Senior Art History major Julia Campbell smiles outside of her home in Long Beach, Calif., in December. She said she plans to stay in California after graduation.
Photos Courtesy of Julia Campbell
Senior Julia Campbell graduates this spring with a degree in Art History and a minor in Digital Humanities. As a Pepperdine student, Campbell said she served as co-president of the Art History Student Society, studied abroad in Florence, Italy, and interned at the Long Beach Museum of Art and the Weisman Museum of Art on the Malibu campus.
After graduating, Campbell plans to take a gap year before pursuing a graduate degree in Art History or Chicano studies. During her gap year, she said she hopes to travel, work in a museum, and continue working part-time as a production assistant for Smart History, an online art history resource.
What made you choose to go to Pepperdine?
Julia Campbell: I chose to go to Pepperdine, primarily for the study abroad program. That was something I really wanted to do. Pepperdine made it very easy to do that and incorporates it into the education which I really liked. I also got the Regent’s Scholarship which helps me to be able to afford to go to Pepperdine, which is very cool. But a reason that I’m glad I went to Pepperdine, that I wasn’t aware of beforehand, was the really amazing Art History and Digital Humanities departments. I didn’t start out with that major or minor but, during my education, I changed my major and minor and met really amazing professors and students in those departments, so I’m really grateful for that.
How has your Pepperdine experience been for you?
JC: My experience has definitely been highlighted by studying abroad. I went to Florence and that was a really incredible experience. I’ve also met really amazing people at Pepperdine, both students and professors who have been really wonderful so they’ve really made my experience better. There are challenges and, obviously, this year has been a challenge being online. But also, I feel like as an institution, there’s been a lot of racial reckoning so I’ve experienced kinds of challenges of seeing where I fit into Pepperdine. It can be difficult as a student of color to feel represented sometimes, but I think that I’m very hopeful, because there are so many amazing students and faculty that are really pushing for progress and to address certain issues.
What did you learn from your study abroad experience?
JC: Studying abroad in Florence was really amazing. I’ve never been able to travel that much before so that was something that was very exciting. Also, the opportunity to meet so many people very intimately in my abroad group was great. When I was abroad, I also had the opportunity to work at a convent with friars and monks, helping them to archive the art collection that they owned. So, that was a really unique experience. Being able to work firsthand with the art was very cool.
What’s one of your favorite Pepperdine memories?
JC: I would say of course studying abroad was amazing and also interning at the Weisman because I learned so much about Pepperdine. I learned so much about local artists and what it takes to work in a museum. I really value that time and being able to learn about museum work under the Weisman’s former director, Dr. Zakian and Monica Chapon.
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Email Kayla Kahrl: kayla.kahrl@pepperdine.edu
