Graduate Students

Sophia graduated magna cum laude from Boston College, majoring in Art History. During her time there, she wrote a thesis on 19th-century female impressionist painters, examining the presence and influence of feminism in their works. Sophia received the Richard and Marianne W. Martin Memorial Award in Art History, and graduated with the highest departmental honors. She has also spent time studying at Worcester College, Oxford, and at Sotheby’s Institute in London, where she curated an exhibition showcasing intersectional identities of contemporary English artists. At Tufts, she looks forward to pursuing her interests in modern and contemporary art and applying social, feminist art historical lenses to works of the past.

Sarah graduated from the University of Florida after completing a double major in the History of Art and Visual Art Studies, fusing art historical research with studio practice. She interned at the Cornell Art Museum and Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art during her undergraduate studies. Upon graduation, she began working at the Norton Museum of Art, where she served as a Visitor Experience Associate, Curatorial Operations Assistant, and ultimately, Curatorial Research Associate, working most closely with the museum’s modern and photography collections. In addition to supporting the Norton’s collection rotations, incoming acquisitions, exhibition development, and cultivation efforts, she co-curated Surroundings: Video Encounters of Nature and curated Artists at Work. While at Tufts, she seeks to focus her study on modern and contemporary art, particularly 20th-century art of the Americas.

Abigail Beus graduated cum laude and with university honors from Brigham Young University with a BA in History and minors in Spanish and Art History. Her honors thesis examined art theft carried out by the Spanish Blue Division in the Soviet Union during World War II. She was awarded a curatorial fellowship at the BYU Museum of Art, where she contributed to the upcoming exhibition Earthbound and Heavenward on religious art from the Medieval period to the present. She also held a curatorial internship at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, working with American art and material culture collections to help curate an exhibit concerning historical LDS architecture. She has presented research at the SUNY New Paltz Undergraduate Art History Symposium on Spanish religious architecture and at the Fulton Conference on the Jewish scientists during the Manhattan Project, reflecting her broader interest in how cultural and religious identities shape intellectual and creative work from weaponry to art.

Jonah graduated magna cum laude from the University of Oregon with a bachelor's degree in Art
and Art History in 2025. His research focuses on 20th- and 21st-century Latin American and
U.S. Latine art, particularly immigrant diasporas and activism as they intersect with discourses
on gender fluidity and sexuality. His senior project, The Fragility and Visibility of The Authentic
Mexican Identity- An Analysis of ‘La Revolución’ by Fabián Cháirez, received the University of
Oregon Libraries Award for Undergraduate Research Excellence (LAURE), the Outstanding
Undergraduate Award from the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, and the Latinx
Studies Award at the 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium. He also received the Gloria
Tovar Lee Scholarship for Most Promising Student in Art History from the Department of the
History of Art and Architecture in 2023.

Jonah has held internships at the Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery and in the
Collections Department at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon. He
currently serves as a volunteer At-Large Board Member for the Gresham Area League for the
Arts and works as a middle school educational aide. At Tufts University, he plans to continue his
research while advocating for the importance of K–12 visual arts education and the vital role
museums play in public education.

Amanda Sofía graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University with a degree in Art History. She received the Virginia B. Wright Art History Prize, and her senior thesis, titled “Painting a People, Painting a Place: Puerto Rican Identity within Francisco Oller y Cestero’s Still Lifes and Landscapes,” was recognized with a Pass with Distinction. Within the field, her primary interests lie in the study of Latin American and Hispanic arts, particularly how national and individual identities are expressed through them, and how intercultural and international exchanges throughout the region’s history have uniquely shaped its artistic production and presence on the global stage.

Reese graduated from Colgate University in 2024 with a degree in Classical Studies, and is a bibliophile, lover of sour candies, big fan of thunderstorms, and her Roman Empire is (quite literally) the Roman Empire. Reese is very excited to spend the next two years at Tufts and can't wait for the year to start!

Minnie graduated with high distinction from the University of Toronto, where she studied art history. As an undergraduate student, she interned at Lio Projects, an art advisory firm, and Cowley Abbott Fine Art, an auction house specializing in Canadian art. She also served as the Co-Conference Chair for the University of Toronto's History of Art Students’ Association, organizing the department's annual undergraduate research symposium. After graduating, she spent a year working as a curatorial intern at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, where she conducted research for an exhibition of 1970s documentary photography. At Tufts, she looks forward to pursuing her interest in 20th-century American art, engaging with questions around identity, representation, and the construction of history.

Aiden Levy graduated summa cum laude from Middlebury College with a BA in Art History and Political Science. At Middlebury, Aiden interned with the Shelburne Museum's Education and Curatorial Departments where he conducted archival and exhibition research. He also worked as an arts assistant for the Estate of Michael B. Platt in Washington, DC, spearheading an oral history project on the contemporary artist that later informed his undergraduate thesis. His thesis, which examined Platt's portrayal of the Black female body in post-Hurricane Katrina works through the lens of African diasporic spirituality and Southern African American experiences, received the Megan Battey Memorial Book Prize in the History of Art and Museum Studies. He further presented this thesis work at the Seventeenth Annual Visual Culture Consortium (VCC) Symposium held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Aiden’s academic interests center on modern and contemporary art, especially its intersections with sociopolitical realities, a trajectory he will continue to pursue at Tufts.

Anne graduated summa cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa from Middlebury College with a BA in Art History and English. As an undergraduate, she wrote a joint senior thesis on the reception of a 17^th century Dutch trompe l’oeil depicting an English poet. For her thesis, she was awarded funding to complete archival research in England and earned the Museum Thesis Prize. Additionally, she curated an exhibition on the history of pop-up books for Middlebury’s Special Collections as well as researched the artisans behind the 19^th century faux wood graining in the Historic Mitchell House as an intern at the Maria Mitchell Association.

Following her graduation, Anne worked as an Art Advisor at an art consulting firm and as a tour guide at the Nichols House Museum before pursuing graduate school. While at Tufts, she intends to expand on her previous research interests in 17^th century Dutch art, global Baroque art, and the role of art in colonial and diplomatic encounters.

My name is Ana Ionescu and I’m from Romania. I graduated with a dual degree in Art History and Psychological Science and a minor in Art and Design from John Cabot University in Rome, Italy. During my undergraduate I had the opportunity to explore the intersection between art, politics, and social sciences. My primary focus is on modern and contemporary art with an interest on national agendas explored through exhibition spaces and their implied narratives. At Tufts, I wish to explore the role museum and other exhibition spaces hold in forwarding change in response to today’s social issues. I would also like to continue my critical analysis on issues of “ Other” and “Othering” in modern and contemporary times.

Nathan graduated from the University of Utah, where he majored in English and minored in Art History and Philosophy. While an undergraduate, he studied representations and theories of urban spaces in twentieth-century art and literature. As a graduate student at Tufts, he continues his interests in twentieth-century art, devoting particular attention to iconoclasm and what its materiality reveals about public memory and urban spaces. He will pursue a PhD following his time at Tufts.

Holly graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh with a triple major in Museum Studies, History, and French, along with a minor in Mediterranean Art and Archaeology. During her time at Pitt, she completed a year-long internship with the Carnegie Museum of Art as a Curatorial Intern and assisted in developing two exhibitions at the University Art Gallery. Her undergraduate capstone paper focused on the 20th century illustrations of N.C. Wyeth for Treasure Island and explores the development of fictional piratical imagery.

Hailey graduated from Washington and Lee University with a double major in Art History and Religion. While an undergraduate, Hailey worked at the Museums at W&L and at other museums and galleries in Virginia, co-curating Mohammad Omer Khalil: Musings, an exhibition displayed in the Watson Galleries at the Museums at W&L. Hailey completed both a Religion capstone project and an Art History thesis, receiving honors for her thesis entitled "Revolutionary Visions: Frida Kahlo, Active Political Resistance, and 'The Need for the Emancipation of Man.'” Hailey is interested in Latin American modern and contemporary art and hopes to continue examining the narratives surrounding Latinx artists like Frida Kahlo during her time at Tufts.

Sophia graduated from the University of Iowa with a BA in Anthropology and Art as well as a Certificate of Museum Studies. While an undergrad, she became a co-curator of an exhibition called "Ethics, Art, and Connections with Nature" on display at the Stanley Museum of Art from Summer 2025-2026. She was also chosen to participate in the Undergraduate Art History Symposium where she presented her extensive research on the history and theoretical origins of the Laocoön. In her final semester at Iowa, she interned at the Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist and participated in a multitude of collections management projects. At Tufts, Sophia looks forward to further pursuing her interests in ancient art, the spectrums of authenticity, and museums. 

Anna received her BA in Art History with a minor in Latin from New College of Florida in 2024. She has worked in museums and galleries across southwest Florida, including the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, where she conducted research for the 2023 exhibition Working Conditions: Exploring Labor Through the Ringling’s Photography Collection. Anna has also held positions as an art conservation technician, and most recently as a gallery manager.

Anna’s professional experience has primarily been with modern and contemporary art. However, her research focuses on southern Baroque painting. Anna’s research is deeply informed by her work in the Classics, and she is particularly interested in the interpretation of ancient literature in early modern Europe. For the past two years, Anna has studied Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and ecstasy, as interpreted by Italian and Spanish artists of the Baroque period. At Tufts, she intends to continue studying the relationship between ancient mythology and early modern artwork.

Annie received her BA in English Literature from Smith College. Since graduation, she has worked at the Clark Art Institute, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. She studies art of the twentieth century and of the Italian early modern period.

Ayla graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Art History and Political Science and a minor in Textual Studies and Digital Humanities. While at UW, she completed a thesis on transnational culture in German Contemporary Art as well as a capstone on accessibility in Special Collections Exhibitions. During this period she also interned at the Henry Art Gallery and worked at numerous food justice organizations. After leaving UW, she interned at the Seattle Art Museum, first as Betty Bowen Award Intern and then as Curatorial Intern. She also spent time at the Northwest Nikkei Museum, supporting collections and exhibitions. She is interested in topics of global contemporary and diasporic art, particularly in the context of cultural exchange between Europe and the Middle East.

Emilia graduated magna cum laude and as a member of the Vermont chapter of Phi Beta Kappa from Middlebury College, where she majored in Art History and Luso-Hispanic Studies. As an undergraduate, Emilia received departmental highest honors for her senior thesis, which focused on the Italian Gothic altarpiece The Madonna of Humility with the Temptation of Eve. In her investigative work, Emilia argued that the medieval Christian church instrumentalized the nude bodies of the two principal female figures - Mary and Eve - to instruct pilgrims, especially women, on the bounds of proper devotion, motherhood, and femininity.

As an undergraduate, Emilia worked as a museum associate at the Middlebury College Museum of Art and had the opportunity to support the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s Learning and Education division. Emilia’s academic interests center on Gothic art and medieval material culture, particularly on women’s religiosity, Madonna Lactans figures, and the "queering" of medieval studies.