Jamie Vaught, History of Art Major, C'16.

 Jamie Vaught’s hometown is St. Louis, MO. She majoring in the History of Art.

"My project sought to decipher the meaning behind amalakas (or stone representations of the amla fruit) on Northern Indian, or Nagara Latina, Hindu temples. The research project was supervised by Michael W. Meister.  The project involved examining both textual and architectural sources from across India. By approaching the interpretation of the temple as a great amla tree, similar to structural reliefs of tree shrines found at Kanganhalli, I was able to deduce that the amalaka’s role on the Nagara Latina temple was to recreate the tree shrines of yore. As expressed in the Mahapuranas, the amla fruit is sacred, so the use of the amla to denote a “great tree” is deeply religious and meaningful.

The most rewarding part of the research experience was finding news ways to interpret symbols. In canonical Western art history it often feels like you can easily get stuck in a rut interpreting the same iconography over and over. Art of the Indian subcontinent is so vast, beautiful, and very different that I had to develop a whole new art historical vocabulary to describe what I was seeing. Words cannot express how thankful I am to be able to interpret art, both Western and non-Western, in new ways. In effect, I see differently now and it is amazing.

I was quite surprised by the diversity of Indian cultures. The Indian subcontinent is a melting pot of local culture, religions, and family customs that cannot just be explained in a textbook. Drawing from multiple sources, I had to assimilate the knowledge to create a mental image of life in India hundreds of years ago and today. I now feel like a world of cultural possibility is to open to me, and I cannot wait to explore it further!

Participating in research has taught me a thing or two about pushing boundaries. Professor Meister was always encouraging me to think more and more outside of canonical interpretations. Already, I have used this skill on essays time and time again. While the preparation process may be longer, I find myself writing more detailed and personally fulfilling papers.

Getting involved in research will help my your post graduate life. This project was my first big, do-it-all-myself research project. I learned a lot about taking the initiative to search for novel ways of approaching my topic, especially in times of a lack of concrete evidence. In my post-graduate life, I foresee the sleuthing skills I gained during this project will help me as I prepare my master’s dissertation or any research project really.

I would advice students thinking about getting involved in research to not be afraid to move out of their comfort zone. By doing so, you learn completely different ways of looking at life that you may have never thought of before."