I'm Ilia Curto Pelle

September 2023 -

Secretary

Oxford University Byzantine Society

During my first year at Oxford, I became part of the Oxford University Byzantine Society, the premier Oxford student organization for the promotion of Byzantine studies. I was honored to be elected as secretary of the OUBS for the 2023-2024 year. As secretary, it is my responsibility to assist the president of the OUBS in all of his capacities, which includes the organization of a yearly conference on Byzantine Studies at Oxford, a research trip to Byzantine monasteries in Georgia, and a conference panel at the 2024 International Medieval Congress in Leeds. I will also be the reference person for the incoming graduate class of the Late Antique and Byzantine Studies program and will co-organize academic and extra-curricular events for the student body.

November 2022 -

RAST Administrator

Research Assistance Support Team (RAST)

The moment I knew that I would start my MPhil program at the University of Oxford, I decided to look for a job to supplement my studies. After several interviews, I was offered the position of Administrator of the Research Assistance Support Team at the Said Business School at the University of Oxford. RAST is a new service within the Faculty Services division of the University, which offers full-time research assistance to the faculty of the SBS. My responsibilities include the management of the RAST email inbox,the processing and allocation of RA requests from faculty, the storage and organization of RAST-related documentation, and the gathering and reviewing of feedback. My goal is to put RAST on the SBS map and to develop an innovative approach to research assistance, which could become a model for similar teams in other departments at Oxford and other universities.

November 2020 - April 2022

Intern

Bulgarian-American Fulbright Commission

The life of many was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The general uncertainty of the time made the application process for universities an even more daunting task for Bulgarian high-school students than it usually is. This is why, in the waning months of 2020, I reached out to the Fulbright Commission in Bulgaria to assist them in their task of promoting American tertiary education among Bulgarian students. To accomplish this task, I assisted Fulbright in the organization of a virtual U.S. College Alumni Fair, where high-school students from Bulgarian schools got the chance to meet current university students, staff members, and alumni. The event was a great success, gathering over 200 high-school students from all over the country. In addition, the stories of Bulgarian students in the US were gathered and published by the Fulbright Commission as a record of success stories that will serve as a pipeline for potential future Bulgarian students to apply to universities in the United States.

September 2018 - May 2022

Cataloger

Princeton Numismatic Collection

Since September 2018, I worked together with Professor Alan Stahl in the Princeton Numismatic collection. My responsibilities included the analysis, referencing, cataloging, photographing, and labeling of scyphate and flat silver, billon, and copper coins from the 12th and 13th centuries. I particularly focused on Bulgarian, Serbian, late Komnenian, Latin, Nicaean, Epirote, and early Palaiologan coinage. I also aided Professor Stahl in several capacities, most notably by creating a new and updated manual for inputting coin data, assisting in teaching sessions with fellow undergraduate students, and worked in several areas of the collection on the cataloging and photographing of coins dating from the 6th century BC to the 19th century AD.

October 2022

Wakeham Humanities Scholarship

St. Catherine's College, University of Oxford

The Wakeham Humanities Scholarship is awarded to a distinguished student of St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford in the humanities. It is offered to a graduate member of St. Catherine's College, who is enrolled in a masters degree program (MPhil, MSt) in literature or history. I had the honor of being awarded this Scholarship upon my admission to the University of Oxford and St. Catherine's College.

May 2022

Membership of Phi Beta Kappa (ΦΒΚ) honor society

Phi Beta Kappa (ΦΒΚ) honor society, Princeton chapter

The Phi Beta Kappa Society (ΦΒΚ) is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. I was extremely honored to be invited to become a member of PBK for my academic successes during my undergraduate education at Princeton University.

May 2022

Judith Laffan Memorial Prize

Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University

The Judith Laffan Memorial Prize is awarded by the department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University every year to an undergraduate student at Princeton University for outstanding progress and dedication to the Arabic language. I had the honor of receiving this prize during the Class Day ceremony in May 2022.

December 2014-November 2016

First Place

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Student Institute

A chance for every young inquisitive person in Bulgaria to showcase his or her aptitude for research in many different areas of study by developing original work and defending it in front of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. I am extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to participate in the first and third iterations of the Student Institute in 2014 and 2016 respectively with my projects on the "Symbiosis of Cultures and Religions in the Palatine Chapel of Palermo" and "The Influences of Ancient Culture on the Iconography of the Virgin Mary". I was even more honored to have received the first prize in the respective categories for those two pieces of research as a high-school student.