Senior concentrator Grace Xiao was awarded various fellowships within campus and beyond this year.

Pembroke Seminar Undergraduate Fellowship
The 2023-24 Pembroke Seminar, “De-Colonial Retro-Speculation,” led by Patricia Ybarra, has been a generative space for Xiao to consider the interdisciplinarity of her commitments within and beyond art history. The fellowship has also put her in conversation with a caring community of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors whom Xiao now considers mentors, along with long-admired visiting scholars, such as Mimi Thi Nguyen and Dylan Rodríguez.

Spalter Teaching Fellowship at the RISD Museum
The Spalter Teaching Fellowship, where Xiao helped to design lesson plans and lead tours and guided activities for K-12 students at the RISD Museum, has been a wonderful opportunity to learn more about inclusive in-gallery teaching practices, as she is interested in what pedagogical practice can bring to curatorial work.

Cogut Institute Undergraduate Fellowship
The Cogut Seminar has provided Xiao with the opportunity to discuss her ongoing thesis research and consider cross-disciplinary connections within the humanities. It has also been a welcome space to consider what comes next for her academic life after college.