Anais Fernandez Castro
Anais Fernandez Castro is a current undergraduate student with majors in Political Science and Spanish with a linguistics concentration. She approaches her studies from an intersectional lens, focusing on the Anglo North and Latin America. She has taken coursework in Quechua and Portuguese. During her free time, Anais seeks meaningful experiences and enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She also loves to learn different festival dances from the Andean region.
Cameron Logar
Cameron Logar is a current second-year Biochemistry major pursuing minors in Spanish & Andean and Amazonian Studies. His interests are in medical research and the benefits of applying different worldviews and perspectives in the biological sciences. As a curator, he is pursuing further study of indigenous cosmologies, cultural practices, and worldviews, especially as they relate to the collection.Meredith Whitaker, Class of 2024
Meredith Whitaker served as Kawsay Ukhunchay’s Project Assistant during the spring semester of 2024. As an English major with a concentration in creative nonfiction writing, Meredith was drawn to work with Kawsay Ukhunchay for its emphasis on non-linear storytelling. She graduated from Ohio State with magna cum laude and research distinction in English in 2024. Now she attends Washington University in St. Louis for her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, where she is excited to implement the cross-cultural knowledge she obtained from Kawsay Ukhunchay into her writing.
When she’s not writing, Meredith enjoys sharing meals with her friends and family, singing karaoke, and spending time outside in the sun.
Tamryn McDermott
Tamryn McDermott is a PhD student in the Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy. Tamryn is an artist and educator with a background in museum practices. She served as the Graduate Research Associate for the Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifact Collection from Spring 2021 – Spring 2022. Tamryn looks forward to sharing curatorial, exhibit design, educational program design, and collections management experience with other student curators this year. She views exhibition design and programming as a creative platform for engaging with objects and the knowledge embedded within them. Tamryn is an avid traveler and hopes to someday travel to the Andes and learn more about Indigenous weaving and fiber dyeing practices. She is currently teaching herself how to weave on a backstrap loom.
Tamryn will develop a searchable database of our collection this year. She will also work on designing an interactive, digital version of our traveling pop-up exhibition, The Hidden Life of Things.
Julia Allwein
Julia Allwein is a current undergraduate student majoring in Comparative Cultural Studies with a minor in Amazonian and Andean Studies. She has taken coursework in Spanish and Quechua and is currently a member of the OSU Andean Ensemble. She is excited to further study Andean ways of knowing, culture, and traditions with the collection before traveling to Ecuador with the Pachaysana Study Abroad in the Spring. In her free time Julia enjoys reading, singing, and playing the flute.
Diego Arellano, Class of 2018
Diego Arellano is currently a Senior Associate at Artnet Auctions working in the Prints and Multiples Department. As a liaison between Specialists and clients, Mr. Arellano conducts comprehensive research to deliver successful results at auction while analyzing the contemporary art market for patterns and trends. In 2017, he was named a Research Fellow under the Collaboration for Humane Technologies for his work on the production and implementation of digital initiatives as a student curator for Ohio State’s Andean and Amazonian Cultural Artifact Collection. Mr. Arellano has also served as a guest curator at the LGBT Archives in New York City and is a board member for Global Arts Access, an organization that uses technology to improve access to art and history. Diego Arellano graduated cum laude in 2018 from The Ohio State University where he received a BA with research distinction in arts management and completed thesis, Addressing Issues of Audience, Accessibility and Appreciation with Ohio State’s Andean and Amazonian Cultural Artifact Collection. He currently lives and works in Washington DC.
Emily Brokamp
Emily Brokamp received her MA degree in History Department specializing in Public History and has completed a BA through the English Department focusing on Rhetoric, Writing, and Literacy. Her research centers on human-object interaction and museum display. She believes in using a multidisciplinary approach to research and frequently overlaps the spheres of History, English, and Anthropology. As a curator, she assisted in the creation of a trilingual Quechua-English-Spanish children’s book based on the Fox and Partridge tapestry by Santusa Quispe held in the Collection. The goal of this project is to introduce children to Quechua and the storytelling techniques of weaving as a way of presenting non-Western forms of knowledge.
In her free time Emily loves to travel, write, and hike. She also loves theatre and has worked in set and costume design. After she graduates, Emily plans to continue her work at the Blackfriary Community Archaeology Site located in Trim, Ireland.
Alice Cheng
Alice is a Ph.D. student in the Arts Administration, Education, and Policy department. Alice is interested in how art encounters in classrooms can engage students in critical dialogue on the foundation of being culturally responsible and social justice-oriented. She has teaching experience in various informal and formal classroom settings and age groups, including arts-integrated English in Taiwan. Alice is currently helping with the collection’s online engagement for reaching more students and fostering relationships with local artists and organizations. Her work explores building programs and curriculums that center Indigenous voices and interrogate settler colonialism.
In her free time, Alice is trying to figure out the difference between different coffees to build her preference, but mostly so she can deceive herself that her love for coffee is about taste and not caffeine dependency. Alice also loves tea.
Frances Dillon, Class of 2020
studies. Frances is especially interested in Andean textile and needlework traditions. As a FLAS Fellow studying Bolivian Quechua, she worked to integrate Quechua vocabulary, stories, and descriptions into the existing Collection through audio clips and translation.Brandon D’Souza, Class of 2021
Brandon D’Souza, majored in Biology, Evolution and Ecology, and Spanish at OSU. He graduated with research distinction in Spring of 2021. His thesis project, Interactive Technologies and Indigenous Art: Exploring the Use of Immersive Resources to Increase Audience Engagement with Ceramic Pieces in the Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifacts Collection at The Ohio State University, focused on the development of a digital interactive resource designed to increase audience engagement with Canelos Quichua ceramics housed in the Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifacts Collection at Ohio State (AAAC). Brandon’s central research question centered on the extent to which digital interactive, multi-sensory resources encourage audience engagement with indigenous art, increase knowledge of and appreciation for indigenous forms of expression, and provide insight into key Andean and Amazonian concepts and practices. The importance of the promising educational tool he developed is underscored by the fact that it incorporates aspects of indigenous ideology into the resource itself. You can explore the interactive resource here.
Outside of academics, Brandon enjoys working out and playing sports, watching movies, visiting museums, listing to music, thrifting, and collecting vinyl records. Brandon hopes to attend medical school and eventually work as a psychiatrist, serving minoritized populations and researching how social determinants such as race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and religion intersect with medicine.
Hallie Fried, Class of 2022
Hallie Fried majored in International Development and Spanish, and completed a minor in Public Policy. Her studies within these departments tend to focus on sustainable development, women’s empowerment, and indigenous communities. Within the collection, Hallie worked on interviewing indigenous artists to learn more about cultural practices, the intricacy that goes into each piece, and the best ways in which we can appreciate and display their artwork.
Anna Freeman
Anna is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy. Anna has a background in art history and museum practices. Her research interests include Indigenous art and culture, museum education, and community-based outreach. Anna looks forward to working alongside students and learning more about the collection.
As a student curator, she focused on learning about the Amazonian cultural objects within the collection. She also helped coordinate the study abroad trip to the Toronto Biennial of Art in May 2022, where she drew connections between the collection and biennial’s programming.
In her free time, Anna enjoys exercising and discovering new movies and documentaries. She is a former competitive swimmer and enjoys cycling on the many bike paths throughout Columbus.
Elaine Louden, Class of 2020
Elaine’s largest undertaking during her time as a curator was the development of a website and virtual archive for the Collection. She graduated in Spring 2020 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Public Health and Spanish and will her continue her studies at Yale University where she will receive a Master in Public Health, concentrating in Health Policy. Elaine enjoys running, reading novels, baking, and traveling outside of academics.
Claire McLean, Class of 2022
Claire McLean majored in Linguistics and Spanish with a track in Hispanic Linguistics and minoring in Communication. She also completed a certificate in Translation & Interpretation in 2022. Some of Claire’s additional academic interests include archaeology and creative writing. Within the collection, her research focused on the textiles and embroidery of the Andes. She is especially interested in the role that color and pattern play in Andean art. Additionally, she focused on applying her knowledge of translation to various aspects of the collection. In her free time, Claire enjoys traveling, making and appreciating art, cooking, and meeting new people.
Francesca Napoli
Francesca is a current undergrad student majoring in Romance Studies with a specialization in Latin American Cultures and Literature and minoring in Linguistics. She plans to complete an Andean and Amazonian Studies minor by participating in the Pachaysana Study Abroad program in Ecuador in Spring 2023. She is interested in different cultural expressions and perspectives and how that shapes our relationship with the world around us. She is particularly interested in Indigenous art and food culture. In her free time, she enjoys knitting, cooking, and reading. After graduating, Francesca plans to continue her education by pursuing an MA in Museum Studies.
Micah Unzueta, Class of 2022
Micah Unzueta has taken an interdisciplinary approach to his education. He majored in Spanish: Latin American Literature and Cultures, and minored in Education, Latin American Studies, and Andean & Amazonian Studies. However Micah’s interests and coursework span many fields, including philosophy, history, and linguistics. As a language student Micah also studied Portuguese and Quechua at OSU. Micah incorporated Quechua traditions and knowledge into the Collection in a meaningful and non-tokenizing way. He also hopes to co-author a decolonial children’s book, combating euro-centric educational frameworks, and introduce experimental education into children’s literature.
In his free time, Micah loves participating in sports— especially rock climbing— reading, and practicing mindfulness. After graduating, Micah plans to teach English and Spanish abroad and promote multi-lingual education in Latin America. There, he wants to travel, climb, continue to learn new languages, and make indigenous literature available to larger audiences.
Amanda Tobin Ripley
Amanda Tobin Ripley is a doctoral student in the Arts Administration, Education, and Policy department, specializing in museum education, and the Graduate Research Associate for the Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifact Collection during the fall 2022 semester. Amanda’s work within museum and gallery spaces seeks to create and support opportunities for individuals to use the imaginative and connective power of the arts to foster a shared sense of belonging, responsibility, and humanity. Amanda holds an M.Ed. in Arts in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in Art History and East Asian Studies from Oberlin College. She most recently served as the Associate Director of Education at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), where she developed community and school engagement programs, including establishing the museum’s inaugural Gallery Teaching cohort with an emphasis on critical self-reflection in practice. In her work with the Kawsay Waqaychaqkuna curator group, Amanda is investigating the intersection of decolonial methods and transformative pedagogies.
Shima Karimi
Shima is a first-year Ph.D. student in Latin American Cultural and Literary Studies. She has years of experience teaching Spanish to different age groups and at various levels. She has also worked as a cultural tour guide.
Shima, a native Persian speaker, is also fluent English and Spanish. She has a BA in Spanish Language and Literature and an MA in Latin American Studies. Her research interests lie with the tradition and culture of Indigenous people of the Americas. Shima plans to to travel someday to the Andes and explore Indigenous art and culture.