The Manuel Barkan Dissertation Fellowship was established in 1995 in the name of the first chair of the department by his wife, Toby Barkan Willits. This competitive award supports the academic and living expenses of a doctoral candidate in Art Education who is completing his/her dissertation. Arts Administration, Education and Policy PhD candidate Megan Wanttie has been named as the 2023 Manuel Barkan Dissertation Fellowship Award recipient for her dissertation Pandemic iteration: Constructing alternative ways of knowing & being through critical posthuman educational technology in museums.

Megan holds a a specialization in Museum Education and Administration and is a museum educator with a background in museum programming, collections-based research, and interpretive design. Her practice seeks to address contemporary social justice issues through digital integration within and outside the museum space. Megan received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Texas, studying rituals associated with 18th century French Rococo porcelain as evidence of self-fashioning and performative gender and class identity. Megan is a museum educator with a strong background in museum programming, collections-based research, and interpretive design. Her practice seeks to address contemporary social justice issues through digital integration within and outside the museum space alongside the local community.

Megan will be honored and present on her dissertation during the Barkan and Marantz Award Lecture Series on April 21, 2023. Congratulations to Megan!