PhD Candidate; Renaissance Art HAA Writing Tutor
she/her/hers
Jillianne Laceste is a PhD Candidate focusing on early modern Italian art and visual culture with a particular interest in the Ligurian city of Genoa. Her research addresses Genoese representations of the Americas and Christopher Columbus in relation to the Republic of Genoa’s maritime identity and political position to the Spanish Empire. For the 2023-2024 academic year, she is a Graduate Writing Fellow in BU’s Writing Program, where she teaches topic-based writing seminars on Medieval and Renaissance conceptions of monstrosity and otherness. In addition to her dissertation research and teaching, Jillianne currently serves on the Emerging Scholars Committee of the Italian Arts Society.
Research Interests:
- Travel and maritime discourse
- Conceptions of race and otherness
- The materiality of silver
Dissertation in Progress: “Creating Columbus: The Visual Culture of Colonial Encounters in Early Modern Genoa”
MA Thesis: “Making Sense of Music in Early Modern Self-Portraiture”
2020-2021: Symposium Co-Coordinator for the Graduate Student History of Art & Architecture Association
2019-2020: Guest Scholar Lecture Series Coordinator