Matthew Sova is a senior History of Art and Architecture and Anthropology double major at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently completing an undergraduate honors thesis on the Ottonian convent church of Saint Cyriakus in Gernrode, Germany, under the mentorship of Professor Shirin Fozi. Due to the generosity of the Friends of Frick Fine Arts and the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Office of the Associate Dean, he traveled to Germany in Spring 2015 to complete his research on this site. He was awarded the Milton Fine Museum Professional Fellowship for the 2014-2015 academic year, and works at the Society for Contemporary Craft under Executive Director Janet McCall. He was also a member of the Brackenridge Fellowship in Summer 2014. Matthew has interned at the American Jewish Museum in Squirrel Hill; participated in an archaeological excavation of a Civil War prison camp on Johnson’s Island, Ohio; conducted research on Florence Cathedral with Professor Franklin Toker; been an undergraduate teaching assistant for Introduction to World Art; and assisted in two separate Museum Studies Seminars. After graduation, he hopes to continue his education in medieval art and architecture.
Matthew will give a presentation entitled "Women and Empore: The Issue of Gendered Space in Ottonian Architecture," at HAAARCH 2015.