PhD Graduate Martina Zago on her decision to pursue graduate studies at UBC
Commenting on her passion for political philosophy, PhD Graduate Martina Zago says she “wanted to understand what kind of place there was for beauty in the world,” and that UBC was “an ideal place for studying the history of political thought and critical theory,” two of her main interests.
PhD Candidate Martina Zago receives SSHRC funding for project investigating historical European definitions of “civilization”
Martina’s dissertation explores European debates over civilization, barbarism, and savagery in relation to extra-European states and peoples during the age of ‘modern Orientalism,’ 1798-1945. She argues some of the most interesting meaning-makers in this context were visual artists who took to heart the task of defining and contesting the boundaries of what was then considered civilized, barbarous, and savage.