My name is Amanda Dibando Awanjo and I am a Humanities Engage summer immersive fellow for the University Art Gallery for the Summer 2021 session. As a critical cultural studies-focused doctoral candidate within the English department, my research centers Black women and girls within the schema of Black futurity in the twentieth century. To conduct my research, I center the digital humanities, critical race theory, childhood studies, and archival studies in order to explore the visual and textual culture surrounding Black girls and their relationship to W.E.B Du Bois’ 1927 question, “Suppose the only Negro who survived some centuries hence was the Negro painted by white Americans in the novels and essays they have written. What would people in a hundred years say of black Americans?” Towards the tail end of my doctoral studies, I have begun to explore different ways that archival research can and does live in the material world. Within work experiences in Hillman Library’s Digital Scholarship Commons and the Carnegie Museum of Art, I have seen how archival work and qualitative research can impact how a community can understand itself, while also exposing historical narratives of those who are historically silenced. As I begin my transition into the world post-PhD, having experiences that help concretize my passion for research into work experience has both reenergized my dissertation research as well as allowed me to hone the skills needed to excel within a variety of workspaces.

Because of this, the opportunity to work with the University Art Gallery became even more appealing. For the 2021-2022 student-curated show, the University Art Gallery is hosting an exhibit honoring the 40th anniversary of Women of Visions, a collective of Black women artists from Pittsburgh. Women of Visions is a one-of-a-kind organization, with members who have reached national and international acclaim. This opportunity is important to me because it builds directly from my experiences within the Carnegie Museum of Art, while also posing new challenges. For the immersive, I will be working with a close team in order to help prepare the exhibit book and catalogue for publication, collaborating with artists on the multimedia components of the exhibit, as well as getting behind the scenes experience in setting up an exhibit. During my Humanities Engage immersive with the Carnegie Museum of Art, I studied the mechanisms of the museum through a deep dive into their archive. For this immersive experience also sponsored by Humanities Engage, I will be more engaged in the mechanisms of putting on an exhibit, using written communication and archival research to edit and complete the exhibit text for publication, and engaging with more artists directly. Within my immersive with Women of Visions, I use my qualitative research skills while also further developing my skills as a coordinator and communicator within a creative and professional setting.

I am so excited to work with the amazing collective of artists that comprise Women of Visions and to be immersed within the many different facets of the project. Working with student writing, experiencing the full publication process for the exhibit text, working with artists and writers, as well as learning from the wisdom of my mentors and supervisors is invaluable when considering my future career goals. Working within the Carnegie Museum of Art opened my eyes to the role of humanistic research within museums and other cultural institutions and my own future within it. Within the University Art Gallery, I am putting together the pieces necessary to step into this new career path.

Amanda Awanjo
English
June 2021

Learn about all the Pitch Your Own Summer Immersive Fellows and Curated Immersive Summer Fellows and their experiences with their host organizations.