being tenured.ÌęÌę

“That is something she was so good at – really celebrating people, recognizing their value and letting them know their work was valued. She had an incredible intellect, but she also knew how to have fun.” She added, “Danielle’s life was a place of hope and doing. Some people will self-censure. She really had faith in the process of people doing the work together.”ÌęÌę

Assistant Professor of Ceramics and Expanded Media Meghan C. Sullivan described Danielle as “passionate about the liberal arts, medieval history, and about art history.”ÌęÌę

Danielle’s education reflects her enthusiasm for learning and teaching. She earned a Ph.D. and master’s in History of Art and Architecture from Harvard, and a master’s in Medieval Studies from the University of Toronto, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree. She amassed dozens of research awards and fellowships over the years to further her scholarship and was a frequent presenter at professional conferences. She published numerous articles and essays, and her book, Painting the Hortus Deliciarum: Medieval Women, Wisdom, and Time was published in 2016; she was working on multiple research projects at the time of her death.ÌęÌę

“She was a brilliant and prolific scholar interested in writing on a broad spectrum of topics and mediums across the Middle Ages,” said Elizabeth Carlson, associate professor of Art History. “She was always thinking and planning and we marveled at all of her ideas that came bubbling out of her. She was tender-hearted and brave, willing to fight for her principles. She died doing the things she loved most – she was so happy to introduce students to New York City and the art that she loved so much.”ÌęÌę

Beloved. Cherished. Irreplaceable.Ìę

“Danielle was a great friend and colleague,” Meghan said. “She loved the Lawrence culture of sharing knowledge, co-teaching classes, and making connections across fields. She was enthusiastic about her students and was a respected scholar in her field.” She added, “Danielle was a person who supported and celebrated others unabashedly. Our loss is tremendous.”ÌęÌę

A memorial gathering to bring the campus community together in celebration of Danielle’s life is planned for Saturday, April 25, at 1 p.m., in the Warch Center Somerset Room.

The Lawrence Foundation

As an Appleton native, Anderson had no desire to remain in her hometown when she was searching for colleges. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for one year, but she said her experience made her realize she was a “liberal arts person.”

“Being at a state school, it was too big. I was so lost,” Anderson said. “I applied to transfer to Lawrence because I kind of saw the silver lining. During Orientation Week, I just knew this is the right environment for me. I’m so glad that I transferred because who knows where I would be now.”

While at UW-Madison, Anderson received her first taste of archival work while working at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research. This initial passion made art history a natural choice when deciding what to study at Lawrence.Ìę

ÌęWith the help of mentors like her advisor Elizabeth Carlson, associate professor of art history, and Beth Zinsli, adjunct associate professor of art, Anderson quickly found her footing.Ìę

“I was shocked at how many opportunities I had once I said I wanted to be an art history major,” Anderson said.

Carlson and Zinsli were also indispensable when helping her prepare for her future. Carlson held her students to a very high standard—even editing all of Anderson’s graduate school application essays—but also gave her the freedom to “flop around.”

“You’re always open to criticism. You need to have humility, and you need to understand you’re going to flop sometimes, and that’s okay,” Anderson said. “Elizabeth gave me that freedom; that’s what college is for.”Ìę

Meanwhile, Zinsli taught Anderson about interviewing as a skill. After “bombing” a handful of fellowship interviews following graduation, Anderson quickly learned how to showcase herself and her work.Ìę

The Unexpected Pivot: From PhD Track to Driehaus

Anderson received her Master’s in History of Art and Architecture at the University of Oregon Graduate School. The high standards expected of her by Carlson had more than prepared her for the level of work at the graduate level.Ìę

Her first plan, Anderson said, was to enter a PhD program and teach at a small liberal arts college, becoming “the Elizabeth Carlson of whatever small-town college” she could get into. She relocated to Chicago, living with friends, working for a temp service, and applying for PhD programs.

But it didn’t happen for her.Ìę

At that time, Anderson was also volunteering at The Richard H. Driehaus Museum when a part-time curatorial position opened up. She applied and got the job.Ìę

“I felt like this was the greatest job in the entire world,” Anderson said. “I got to work on really cool exhibitions. My academic interest was in late 19th-century, early 20th-century decorative arts. I wrote my master’s thesis on pianos specific to artists in the late 19th century, so transitioning to a Gilded Age mansion was very natural.”

However, in 2020, Anderson’s journey took another turn when she was laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Ìę

“I thought I was done in the museum industry,” Anderson said.Ìę

Taking Flight: A Career Reset at EAA

Despite another detour, Anderson persisted in searching for a place to land. In 2022, she applied for a role at EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) in Oshkosh, WI. Anderson said it was like a career reset.Ìę

“I was like, okay, you’re going to be working in the aviation publication industry,” Anderson said. “I don’t know anything about airplanes. But what do I have to lose?”

Anderson’s first role at EAA as the Publications Production Coordinator was much more focused on writing, proofreading, and organizing authors and contributors. It wasn’t quite the focus she wanted to continue long term. However, a curator position opened up in 2023.Ìę

At first, her limited but growing knowledge of airplanes kept Anderson from applying, but after helping out with the collection, she decided to make the leap. She applied for the role and was offered the position, becoming the first woman curator of the EAA Aviation Museum.Ìę

“I’m really proud of the work I did there,” Anderson said.Ìę

Investing in Community and Women’s Art

Aviation was not her longtime calling, however. Anderson accepted a role as Curator of Women’s Art at the Muskegon Museum of Art and started in the summer of 2025. Her previous work in public history at the EAA Museum gave her a fresh perspective on her new role within an art museum.Ìę

Anderson was also hired as the director of the Bennett Prize, a program funded by Steve Bennett and Elaine Melotti Schmidt, two art collectors who had a dream to support women figurative realist painters. The program is run through the Muskegon Museum of Art and provides a $50,000 prize to the winner, while all finalists gain exposure as part of a traveling exhibition.Ìę

Anderson now has a direct hand in supporting women painters’ careers.Ìę

“Women are historically underrepresented, and while it’s getting better, it’s also not there yet,” Anderson said. “We all need to lift each other up and really support each other.”Ìę

Anderson’s role curator, she said, isn’t just playing with art or hanging up paintings. It’s also about curating relationships and trust with her community, especially within a small city like Muskegon. She is entrusted with the city’s history and culture.Ìę

She also learned to never judge a book by its cover when it comes to art and art collectors. She recalled a time when she visited a potential donor in a very unassuming suburb of Detroit. However, his collection amazed her.Ìę

“Cultivating those donor relationships and making them feel like their collection is going to be taken care of is also in our skill sets,” Anderson said. “There’s a lot of development skills that go into being a curator.”Ìę

And those skills can also be used close to home. Although the Midwest may not seem like the perfect place to pursue a career in art history or museum studies, Anderson said she intentionally searched for opportunities to support her local communities.Ìę

Making museums and their collections, especially in a local context, drives Anderson in her work. The Muskegon Museum of Art may be unassuming, but they have made their mark by supporting local artists, supporting women artists, and curating a collection beyond anyone’s expectations.Ìę

“I never thought I’d work at a museum that had a (Artemisia) Gentileschi, and I didn’t have to leave the Midwest to do that,” Anderson said. “This is the local community’s collection; it was meant to feed the community.”

Now Anderson is a part of that important work in her community. Sometimes it meant cold emailing potential employers, taking internships, or accepting jobs outside the scope of her work, but every step led her to where she is today.Ìę

“You’re going to detour every now and again, and that’s natural,” Anderson said. “Don’t discount yourself but keep an open mind. Even if you’re in a job you don’t 100% love, have the attitude of ‘this is going to get me where I need to go.’ Every experience is useful, so try to utilize it to the best of your ability.”

Anderson encourages all Lawrence alumni who are women figurative realist painters to apply for The Bennett Prize Cycle 5 by visiting thebennettprize.org. The call for entries will be officially announced in Spring 2026.

The Rising Voices traveling exhibition, which consists of the Bennett Prize Cycle 4 finalists and the solo show of the Bennett Prize Cycle 3 winner, Shiqing Deng, The Cost of Life, are currently on the road. Visit thebennettprize.org for a full schedule.Ìę

Jacobs’ research was funded by the ÌÇĐÄvlog Research Fellows program, which gave her the opportunity to travel to New York and Philadelphia to see other examples of de Forest’s work. Jacobs is interested in how history presents through objects in the Teakwood Room. de Forest was a member of the American Craft Revival movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He designed stencils with motifs he observed in Indian architecture, and craftsmen in Ahmedabad, India, created his stencils and carvings.

“He was part of the movement of artists that was trying to move away from mass production and industrialization, preserving the arts and crafts, but he was still partaking in mass production,” Jacobs said.

As Jacobs works with Lawrence faculty and staff to help to preserve the Teakwood Room, she recognizes that this research interacts with a long history regarding both Lawrence and the former Milwaukee-Downer College.

“People hold this room very near and dear to their hearts,” she said. “They petitioned to have it come to Lawrence because they wanted it to stay so bad. With this research, there’s more incentive for funding to help preserve this room as a historical space.”

Beth Zinsli ’02, assistant professor of art history, curator of the Wriston Art Center Galleries, and director of the Museum Studies Interdisciplinary Area Program, has received two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities for work on the Teakwood Room. The first grant, awarded in 2021, was used to assess the Teakwood Room to determine the best methods of preservation and care. The latest grant will be used to implement those recommendations, including the installation of UV light filters on the windows and secure display equipment.

Jacobs will continue to be involved by creating permanent signage to explain the Teakwood Room’s importance and historical significance, based on her research.

“Emma’s rigorous research on the Teakwood Room reframes it within a global context and confirms that it is truly a university treasure that helps us better understand and share our history,” Zinsli said.

After graduation, Jacobs plans to attend graduate school to pursue a degree in library science with an intent to focus on archives management, using this research to showcase her skills in independent research and spoken presentation.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

That fueled a passion for wanting to study abroad, a key objective when she came to Lawrence.

“I had about 10 different countries I wanted to go visit,” Tevonian said.Ìę

Eventually, Tevonian narrowed down plans for her first trip abroad. She went to India, where she participated in a Buddhist Studies program through Carleton Global Engagement. She lived in a rural pilgrimage town with 25 classmates, studying how art is used in the religious practices of a northern India ethnic group.ÌęÌę

This experience inspired Tevonian to study abroad again, this time in Nepal in a language summer intensive program, studying Tibetan. The trip would contribute to her capstone project, which she is now working to turn into an honors thesis with a slightly different focus.Ìę

“The capstone had more of an art history focus,” she said. “Now I’m focusing in on the religious studies to present before the Honors Committee.”Ìę

While at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Nepal, Tevonian studied at the school founded by Tibetan leader ChökyiÌęNyima Rinpoche. The trip was funded by the Helen Barr Rudin Language grant, the Harrison Award via the , and the Chandler Senior Experience Fund, allowing her to immerse herself in the Tibetan language.ÌęÌę

Her project was focused on the Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, a Buddhist monument. She studied the monument and how people interacted with it, relating to the broader theme of how religious monuments and artwork intertwine in the everyday lives of people.ÌęÌę

Tevonian’s passion for connecting to community is evident at Lawrence through her involvement with numerous clubs and student organizations. She serves as the co-captain of the frisbee team at Lawrence and the vice president of the Recess Club, both student-led organizations. She also is in the LU Rock Climbers Club and the Outdoor Recreation Club and is always finding ways to be outdoors. She appreciates interacting with nature and encouraging others to do so as well.Ìę

After Lawrence, Tevonian will take a gap year and apply to grad school programs for religious studies. She will continue her work and research in Buddhist studies, showing how religion manifests itself in everyday life.ÌęÌę

“I love talking to people and experiencing religion in daily life,” she said.Ìę

For all these positive aspects, however, Matthews said these women’s perspectives are almost impossible to find. There are no known official lists of workers, the project is obscure in scholarship, and scholars who cover it continue neglecting the workers’ perspectives.

“It was pretty common to refer to them in the masses,” Matthews said. “Because of that, there’s this hierarchy that’s been created in the archive right now where the only people who receive credit for the project are usually the director of the program or the head designers.”

Matthews also said while she agrees with other scholars praising the project’s desegregation, there’s no way of knowing how effective it truly was, and if women of color felt accepted and safe at work.

Matthews has been a Wriston Art Galleries intern for a couple of years. This gave her good connections with Beth Zinsli, assistant professor of art history and Wriston Art Galleries curator.

“Sarah’s meticulous research on the Milwaukee Handicraft Project textiles, centered on the women workers who produced them, offers a deeper and more thorough understanding of the WPA’s employment initiatives,” Zinsli said.

Sparking an interest

Matthews’ interest in the project began two summers ago as a Wriston Art Galleries intern. Tasked with creating a mini-exhibition on an item in the gallery’s collection, Matthews was drawn to the obscure textiles.

“The design of these textiles is actually fairly modern, which I think sometimes surprises people,” Matthews said.

Matthews used this topic for her art history capstone paper, but she decided she wanted to know more.

“I came back to this idea for the project but dug a little deeper in terms of, ‘What does the archive look like right now for this project?’ and ‘Why aren’t these women’s perspectives being showcased?’ and ‘Why aren’t these items being displayed more often?’”

Matthews knew she had to do some digging. She consulted Seeley G. Mudd research librarian Antoinette Powell, who helped her search old censuses.

“With Antoinette’s help and assistance, I was able to find 30 potential names of these women, which is a very small number compared to 5,000, but not having any individual identification on these women at the start of this project, that was a big deal for me.”

Matthews admitted she has no way of confirming if these 30 women were workers, but this further emphasizes her point.

“I would like people to know that there’s still very much that remains unknown about this project,” she said. “This serves as an example of how skewed archives can be, and how there are so many hierarchies in archiving.”

Passion on display

“I was a little surprised that I became an art history major
but after taking my first art history class, I was like, ‘This is what I want to do,’” Matthews said.

Matthews said the change from capstone paper to exhibition was all about making it more accessible.

“I didn’t want anyone to get overwhelmed thinking, ‘I don’t know anything about art history, I can’t look at this exhibition,’ because that’s not what an exhibition is for,” Matthews said.

Zinsli recognized Matthews’ interests in curation and hands-on experiences and was able to provide support.

“Her curatorial choices allow visitors to learn about the historical significance of the textiles and delight in the beauty of their patterns and motifs; it is a wonderful visual presentation of her capstone research,” Zinsli said.

Matthews said developing the exhibition was a rigorous process involving research—both old and new—designing the exhibit layout, and creating mattes, labels, and displays.

“I think that transition from writing, researching, and reading about these objects to actually displaying them was super intriguing and powerful for me to go through,” she said.

Matthews believes the most important thing about being a curator is taking care of what matters and diversifying archives and museums.

“A lot of times, fiber arts and textiles aren’t displayed in museums as often as other artworks that are considered ‘fine art,’ like oil paintings or even drawings,” Matthews said. “There is this ‘crafts versus fine art’ debate in the museum world that I’m super interested in.”

Matthews said she hopes to work in the museum field following graduation. She’s also considering a graduate degree in art history or museum studies in the next few years.

“I’m really passionate about art, but I think I’m even more passionate about taking care of art,” Matthews said.

Read more about Lost Identities and Loose Threads and other Wriston exhibitions here.

It was Joyner’s first visit to the medieval congress held in England—a U.S. version, the International Congress on Medieval Studies, happens each year in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She’s been to that one multiple times, and it’s always robust and interesting, but there was something special about experiencing it in England, where you are immersed in the history, she said.

“Europeans do medieval studies differently than Americans do medieval studies because they live in the ongoing presence of monuments and traditions,” Joyner said. “They are surrounded by all this material culture, architectural remains; their libraries are right there at hand. And because it’s so at hand and so familiar, they tend to ask different types of questions.”

Joyner, who holds a Ph.D. in history of art and architecture from Harvard, and master’s degrees in medieval studies from the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto and art and art history at the University of Utah, returned from Leeds ready to share with students her insights and reflections—get your hands on primary sources, if not by traveling then via museums and libraries; history can not only teach us, it can inspire us; and international travel can be transformative.

Not lost in all of that is the interdisciplinary approach that Joyner has been such an advocate for since arriving on the Lawrence faculty in 2018.

“To get at any aspect of an object made 1,200 years ago, you have to do history, you have to do literature,” she said. “If it’s a church object, which many of them are, you need to understand the liturgy. I think all of art history is very interdisciplinary, but medievalism especially opens itself up to those different approaches.

“Most people don’t go around thinking about the Middle Ages or medieval art or art history. And, so, the interdisciplinary approach I feel gives students ways of finding connections between the long ago and the now, connections that they maybe never would have thought about.”

Joyner saw her students’ eyes open wide last academic year when she joined with colleagues Sara Ceballos, an associate professor of music, and Madera Allan, an associate professor of Spanish, to team-teach Cantigas de Santa Maria, a course focused on a 13th century songbook from Spain that blended art, music, and history. The collaboration between musicology in the Conservatory and Spanish and art history in the College of Arts and Sciences was exhilarating, she said.

“The class was so much fun,” Joyner said. “The students liked it, we liked it. We got to the end and thought, we have to do this again.”

They’re planning a follow-up class during December Term (known as D-Term), the two-week optional session between fall and winter terms. Joyner, Ceballos, and Allan will take 10 to 12 students to Spain for two weeks. A foundation is helping to organize experiences in Toledo, Cordoba, and Madrid, Spain, where the group will study the Cantigas songbook while analyzing depictions of relationships among Christians, Muslims, and Jews and visiting surviving medieval architecture.

Meanwhile, in the coming Fall Term, Joyner will join Martyn Smith, associate professor of religious studies, to co-teach a course examining the differences between the travels and lessons of two famous explorers—Marco Polo, a Venetian traveler of the 13th century, and Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveler of the 14th century.

It’s all part of the interdisciplinary approach that brings Joyner so much joy. It’s about lighting a spark, she said, whether it’s an art history major who wants to be a curator or a biology major who has never given the Middle Ages a second thought.

“My favorite thing is learning new stuff,” Joyner said. “And I love it when the window opens and a connection happens, or I can see something pop in other people. I love that. It is a vicarious thrill. So, whether they decide to do this forever, that’s exciting, or whether they never thought about it, but something made them go, ‘Whoa,’ that is equally as exciting. That’s the joy of teaching. It’s pretty thrilling.”

Researching the history behind these artifacts required Han to correspond with institutions as far away as Los Angeles as she tracked down the paper trails.

“We have to do all these communications with someone far away from here, and also, it’s during the pandemic; the communication is very slow. The waiting time was much longer than I thought,” Han said.

Despite the difficulties of research and waiting, Han said she enjoyed the search, and that she and Vance could spend hours looking at a single artifact.

“It’s not about art styles; it’s about the history behind them,” Han said.

Han hopes that by figuring out the complex but fascinating stories behind the artifacts, these objects can take on new meaning to other students as well.

Despite a delay due to paper shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, Han and Vance’s chapter, “The Liberal Arts Collection: East Asian Artifacts at ÌÇĐÄvlog,” is due to be released in the fall of 2022 in an edited volume titled Centring the Periphery: New Perspectives on Collecting East Asia from Brill.

“It was moving to witness Jin’s excitement about the artifacts and to watch as she grew in confidence in research, writing, and collaborating,” Vance said.

Originally from China, Han attended high school in Rochester, New York. When applying to colleges, she preferred smaller, liberal-arts schools, and chose Lawrence for its academic offerings, available scholarships, and surroundings.

As a singer, another draw for Han was the Conservatory of Music.

“I feel like the community is stronger here,” she said.

For other members of the Lawrence community interested in research projects like this, Han said, “They need to be really passionate about these artifacts. Otherwise, you probably won’t be spending such a long time to work with these objects and these tedious documents.”

Han also said that Vance greatly helped make the work less stressful.

“Professor Vance is very welcoming and she’s a warm person; really nice,” Han said. “She didn’t put a lot of pressure on me; she’s like, ‘take as much time as you need’ to do the work well.”

Han is strongly considering continuing down this path as a career; she plans to apply to graduate programs in both clinical psychology and museum studies.

Emma Goodman, a junior pursuing a double major in studio art and art history, first heard about Lawrence through a friend, but was ultimately drawn in due to the supportive interpersonal relationships between students and professors.

Goodman knew that she would be majoring in studio art when she came to Lawrence. She has always been passionate about using art to experiment and express herself and wanted to continue that exploration in college. Then, during her first term at Lawrence, she took Intro to Art History and was immediately hooked.

“I love taking art history classes because they allow me to trace the patterns and changes in a society across time into the present by examining art from different cultures, which also informs the way I think about my own art,” Goodman said.

Goodman is grateful for the academic opportunities that she has experienced so far; for example, working as a head writing tutor and designing a Wriston Art Gallery exhibition.

She is optimistic and excited about her future.

“I don’t have very concrete plans for life after Lawrence, but I think I would enjoy working at an art museum or gallery, always continuing to make my own art,” Goodman said.

Del Toro, an assistant professor of biology since 2016, was awarded a two-year, $199,957 EAGER grant from the National Science Foundation to enhance the research he’s doing on bee conservation. The grant will allow Del Toro to supersize his research, including bringing more students into the process.

Over the past five years, Del Toro has done extensive field work on pollinator habitats, advocating for bee conservation not only on campus but across the Fox Valley. This grant will allow him to take that work into a lab, investigating the varied reasons that bees are good pollinators. He’ll be collaborating with colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, using microtomography (microCT) technology to take a closer look at the inner workings of bees.

“We are taking a look under the hood of a bee,” Del Toro said. “And really taking a peek to see why the internal parts of the bee allow them to be effective pollinators.”

Read more:Ìę

Del Toro will be using the microCT technology at UW. He and his students also will be doing experiments in the lab at Lawrence that relate to climate change.

“We’ll be doing thermal tolerance, figuring out how bees are affected as we increase and decrease temperature,” he said. “We want to see how increases and decreases in temperatures affect bee behavior and bee restoration and try to make predictions of how these populations would be affected in the future.”

Over the two years of the grant, eight Lawrence students will be able to join Del Toro in his research.

“I’m actively recruiting students who have interest in ecology or microscopy or pollinator biology,” he said. “Those are the students I’m looking to take on. We’re going to learn some really cool new things about pollinators, but also how to better protect our pollinators in light of climate change.”

Psychology grant to help build on adolescent rumination research

Hilt, an associate professor of psychology, received a subaward for more than $51,000 throughHarvard University from the National Institutes of Health. She will serve as an expert on adolescent rumination on a five-year clinical trial. It follows a three-year $368,196 grant she received from NIH in 2019 to study adolescent rumination and the development of a mobile app designed as a coping tool for young people.

Adolescent rumination refers to a mindset in which someone can’t get beyond the negative things that are happening around them. Where most kids will process something bad that has happened, react to it and then move on, an adolescent struggling with rumination will dwell on the negative information, stew on it until it consumes them, unable to let go.

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“The new NIH grant is a really nice follow-up to my other NIH grant,” Hilt said. “In our previous grant research, we found that using a brief mindfulness mobile app intervention that we developed — known as the CARE app — reduced rumination and mental health symptoms relative to a mood-monitoring control condition. The new grant will similarly recruit ruminative teens and ask them to use a mindfulness mobile app, this time for one month using the Headspace app vs. a control condition.”

The primary study site is at Harvard’s McLean Hospital. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan will be done before and after the teens use the app.

“This will allow us to see whether a brief mindfulness intervention changes brain network patterns that have been associated with rumination,” Hilt said.

This grant will allow Hilt and other participants to take a personalized medicine approach by examining which teens benefit from mindfulness training.

“This is something that we started looking at in our other grant, and it offers a promising new approach to mental health—being able to know if a particular intervention will work before engaging in it,” Hilt said. Ìę

NEH grant to provide insights into preserving Teakwood Room

Zinsli, assistant professor of art history and curator of the Wriston Art Center Galleries, was awarded a $10,000 Preservation Assistance Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant will provide a professional assessment of the Teakwood Room and its contents so that Lawrence knows best how to steward the room going forward.

Zinsli called the room “a university treasure and a distinctive piece of global material culture” that needs careful attention.

“The recommendations from the assessment reportÌęwill allowÌęLUÌęto steward the room and its objects responsibly and expand access to the space,” she said.

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The Teakwood Room, located in Chapman Hall, was originally built by American artist and architect Lockwood de Forest in Alice Chapman’s Milwaukee home. After Chapman died in 1935, the Teakwood Room was placed in Chapman Library on the Milwaukee-Downer campus and used for receptions, poetry readings, and chamber music. When Lawrence and Downer consolidated in 1964, members of the Downer community asked that the room be preserved. The room was carefully disassembled and stored in a warehouse until 1968, when it was reassembled at Lawrence.

Harris Marks, a junior majoring in history and minoring in art history and ethnic studies, first heard about ÌÇĐÄvlog through reading Colleges that Change Lives, a bookby Loren Pope. He was intrigued enough to schedule a visit.Ìę

What drew Marks in during his visit was seeing the considerable value that Lawrence places on arts and humanities courses, amongst others. He also appreciated how Lawrence took the initiative to help him financially through monies raised in the Be the Light! Campaign.Ìę

“I connected with Lawrence and Appleton in ways that I did not in other places,” Marks said.Ìę

Marks chose to major in history and minor in art history and ethnic studies in part because of his upbringing. He grew up in Washington, D.C., and both his parents worked in theatre. He had access to national museums and was exposed to the arts from an early age. As a result, he developed a love for both art and history.Ìę

History and art history paired with ethnic studies has given Marks the opportunity to learn from different perspectives that have often been left out of mainstream history. That also helps him to empathize with different communities and people, he said.Ìę

“Works of art and craftsmanship provide a different lens to view the past through from regular text records, and are thus an excellent source to study history from,” Marks said.Ìę

Marks plans on entering the museum field, where he aims to help improve community engagement and promote resources available to the public.