Outstanding Graduate from the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies: Katherine Leddy
Katherine Leddy is originally from Torrance, California, and graduated with a double major for a BA in Comparative Cultural Studies with an emphasis in Art History, and in Anthropology with an emphasis in Archaeology.
Katherine has loved art and history from a young age. Her parents helped to foster this love by taking her to museums every weekend. Despite this, Katherine came to NAU as a nursing major. It was not until she took Dr. Gulacsi’s survey class on Asian art that she realized her passion for art history. “In the high school that I went to, you were expected to major in a STEM field. Majors in liberal arts were not even really mentioned as an option to us unless it was to say how they were a waste of money,” she said. “However, Dr. Gulacsi sat down and talked with me and helped me to see that there is a viable career in this field.”
It is thanks to Dr. Carpino that Katherine is where she is today. “I would meet with Dr. Carpino even when I was not taking one of her classes. Her passion for the field was very inspiring to me and she has helped me to find our own humanity in the past,” she says. “I am so thankful that she agreed to be my mentor for my independent research this semester. She has helped me create a project that I can take great pride in.”
Katherine will be starting a master’s program in Archaeology at NAU this fall and will continue to work at the Clara M. Lovett Art Museum. Afterward, she hopes to work in the education department of a museum in order to get children interested in history, much like she was as a child.