For Stephanie Lusk ’06, of Skidmore, Texas,
the past two summers have been filled high expectations and hard
work. As a McNair Scholar in summer 2004, Stephanie
began researching Tibetan art, focusing on traditional and contemporary
art, and began her research project, titled A Dream of Glorious
Return; Culture and Identity in Art of the Tibetan Diaspora. “Tibetan
contemporary art is very controversial,” she says. “There
isn’t a lot written on it, and I find it interesting to write
about.”
This past summer, Stephanie was able to continue her
research with the help of the Alumni Executive Council, who
funded her for the summer on campus, while University and Tanner
Fellowships provided Stephanie with
the funds to go to India to get to know the culture first-hand.
“India brought everything together for me,” she says. “It
was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had.” Not
only did Stephanie learn a lot about the culture, but she also learned
a lot about herself through her experiences. “It helped
me decide what I want to do with my life,” she declares. “I
want to go to graduate school, continue working on these same studies,
receive my doctorate, and become an Asian art history professor.”
