Masquerades and Dilettantes

Meredith Hanna
B.A. in Art History & Curatorial Studies
Minor in French
Graduating in December 2019

To start off, let’s throw you one of the most classic interview lines- Tell us about yourself!
“I am from Newport Beach, CA and I am the oldest of 7 children. I grew up speaking French at home, and served in the Canada Montreal Mission- French and Spanish speaking. I just got married in April! I love reading, writing (but not 'rithmatic), the internet, and, as it follows, cats.”

Students in the Honors Program are often referred to as “high-achievers.” What are some of your recent accomplishments?
"I've done internships at Christie's Auction House in Beverly Hills and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, the first in Business Development and the second in Conservation. Last year I did a Curatorial Fellowship at the BYU MOA which was both very fun and informative. For my Honors thesis I received two generous grants, one from the BYU Library (HBLL Grant) and a HumGrant. This year I received a History Department award (DeLamar and Mary Jensen Award in European History) for a paper I did for my Medieval Art class; it was on a reliquary of Ste. Genevieve, a French saint. Recently I found out that I received the Robert K. Thomas Scholarship for the Honors Program, which I am so grateful for."

We heard about you because of your Honors Thesis. Would you mind sharing with us your thesis title?
"The Gentleman's Masquerade: Reading the Costume of George Knapton's Portraits of the Society of Dilettanti."

That is such a unique and interesting thesis! How did you decide on your topic?
“When I was about five, I saw in a book fair arrangement meant to entice children to guilt their parents into spending money, a robin's egg-blue book with golden details and a beautiful young woman in a large, heavily ornamented dress on the cover. The book was about Marie Antoinette, and yes, I did pressure my mother to buy it. The 18th Century was thus one of my first forays into history and costume history, and it's a feast for both, with intricate fabrics, sumptuous palaces, and the obvious political upheaval. In regards to the Grand Tour, at least at this moment of my life, I feel a kinship towards those young travelers. They were young, energetic, and curious, and at times irresponsible and immature; their voyages magnified these traits and seemed to project the course of their lives. This (18th Century, Grand Tour, fashion) being the general framework, I had to narrow down my topic. Much has been done on the Grand Tour, it being generally well-documented with its own glamour, but not much has been written about its costume, or what British travelers would wear on the Continent. Portraits are, of course, great repositories for costume history clues, so I looked at the big Grand Tour artists--Pompeo Batoni, Rosalba Carriera--all the while studying the Society of Dilettanti, a group of well-to-do British men who had been to Italy on the Grand Tour. l was fascinated by their portraits which ranged from playful to irreverent, and it dawned on me that I could slightly redirect my research to focus on them within a larger focus of Grand Tour fashion. I had received two grants and generous funding from the Honors Program in order to continue my research in England and Italy. Doing research at the British Library and National Art Library has been a highlight of my undergraduate career; I feel like a real scholar! As I've been researching, new avenues for study continue to open, and I am excited to start writing soon.”

Do you have any tips for people wanting to embark on a similar endeavor?
“Though I began with a general framework of what I wanted to study, I felt stressed because I knew it wasn't specific enough for my thesis; I worried that I would run out of time before I stumbled upon a pertinent topic.This leads to a first tip: Give yourself time. From my experience the natural curiosity that leads to interesting research disappears when I am pressed for time. If you decide early what you would like to study, however vague, you will have enough time to work (mainly, lots of reading. agonizing amounts of reading) and discover what stands out. As I have been working on my thesis, I have come to realize that, for myself, the skills for research are the same skills used in a good conversation: you listen/read first, trying your best to understand and process, then you respond. I am still really working on this.Second tip: Look for funding. It is not super glamorous to discuss the need for money, but funding for your research is out there and very helpful. Funding also has benefits beyond money; if you are thinking of going to grad school, it can be good practice for the grant writing that might await you in the future, or funding can come in the form of an award that you can put on your resume.Third tip: As cliché as it sounds, have fun with your topic! Ideally it's something that you love and that keeps you curious and interested, as well as something that you like to talk about, because people will ask you about it!”

The Honors Program focuses on developing skills of inquiry in its students. How did you utilize those skills during your Honors Thesis experience?
“The interdisciplinary nature of the Honors Program fosters curiosity. The students around you are working on fascinating and important things in their theses, and you can't help but be curious and look deeper, even when you may have little-to-no experience or knowledge in their field of study. The Maeser Building itself encourages this, with the walls of the first floor covered in Honors Thesis posters. I've spent many a passing moment reading them on the way to Unexpected Connections classes, the Reading Day Bagel Breakfast, and turning in forms to the Honors office, and I'm always intrigued. Curiosity is, I think, the most driving force behind inquiry. Even at its most playful, curiosity leads us to the "unexpected connections" that you hope to find in research (with the unfortunate, macabre side effect of feline death), and what comes next is knowing how to find the answers to your questions. As I've been working on my thesis, remaining curious and interested has helped me come to different conclusions and pathways for my research, as I've explored not only topics directly related to my topic, such as 18th Century fashion, but also 18th entury views on religion, both of which have proved useful.”

You are so close to graduating and have been involved in the Honors Program for the majority of your undergraduate career. Why did you join, and ultimately stay in the Honors Program?
“My dad and aunt both did the Honors Program when they were at BYU, so it was always on my radar (my dad had his Honors Thesis on our bookshelf throughout my childhood), but the real catalyst was when I arrived as a new transfer student and was looking for a community. BYU is a big place, and in the Honors Program I sensed that I could find intelligent, ambitious students who would motivate me to think deeply and accomplish my goals. The activities helped me get out of my apartment and make friends, but they also helped me engage with ideas. When you go to college, you (or at least me) imagine yourself considering profound questions, mulling over important books, and studying the words of great thinkers and creatives, and the Honors Program provided that for me with its interdisciplinary focus and smaller class sizes. Also, as an aesthete, I just like having an excuse to walk into the Maeser Building on a regular basis.”

What has been your favorite part of the Honors Experience?
“The Unexpected Connections courses have been highlights of my undergraduate career. The professors are interesting and engaging, and I've loved looking at subjects outside my discipline, such as those in the Sciences, with a humanist lens. On one occasion, in my Biology and Letters course, a section on electricity was supplemented with a lecture on the ways Jimi Hendrix incorporated electricity as a concept into his performances. Classes like these help me realize the interconnectedness of everything we study.”

What is your next step in Honors?
“Next for me is writing my Great Questions essay in Honors 320, defending my thesis, and graduating!”