CHRISTIANA MARIE BRIGGS

SUMMER INTERN

Christiana Marie Briggs discovered the work of Hord Architects through attending St. John the Apostle in her hometown of Leesburg, Virginia. Through witnessing its construction and later attending mass frequently after its completion, Christiana Marie experienced how thoughtful and beautiful design can both transform and deepen personal belief and a faith community. 

In 2023, Christiana Marie graduated from Ave Maria University, having majored in literature and double minored in communication and medieval studies. While at AMU, Christiana Marie participated in the formation of the university's literary journal Magnify and subsequently served as co-editor of short fiction. Her interest in the development of literary forms and authors' use of setting led her to formulate a senior thesis on the transposition of the English country house poem tradition to the genre of the novel in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The relationship between social stability, happiness, and virtue as the human telos became significant themes in Christiana Marie's thesis, as she focused particularly on Austen's employment of the country house as a setting that both symbolizes and reveals the character of its owner. 

As a consequence of this study into the relationship between poetry, language, and architectural setting, Christiana Marie was moved to pursue a master's degree in architecture at the University of Notre Dame, where her childhood hobbies of drawing and painting have become a full-time occupation. The parallels between literary tradition, authorship, architectural heritage, and design continue to be an interest and inspiration to her and she eagerly anticipates her penultimate semester of study in Rome. 

Education:

University of Notre Dame - Master of Architecture Candidate 2026

Ave Maria University - Bachelor of Arts, Literature 2023

Organizations, Honors, Activities 

Valedictorian of the Class of 2023 - Ave Maria University

2023 Literature Department Award - Ave Maria University

Summa Cum Laude - Ave Maria University 

Honors Student - Ave Maria University

Sorin Fellow  - de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at University of Notre Dame 

Students for Classical Architecture, Notre Dame University of Notre Dame Student Club

Institute of Classical Architecture and Art - Student Member