Student Spotlight
Jacqueline Enriquez

A Mississippi State University architecture student will have the opportunity to present her research at the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians annual conference, thanks to a SESAH travel grant.

Jacqueline Enriquez began her academic career at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville and later transferred to MSU, changing her major from nursing to architecture.

“Architecture was a field in which I could be creative and work with my hands to create designs I would be proud of,” she said.

Now as a fourth-year, Enriquez has excelled in her classes, provoking School of Architecture Associate Professor Silvina Lopez Barrera to encourage her to apply for a SESAH grant.

“Throughout the whole process, I had great support from my professor. She was the one to inform and encourage me to apply and submit my research,” she said.

The SESAH conference travel grant consists of a two-stage application process. Enriquez had to create an abstract and write a research paper about an architectural topic. Her research—developed as part of a directed independent study course under the guidance of Lopez Barrera—focuses on the application of Indigenous and vernacular architectural technologies in modern architecture.

"I am really excited and proud of myself,” she said. “I wouldn’t have imagined, coming in first year, the things I have achieved and accomplished through the years. In working on this research, it has encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, but also want to continue to achieve so much more."

Enriquez will present on the Historical Analysis of Indigenous Technologies Applications in Architecture at the October conference in Marietta, Georgia. Read more about SESAH.

By Rileigh Campbell | Communications Intern Class of 2025