Grottoes and Yugoslav guest workers: SNF Scholars describe their studies at The Courtauld
Since 1999, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Scholarship Program at The Courtauld Institute of Art in London has supported talented students in accessing highly sought-after advanced degrees in art history, curation, and conservation. The program has supported well over a hundred scholars, many of whom have gone on to be active in key roles in the art world around the globe.
The Courtauld, a college of the University of London “committed to enabling the widest possible audience to connect with the visual arts” and a top destination worldwide for the study of art history, is proud that they have “educated an unusually high number of directors of major public museums and other alumni are founders of successful commercial galleries; influential curators; leaders in international auction houses; respected art critics; art historians at top universities; and conservators who work at heritage sites throughout the world.”
2023-24 SNF Scholar Madeleine Dale
“I’m now in the initial stages of writing a dissertation about the construction of the migrant image in film, focusing on the figure of the Yugoslav guest worker in West Germany during the 1970s and ‘80s, and the effect of these depictions on contemporary attitudes towards migration in Germany and the former Yugoslav states today.”
Tell us about your path to the Courtauld. Would you have attended without the scholarship?
During the second year of my Undergraduate (also at The Courtauld), I took a course taught by Dr. Klara Kemp-Welch—‘Cold War Cultures’—from which I finally developed a framework to understand why art was important to the world, as well as to me personally. I knew that Klara taught a master’s course titled 'Solidarity and its Discontents: East European Art in Times of Crisis'—and that it encompassed everything I wanted to study in more detail—but had no expectation of being able to participate until I realized that The Courtauld offered scholarships. I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity to develop my specialism, and to achieve an ambition that felt as though it would never otherwise be possible for me.
Has studying at the Courtauld influenced your academic/career trajectory? Do you expect that it will in the future?
Studying at The Courtauld this year has given me the opportunity to fully hone my academic practice and develop my critical abilities. I’ve also had the opportunity to develop new connections, from which career opportunities are growing out of; I’m excited about a cataloguing project I’m about to embark on with a private collector of Latin American and Eastern European art. Though I hope to do a PhD in the future, and eventually go into teaching, I’m going to take some time out to develop a career in the art world outside of academia.
2023-24 SNF Scholar Meredith Boyle
“My dissertation research focuses on grottos, a popular aspect of European landscape design in the latter half of the eighteenth-century, and how they made their way into the garden of the American ‘founders,’ and what this cultural transference means in the broader context of the American revolution, colonial politics, Atlantic world and the enslavement of Africans.”
Tell us about your path to the Courtauld. Would you have attended without the scholarship?
During my undergraduate education I primarily focused on my major in political science, but as I gradually began to study more art history, as well as pursue various internships in museum spaces, I realized that museums and art more broadly were essential for both teaching and understanding politics and history. This led me to want to pursue a further degree in art history, enhancing my understanding of art history and the art world to accompany my degree in political science. When looking at graduate schools I wanted to find a master’s program that would aid me in combining the two areas of art and politics, while also supplying ample resources for a future career in museum work. The Courtauld provided all of these, while simultaneously being one of most respected universities that focuses on the study of art history. It has ended up being the perfect institution to solidify and further my understanding of art history, making me all the more suited to combine art and politics in the museum sphere. While I had already committed to attending the Courtauld before being notified of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation scholarship, it has significantly altered my experience at school, and my post-grad plans. The more than generous scholarship has made it has made it possible for me to focus on my studies without working and seeking out various routes of funding. It has also made study trips to places such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Lisbon, for example, possible without having to worry about financial difficulties. Additionally, this scholarship is going to allow me to begin my professional life and career without extensive student loans; the art field is not guaranteed to be a lucrative path, and this funding has made it possible for me to jump straight into my future career in the art and museum world.
Has studying at the Courtauld influenced your academic/career trajectory? Do you expect that it will in the future?
Studying at the Courtauld has all the more solidified that I would like to pursue a future in museum education. My professors, as well as the various resources, such as access to major libraries and art institutions, have made it clear to me that objects are the key to teaching and understanding politics and history. My experiences inside and outside of the classroom have revealed that teaching through physical objects is both tangible and accessible, making academic areas typically reserved for few more attainable to a broader public. Museum work provides the opportunity to interact with people outside of the academic realm, and in turn spread often untold histories. Teaching through visual culture makes these histories more impactful and accessible. Studying at The Courtauld has not changed the path I would like to follow, but it has provided me with invaluable resources and experiences that make me more sure of my future career and that will continue to help me endlessly in what I pursue.