Meet the Mentors: Art History Graduate Students Inaugurate Connections, a Mentorship Program
Doctoral student Estefanía Vallejo Santiago has developed a new mentorship program to provide support and community for Art History students at Florida State University. The Art History Connections Program brings together graduate student mentors with prospective and current Art History undergraduate students to promote success through engagement. The goal is to support all students to help them reach their full potential in their collegiate experience.
This program is designed to develop and retain productive, professional art historians within their diverse fields. Building on peer-to-peer mentoring mechanisms already in place in the department, graduate mentors will advise and guide undergraduate mentees by making them aware of campus resources and opportunities, encouraging academic success, arranging social gatherings, and more. These relationships enhance the Florida State University experience and deepen the commitment to scholarship and success.
Interested undergraduate students may ask to participate in the program here: https://forms.gle/ig39iLsoqrPVjZ6G9.
Estefanía Vallejo Santiago is a PhD student studying visual cultures of the Americas. Her research investigates projections of black and indigenous heritage in Puerto Rico, particularly, with a methodological interest in the decolonial and heritage.
I started the Connections program because I saw how much insight and community the Art History department had to offer to our undergrads. School and Art History as a field can be overwhelming. Using my years of mentoring experience, I want to support and lift fellow students to help them achieve their goals.
Ileana Olmos joined the Art History doctoral program in the Fall of 2018. Her research interests include the evolving architectural features within Pre-Columbian settlements, ancient building technologies, vernacular architecture, preservation of the built heritage, and the conservation of material culture. Her doctoral research explores cultural heritage ideologies and national identity in the Isthmus of Panama.
When I heard about the possibility of becoming a mentor, I just leaped with joy. Navigating through college things could be daunting, especially coming from a different academic culture. So I decided to become the mentor I wish I had when I first moved to the U.S. to continue my academic journey.
Maddie Gilmore-Duffey is a first year PhD student with a focus in Late Antique and Early Byzantine material culture.
Mentorships have been an important part of my life since high school. I’ve been a mentor and a mentee and have found that both of these positions are invaluable. As a mentee, I have felt supported and been able to bounce my hopes and fears off of someone who has gone through similar experiences; as a mentor, I have been able to share my experiences to support students as they navigate school, work, and life.
