Julia is a PhD candidate studying 19th and 20th century art and material culture, with a particular focus on design's role in the spread and contestation of American colonialism. With interests ranging from art historical methodologies to craft revivals and the visual history of natural and social sciences, she is currently working in collaboration with the Hopi Tribe of Northern Arizona on a project that explores the intersecting--and enduring--histories of design practice, federal craft legislation, and intellectual property.

Julia received an MA from the Williams College/Clark Art Institute Graduate Program in the History of Art and a BA (with honors) from The University of Chicago. She was also a participant in the Otsego Institute for Native American Art History at the Fenimore Art Museum (2019) and the Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies (NCAIS) Summer Institute at the Newberry Library (2020).