Sunday, December 14, 2025 - 
alumni,ARCA,Edgar Tijhuis,interview,Nikki Georgopulos
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alumni,ARCA,Edgar Tijhuis,interview,Nikki Georgopulos
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Meet our Alumni — ARCA PG Cert Spotlight Series: Nikki Georgopulos, curator and assistant professor
Welcome to ARCA’s PG Cert Alumni Spotlight Series, a collection of in-depth Q&A interviews conducted by Edgar Tijhuis*, highlighting the professional journeys, achievements, and ongoing contributions of graduates from ARCA’s Postgraduate Certificate Programmes in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection. Through these conversations, we aim to showcase the diverse paths our alumni have taken—across academia, law enforcement, museums, research, policy, and the cultural heritage sector—and to share the insights, motivations, and experiences that continue to shape their work in safeguarding the world’s shared artistic legacy.
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| Nikki Georgopulos |
I had just finished my undergraduate degree in history, and knew that a PhD in art history was on the horizon, but I was eager for more hands-on, object-based research before launching into my formal graduate studies.
I had participated in a provenance research training program, run by prof Marc Masurovsky, and was hungry for more. Marc directed me to ARCA, and the rest is history!
As a second-generation Greek-American, I was particularly interested in researching the fate of archaeological sites and properties in Nazi-occupied Greece; while World War II-era looting and theft was, by that time, already well-trodden ground, I was surprised by how little research had focused on Greece. ARCA’s coursework and thesis structure provided the perfect opportunity to dig into that topic.
Can you describe a moment in the program that had a lasting impact on you—personally or professionally?
It’s a close tie, but I will never forget walking the empty halls of the Musei Capitolini in the museum security course. Aside from being a totally transcendent aesthetic experience, having Dirk Drent walk alongside us and help us to see things through his eyes entirely changed the way I move through museums as a curator and art historian. Honorable mention goes to the visit to Cerveteri with Stefano Alessandrini; that day came so close to making me change my whole life plan to join his dig! Alas, a girl can dream.
Can you describe a moment in the program that had a lasting impact on you—personally or professionally?
It’s a close tie, but I will never forget walking the empty halls of the Musei Capitolini in the museum security course. Aside from being a totally transcendent aesthetic experience, having Dirk Drent walk alongside us and help us to see things through his eyes entirely changed the way I move through museums as a curator and art historian. Honorable mention goes to the visit to Cerveteri with Stefano Alessandrini; that day came so close to making me change my whole life plan to join his dig! Alas, a girl can dream.
What was your favorite course or topic, and why did it stand out?
The course that has stayed with me most was Valerie Higgins’ class on antiquities and identity. Though my subfield now as an art historian is far from those materials, Valerie’s methods were instrumental in shaping how I now think about cultural heritage in any form and its relationship to identity and geopolitics.
Did the program change or shape your career path?
After ARCA, I earned my doctorate in art history and went on to be a curator at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Though I’m now a professor, I still dabble in curatorial work and teach in curatorial studies. What struck me throughout all of my graduate work was how absent the questions of heritage, provenance, and law were from my courses and the broader discourse in academic art history. ARCA taught me to think about artworks as objects with long lives, rather than direct and immediate portals between the moment of their creation and ours, and how those stories shift the very meaning of the objects over time. Being attuned to these questions – to the lives of these objects and their inherence in broader economic, political, legal, and social histories – has shaped the kind of art history I practice, both in my research and in my teaching. I’ve still never seen these topics covered in any great depth outside of the program, though I try to do ARCA proud and fold them into my own courses!
What was it like to live and study in Amelia, Italy?
It was tremendous. I was living on a shoestring and the generosity of others, and it was one of the happiest moments of my life. Amelia is such a warm and welcoming place; it strikes me now that that is only the case because of the deep respect and sense of reciprocity that the ARCA staff and faculty have engendered there. I saw every member of the ARCA community treat the town and its inhabitants with incredible care; it’s a place we all came to love and treasure. I’ll never forget my special table at La Locanda!
Can you share a memorable interaction you had with faculty, guest speakers, or fellow students?
This gives me a chance to follow up on the time spent with Stefano in Cerveteri. His knowledge and energy were so inspiring. As a teacher now myself, looking back on that day in the beating sun, what strikes me was that he even though he had likely spent hundreds of days just like that one at that site, he was still passionate about sharing it with the students, and his excitement was contagious. He also took real time to talk to us individually, encouraging us to pursue our work with his same vim and fervor.
Can you share a memorable interaction you had with faculty, guest speakers, or fellow students?
This gives me a chance to follow up on the time spent with Stefano in Cerveteri. His knowledge and energy were so inspiring. As a teacher now myself, looking back on that day in the beating sun, what strikes me was that he even though he had likely spent hundreds of days just like that one at that site, he was still passionate about sharing it with the students, and his excitement was contagious. He also took real time to talk to us individually, encouraging us to pursue our work with his same vim and fervor.
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| ARCA 2023 Nikki Georgopulos, Gerald Fitzgerald and Summer Collins |
I also met one of my best friends through ARCA, and though we now live far apart, that summer will always be a shared memory for us. I was in her wedding, and my father refers to her as his “other daughter.” Looking back, one thing that strikes me about the group of people I went through the program with is how diverse and disparate all of our experiences were. I was 23, still a kid in many ways, and spending such intense time with such a wide variety of people from different walks and stages of life was a true gift. I still read an email written to me by one of my fellow students, the inimitable Gerald Fitzgerald, when I’m feeling lost or down, and I doubt I would have ever met him without ARCA. I went into ARCA knowing that it would shape my education and professional path; I could never have anticipated how much the relationships I formed there would mean to me, even over a decade later.
What advice would you give to someone considering applying for the 2026 session?
It’s the same advice I give to all my students: show up as yourself, and have the courage of your convictions. Saying “yes” to even uncertain things brings so much unexpected joy and wisdom into life. Just do it!
In one sentence: why should someone join ARCA's program?
ARCA is a singular program in its interdisciplinarity, bringing together teachers and students from across so many fields and walks of life; whatever you may think you’re going there to learn, you’ll be constantly surprised and challenged by what the program has to offer.
Plus: Massimo’s macchiato is still the best I’ve ever had!
About Nikki Georgopulos
Dr Nikki Georgopulos is an art historian, curator, and educator specialising in European art of the nineteenth century. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory at the University of British Columbia. She previously served as the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow in the Department of French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. She received her PhD in Art History & Criticism from Stony Brook University in 2020, and has held positions at the Morgan Library & Museum, the International Foundation for Art Research, and the Corning Museum of Glass.
* Dr Edgar Tijhuis is Academic Director at ARCA and is responsible for coordinating ARCA’s postgraduate certificate programmes. Since 2009, he has also taught criminology modules within ARCA's PG Certification programming.
What advice would you give to someone considering applying for the 2026 session?
It’s the same advice I give to all my students: show up as yourself, and have the courage of your convictions. Saying “yes” to even uncertain things brings so much unexpected joy and wisdom into life. Just do it!
In one sentence: why should someone join ARCA's program?
ARCA is a singular program in its interdisciplinarity, bringing together teachers and students from across so many fields and walks of life; whatever you may think you’re going there to learn, you’ll be constantly surprised and challenged by what the program has to offer.
Plus: Massimo’s macchiato is still the best I’ve ever had!
About Nikki Georgopulos
Dr Nikki Georgopulos is an art historian, curator, and educator specialising in European art of the nineteenth century. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory at the University of British Columbia. She previously served as the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow in the Department of French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. She received her PhD in Art History & Criticism from Stony Brook University in 2020, and has held positions at the Morgan Library & Museum, the International Foundation for Art Research, and the Corning Museum of Glass.
* Dr Edgar Tijhuis is Academic Director at ARCA and is responsible for coordinating ARCA’s postgraduate certificate programmes. Since 2009, he has also taught criminology modules within ARCA's PG Certification programming.
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