Our GUA 2014 Global Winner for Media and the Arts, Claire Dillon, shares her thoughts and a little about her journey as she is recognised again. This time for the 2024/5 Rome Prize Fellowship, a prestigious award offered by the American Academy in Rome. It provides artists and scholars with the opportunity to pursue advanced research and creative work in Rome, Italy.

Awarded annually, the fellowship is open to a range of disciplines including literature, visual arts, architecture, music, design, and historical studies and recognising individuals who have demonstrated exceptional talent, innovation, and commitment to their field.

Can you share a bit about your academic journey to this point and how it felt to be recognized as a Global Undergraduate Award winner?

I am currently completing my PhD in Art History at Columbia University, and my research broadly investigates intersections of visual cultures, identities, and faiths in the medieval Mediterranean with a focus on textile production. Between my undergraduate and doctoral studies, I was the Director of Education and Outreach for the nonprofit ART WORKS Projects, worked as an intern on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) with Terevaka Archaeological Outreach, and received a Mitchell Scholarship to earn my MPhil in medieval studies at Trinity College Dublin.

While studying for my BA in Art History and Italian at Northwestern University, I was fortunate to attend multiple GUA summits as a Highly Commended Winner in 2013, Campus Ambassador, and Global Winner in 2014. GUA is a special organisation because it provides the rare opportunity for students to meet an interdisciplinary group of peers from around the world and to have their research acknowledged so early in their careers. I am still in touch with some of these students, from London to Singapore, who are now becoming professors: joining this wider network of emerging academics was a valuable outcome of the summits.

Can you share the role mentors or advisors played in your academic journey? Any specific advice that profoundly influenced you?

The generosity of my mentors has been essential, and I encourage students to make connections with their professors, teaching assistants, supervisors, and administrators to learn from their paths in academia. It is also important to meet with professionals outside of universities: in fact, an architect gave me a piece of advice that I still turn to today. He advised me to pursue my different interests, even when they did not seem to fit into a coherent academic identity, and that eventually everything would coalesce—that rings true as I pursue different areas of research.

Claire collecting her Global Undergraduate Award back in 2014

Many students have diverse interests. How have you managed to integrate your academic pursuits with your other passions or interests?

It is important to create your own opportunities when none exist. As an undergraduate, I strove to balance the breadth and depth of my various interests, which required some creativity. For example, I was the only Art History student with an executive position in the Northwestern University Community for Human Rights (NUCHR), and I knew of few, if any, extant bridges between those interests at the time. To make those connections myself, I developed new activities, such as a tour of the ART WORKS Projects exhibition “BLOOD/STONES,” where students had the opportunity to meet with photographer Christian Holst and discuss his work about the exploitation of labour and resources in the trade of Burmese rubies.

Beyond your individual success, how do you envision your academic achievements contributing to your community or the broader world?

My research is always informed by my commitment to community, no matter how esoteric a project might seem at first. As a graduate student, I have tried to maintain some form of connection to my past work with nonprofits by lending my writing skills to a number of organizations, including Amnesty International, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the United Nations, and UNESCO. These were important opportunities to give back to communities and to stay informed of their concerns and priorities.

More recently, I received the opportunity to directly combine my work on the medieval Mediterranean with community engagement by becoming the inaugural fellow of the International Interfaith Research Lab at Teachers College. This fellowship was the product of years of research into the ways in which the historiography of the Middle Ages has been manipulated to serve extremist ideologies. The Lab and I are developing methods to support educators in combatting this phenomenon and other aspects of radicalization that affect learning environments. Their support demonstrates that research from any and every discipline is connected to contemporary concerns, and I am grateful for this chance to communicate the relevance of medieval studies to their large and diverse network of faith leaders, educators, and students.

For students aspiring to achieve academic excellence, what advice do you have based on your own experiences?

Say “yes” to as many opportunities as you can! It is always valuable to study another language, attend lectures within and outside of your field, participate in conferences and present your work, and ask your professors and graduate students about their experiences in academia—there is much to learn from informational interviews.

The Global Undergraduate Award, how did this achievement influence your perspective on your education and future aspirations?

I received the award a long time ago, and still reflect upon it as an important catalyst along my path to graduate school. In addition to meeting such a diverse and inspiring group of peers and speakers, the summits exposed me to Ireland’s commitment to building global academic communities. Inspired by that introduction to Irish higher education, I was lucky to return with a Mitchell Scholarship.

I maintained my connection to GUA during my time at TCD: a fellow alum invited me to speak at a public panel during an arts festival at Smithfield Square, and I also attended some of the GUA board meetings as an Alumni Representative, which taught me that there are many ways to support research and education—there is just as much work to be done outside of universities as there is within them. The recognition that I received was a meaningful source of inspiration early in my career, and the mission of GUA continues to remind me of the importance of cultivating and sustaining undergraduate research throughout my time in academia.