The Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellowship aims to reduce over time the serious under-representation on the faculties of individuals from certain minority groups, as well as to address the attendant educational consequences of these disparities.
I, Savannah L. Steele, am a Mellon-Mays Fellow. This is my second, and ultimate, summer of research under the guidance of William North and Linda Rossi at Carleton College in Northfield, MN. A silent, odorless, tasteless world–I seek to understand the dynamics of power within visual and material culture. How do images and objects set the parameters of our thoughts and interactions? Primarily, my research concerns representations of gendered figures within painting and sculpture. I am fascinated by portraiture (mugshots, obituaries, facebook, Kahlo, Spero, Bourgeois, Rembrandt, Wright) spaces used and adapted by humans, surrealism (used here as a case study on the figure), religion, race, class, and ethnicity.
Apart from chronicling my progress and research notes, this blog flaunts my contemplation of the research process and my commentary on academia as a career.
My initial summer’s research was conducted under Jerome Levi on the topic of the Woman’s Role within Jamaican Folk Religions. It was utterly complex and fulfulling, both intellectually and personally. My thanks to the National Library of Jamaica, University of the West Indies, Mona, the Most Hon. E. Seaga, L. Miller and the Steele Family.
My goals as a Mellon Fellow are to become acquainted with the process of self-guided inquiry, gain knowledge and to enjoy the ride… that is to say, I’m getting paid to read, think and write.
Welcome.
