Bridging Art and Scholarship Through Faculty-Student collaboration: Senior Clare Yee Conducts Summer Fieldwork in Puerto Rico.

Clare Yee, a senior double majoring in Hispanic Studies and Art History, conducted summer research in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during a week-long faculty-student research trip with Professor Carlos Rivera Santana. Supported by the Department of Hispanic Studies and the Philpott-Pérez grant, Clare’s experiential learning journey exemplifies the dynamic, cross-disciplinary research opportunities available to Hispanic Studies undergraduates at William & Mary.

The primary focus of Clare’s research was an in-depth exploration of the contemporary art scene in Puerto Rico and the wider Caribbean region. For Yee, this intensive fieldwork was a vital part of preparing for her Art History honors thesis, which focuses on modern and contemporary Chinese-Caribbean art.

During their seven-day stay in San Juan, Yee and Professor Rivera Santana engaged directly with the vibrant local art scene. This included three artist studio visits and comprehensive tours of several prestigious institutions, such as the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (MAPR), the Museo de Arte y Diseño de Miramar (MADMI), the Museo de las Américas, and La Liga de Arte.

A cornerstone of the research trip was an in-depth interview with curator Dr Abdiel Segarra Ríos at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico (MAC). Yee noted that this was a particular highlight of her research experience: “Interviewing Dr Abdiel Segarra Ríos was a particular highlight of the trip.” Reflecting on the broader impact of this meeting, Clare said that “Dr Segarra’s motivation to make the arts more accessible was inspiring and represented a growing sentiment in contemporary art to be more collaborative and open to wider audiences.”

Overall, Clare’s interdisciplinary work with Professor Rivera Santana in Puerto Rico was “a culmination of what I’ve learned in both Hispanic Studies and Art History classes, in terms of theory, content, and research practices. I am so grateful for the chance to have had this in-person experience with the support of the Hispanic Studies program”. 

To learn more about Clare’s experience, check her interview on the Hispanic Studies Instagram account.

Past Faculty-Student Collaborations

Faculty-student collaborations in Hispanic Studies have a strong history of producing impactful scholarship. Past partnerships have led to a co-authored publication by Katherine Brown (HISP’13) and Prof. Jorge Terukina in Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl, one of the foremost journals in Mesoamerican cultures housed at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; a manuscript editing collaboration by Harry Rohne and Hannah Deschler (HISP’ 26) with Prof. Thenesoya V. Martín De la Nuez for a forthcoming publication of the Canarian novel Tristeza sobre un caballo blanco, by Alfonso García Ramos; or even to fieldwork and interviews transcriptions gathered by Prof. Francie Cate with the aid of Research Fellows Michael Le (HISP’15) and Robert Bohnke (HISP’17). Please visit our website for more research opportunities in Hispanic Studies.