Using UW as her stepping stone, American studies graduate student Rebekah Westrup has been an active seeker of art and humanities that have ways to tie themselves into interests that she hopes to pursue.
Originally a student at BYU, Westrup has come to find a home in the American studies department here on the UW campus. The area of study for her thesis has developed into a look at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon church, visual culture and understanding of race and ethnicity LDS artists portray.
The painter Westrup is studying is the Wyoming-born LDS artist, Minerva Teichert, and her depictions of Native Americans in her art.
“[Teichert] sits at all the intersections of the things that I like to study,” said Westrup. “I like religious studies, women’s studies, art history and I’m in Wyoming, so she seemed like the perfect subject for my thesis.”
What Westrup enjoys about the American studies program at UW is the opportunity it provides her to study people and subjects, such as culture and art that influences America in either secular or religious settings.
“It’s really interdisciplinary and I can study pretty much anything that I want, so long as I relate it back to America and the theories that we study in my program,” Westrup said.
As Westrup has developed her thesis, her adviser, Professor Frieda Knobloch, has enjoyed seeing how she is tying in parts of American history to her area of study.
“She’s brought interest in art history, LDS history and her American studies degree,” Knobloch said. “She’s fully engaged with the current state of Mormon studies and she wants her thesis to contribute there.”
Westrup hopes to become either a curator and museum educator or continue her education and receive a Ph.D. With graduation in May, she is trying to decide which route to take as she moves forward, seeing as she has had opportunities through UW’s American Studies Department to network and expand her reach in her field.
While Westrup has been in the program, she has been able to work in the American Heritage Center, travel to Europe with other members of the program and work in the Tetons with employees of the Library of Congress.
“The opportunities afforded to me are in large part due to what the American studies program has done, and less so the University itself,” said Westrup.
American studies is a viable and exciting part of the UW campus, and Westrup is a staunch advocate for its continued existence. Though she has traveled and learned through the program, she feels as though the University could step up its support.
“Our undergraduate as a major almost got shut down this past year, but luckily people wrote in and talked about how much they loved it and it was saved,” Westrup said.
As Westrup gears herself up to leave UW and move forward, she also hopes to encourage students to look into American studies and the academic freedoms it offers. In her experience, the director of the program has helped her to achieve her dream goals in her studies.
“I have always enjoyed how ambitious [Westrup] is about making sure all her interests and all her scholarly work get integrated together for a bunch of different kinds of professional futures that she’s possibly interested in,” said Knobloch.
Westrup has left an impact on the department in her short time at UW, Knobloch even considers her to be one of the “emerging scholars” that will truly be able to make a difference in her field as she brings the insights she has gained through what UW has offered her.
