A carrel of one's own

What is your thesis?
“It’s about Greek poetry, these two Greek poets, Nossis and Antipater, and how they create space in the mind of their readers. How they invoke an idea of imagined space using two techniques: ekphrasis and deixis.”

What made you want a carrel?
“All my books are in that section right over there, so convenience. I have a lot of books on my shelf, and I like being able to keep all of them in one place. It’s nice to have my own space. But also, these giant windows are so wonderful.”

How did you customize your carrel?
“A lot of these things are actually from my travels. I have a lot of postcards from the Acropolis Museum in Greece. I did an archaeological dig in Sparta over the summer of 2023. I have a little wax owl my sister got me when we learned I was coming to Bryn Mawr.”

Ellie Leonardo ’26

What is your thesis?

“My thesis is about this Byzantine princess named Theophano, who marries Emperor Otto II, and her time in the Ottonian court and how she’s blending the Byzantine and Ottonian systems of power available to women to enact her own political goals.”

What is the benefit of having a carrel?

“All the Byzantine books are right here. As a senior who lives off campus, having somewhere to store my books is really useful. There are some books that you aren’t allowed to check out of Carpenter, but you can check out to your carrel.”

Macey Ellis ’26

What is your thesis?

“My thesis is focusing on bath houses from all different areas of the Roman Empire: Rome, the Netherlands, Syria, and Tunisia, and I’m comparing them to see if there’s any local tradition that persists. I excavated at a bathhouse these last two years and am going back this summer.

How do you manage sharing a carrel (with Leonardo)?

“I get the carrel after 4 p.m. and on Sundays, and Ellie has it during the day and Saturdays. I decorated it first because I didn’t know we were sharing. The silver stars were me; they were in a hall I was in sophomore year. There’s a spider web on them now, but I don’t want to anger him.”

What is your thesis?

“I’m writing about cross-dressing in ancient Greek theater. I’m looking at both comedy and tragedy and how they handle the specifics of male-to-female cross-dressing characters. I am a theater practitioner, and I’ve done that in mostly female and nonbinary casts. I’m also interested in Shakespeare, and there’s a lot of research on that in Shakespeare and very little work on cross-dressing in Greek theaters.”

Why did you want a carrel?

“When I got to Bryn Mawr as a freshman and saw all of the carrels in Carpenter, I was so excited for when I was a senior and could have one. I love this library and think it’s so beautiful. And I have a lot of real estate for pictures here. I have a lot of museum postcards and notes from my dad and from some classmates, some sweet motivational stuff. I also have my Cicero bust.”

Do you have post-graduation plans?

“I have one more semester left at Bryn Mawr in the fall. After that, I’m planning to do a teaching residency in the Philadelphia public schools through Drexel that starts in summer 2027.”

What is your thesis?

“My thesis is on Oroonoko, or, the Royal Slave: A True History, a 1688 book by Aphra Behn. A lot of the research on this book is about Oroonoko, the narrator, or Behn herself, one of the first English women to make a career out of writing. Throughout this general discussion of the book, there’s a lot of sidelining of the character of Imoinda, Oroonoko’s wife. In my thesis, I’m centering on how Behn treats Imoinda and how this treatment of her, which is fetishization, is actually what brings this book into a larger discussion.”

How did you customize your carrel?

“Most of my things I picked up on my travels. One of my best friends in middle school gave me this frog figure, and these little goats are from Muji. I have a lot of postcards from Special Collections here, and some I picked up at a thrift store.”

What is your thesis?

“My thesis is on policy outcomes around gender rights in South America, specifically Paraguay and Argentina, and the role that the Catholic Church played in both countries during the democratic transition and how gender rights and women’s rights developed later. I’m originally from Paraguay, and I was part of a few movements back home. I think the fact that I was able to come to a women’s college and had one of my concentrations in comparative politics and gender helped me look at how women’s rights develop.”

How is the carrel helpful to your research?

“I really love having a specific space on campus that I can always count on. It helps me build a routine and get in the mindset. My best friend’s carrel is right there. And I always like a space I can decorate, and I love having pictures of my friends and family. Some of my best papers were written here.”

This story is part of our "26 Things to Love About Bryn Mawr in 2026" spring issue of the Bulletin.