My name is
Genevieve Keillor and I am a junior at George Mason University. I am a History
and Art History major. For my Undergraduate Research Project, I studied how the
depiction of Judith Beheading Holoferenes reflects the role of women in
society. In order to do this, I examined five case studies from different time
periods. I decided to pursue a research project through the Undergraduate
Research Scholars Program to gain experience in my field. I believe that
conducting undergraduate research contributes to my career goals. In the
future, I plan to pursue a master’s degree in Museum Studies and to work for an
art museum. In doing independent research, I gained knowledge from the sources
I read that I can use in my graduate studies as well as in my work as a gallery
curator. I hope to incorporate gender theory into contemporary art exhibitions
and eventually open a Museum of Women in the Contemporary Arts. Over the course
of the summer, I studied one painting at a time and each case study took about
a week to complete. Each week involved writing my analysis of art historical,
primary, and secondary sources about the painting I was studying at the time as
well as gender theory. About every two weeks, my mentor would edit my paper and
help me in the direction of my research. I decided to write a research paper
along with my final poster because it helped me synthesize my information
effectively. I also hope to have my research published in an History or Art
History journal. Finally, I discovered this summer that I was able to improve
my writing since I had to communicate my argument in a scholarly manner.
