Visual Arts Colloquium
Welcome to the Visual Arts Colloquium
~part of the Hillsdale College Art History minor~
About Us
The Fine Arts Colloquium is a student-run event which highlights exceptional undergraduate research in the visual arts. Our annual conference allows selected student speakers from colleges across the nation to share their work with an academic audience. A keynote address by an accomplished art historian complements the student research presentations. Each year, the colloquium committee selects one student paper for a $200 prize that the Hillsdale College Fine Arts Department awards. Winning papers are also published on our website.
The 2027 Colloquium will be our fourth conference. For more information, including on how to apply, please see our current "Call for Papers" and the information posted below. Information about past events can also be
found below.
Team:
Committee Chair & Keynote Liaison: Maria Grazia Stroik Student Liaison: Ava Carlson
PR Liaison: Helen Hickman
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Christina Chakalova
Contact
For inquiries about the 2027 Visual Arts Colloquium, please email hc.visualartscolloquium@gmail.com
February 6, 2027, 10am-1pm EST
HOW TO APPLY
This conference is open to current undergraduate students and graduates who have earned a BA or BS within the past year. Please submit via email a 250-word abstract along with your CV, the proposed paper's title, the course from which the paper arose, and that course instructor’s name. Send your submission to the colloquium committee at HC.VisualArtsColloquium@gmail.com by Nov 23, 2026.
Three to five undergraduate research papers will be selected for presentation on the date of the colloquium, and all applicants will be notified via email if their paper has been accepted or declined by mid-December. If selected to present at the colloquium, students should prepare a presentation of 15 to 20 minutes featuring complete or nearly completed research and including visual aids, such as PowerPoint.
All student presenters are expected to provide a final draft of their presentation by mid-January. While the selected papers from Hillsdale students will be presented in person, non-Hillsdale students may present via Zoom. All student presenters will have the chance to interact with the keynote speaker, including to ask questions about the journey to earning an art history PhD.
The Colloquium Committee will award $200 to the top student presenter and publish that paper on our website.
Shannah Rose, PhD Candidate at the Institute of Fine Arts & Junior Fellow of Pre-Columbian Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, will give the keynote address "The Codex Ríos and the Reception of Mesoamerican Pictography in Early Modern Italy."
Photo by Daniele Molajoli, Courtesy of the American Academy in Rome
Past Events
