The Department of Art History is pleased to announce that Colin Stewart is one of six receipients of the 2020 Patricia and Peter Shannon Wilson Undergraduate Research Prize! The Patricia and Peter Shannon Wilson Undergraduate Research Prize is awarded to current undergraduate students enrolled at the University of Toronto during each academic year. The purpose of this prize is to showcase and award students’ effective and innovative use of information sources and the development of their understanding of what it means to be information literate in the 21st century.
Details on Colin's prize-winning research project, "Report on Bone Handle and Wood Sheath from the University of Toronto's Malcove Collection," can be found on the University of Toronto Libraries' TSpace Repository.
For a detailed list of all the 2020 prize winners and to read the full announcement, please visit the University of Toronto Libraries Undergraduate Research Prize webpage.
Colin Stewart
4th year University College, Faculty of Arts & Science
Research project
Report on Bone Handle and Wood Sheath from the University of Toronto's Malcove Collection
Course: VPHD 42Y3: Supervised Reading in Art History
About Colin:
What is your major and expected year of graduation?
“I am an Arts & Science student at University College, pursuing a double major in art history and history, and will graduate in November 2020.
What inspired you to choose this research subject?
“I decided to research objects in the University of Toronto’s Malcove Collection after taking part in a similar project at University of Toronto Scarborough with Dr. Erin Webster as part of the Jackman Scholars in Residence program in 2019. Conducting original research on little-studied objects was the highlight of my undergraduate experience, so naturally I decided to do more as an independent study.”
What did you learn about information-seeking, research, and/or libraries while completing your project?
Doing a year-long research project taught me a lot about information-seeking, principally how to exhaust my means of searching, and if I still could not find what I was looking for, to ask either a librarian or an expert. I learned that good research is not done by solitary warriors, but with the support of a whole network of people, in my case spread across three continents and many languages and professions.”
What does it mean to you to win this prize?
“I am honoured to have been selected as a finalist for this research award along with such great other projects in such different disciplines!”
“This is not easy, quick or straight-forward research, and Colin must be commended for the dedication, diligence and scholarly patience he has demonstrated through his study… His ability to simultaneously conduct original research while assessing the quality and contribution of the scholarly sources is a formidable combination, rarely seen in undergraduate-level projects.”
- ProfessorErin L. Webster, supervisor for VHPD 42Y3: Supervised Reading in Art History