Keqinhua Zhu, a recent UW-Madison graduate (B.S ’19, Art History and Conservation Biology), was awarded the $500 Iwanter Honorable Mention Prize from the Center for the Humanities for her senior honors thesis, “From Global to Local: A Case Study of the Macartney Tapestry in the Reign of Emperor Qianlong, 1735–1796.” Having received her Bachelor of Science degree in both Art History (with honors) and Conservation Biology, Zhu finds that her interdisciplinary studies has allowed her to be “more systematic in handling visual and material practices,” and to see “new possibilities to connect art with science.” Keqinhua Zhu will continue her studies during the fall 2019 semester at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, studying Chinese art history at the graduate level.
This is the second consecutive year for an Art History undergraduate to receive the Iwanter Prize. Alexa Machnik (B.A. ’18, Art History) received the $2,000 Iwanter Prize in 2018 for her honor thesis, “Deified Beauty: Yang Guifei’s Cultural Legacy and Manifestation as Kannon in the Sennyu-ji Temple.” The $2,000 prize is given to a graduating senior who, through a senior thesis and general academic distinction, demonstrates outstanding humanities-based scholarship of a broad and interdisciplinary nature. Alexa just published her thesis in the prestigious undergraduate art history journal, Bowdoin Journal of Art. After graduation, Alexa pursued a career in art conservation and is currently employed as a conservation technician at the Yale University Library.
Keqinhua and Alexa both wrote their senior honors theses under the direction of Professor Yuhang Li.
Read the full article at: https://humanities.wisc.edu/research/iwanter-prize