Position  
Academic Background   
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Teaching Philosophy
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Notable Academic Appointments & Awards
Publication Highlights     
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• Professor of Art History
• Professor of Women's Studies

• Brown University, Providence, RI - Ph.D. in History of Art, 1984
• Brown University, Providence, RI - M.A. in History of Art, 1975 
• Boston University, Boston, MA - B.A. in History of Art, 1972

• Introduction to Women's Studies
• American and European Art Since 1945
• The Black Artist in America
• Modern Art
• Theoretical Methods in Art History
• Museum Studies    

"The important thing is never to stop questioning!"  Albert Einstein

In the classroom, I am interested in presenting art works that are not simply visually pleasing (many 20th and 21st century works are not), but that inspire us to think -- about the work, its maker, the time in which it was made, and ourselves. In addition, I am committed not only to teaching works that are acknowledged as major achievements, but those that may have been inappropriately overlooked, such as works by women and other marginalized populations.  However, nothing -- not even the best lecture or most insightful article -- can top the dialog that an artwork makes with an interested viewer, on the spot and in the flesh.  Therefore, teaching directly from art, in the street, in studios, and in museums, is an essential part of the learning experience I offer.

I am a specialist in modern and contemporary cultural studies.  This means that my academic training in art history is expanded and enriched by including all areas of material culture in the contemporary world.  I am particularly interested in pop culture, media culture, women's studies, Black studies, and contemporary spirituality within and outside of art.

• Keynote Speaker, "Rrose Sélavy and Gender Performance," 4th Annual Mark Roskill Memorial Graduate Symposium in Art History, April 30, 2004
• Director of Women's Studies at Providence College, 2003-2004
• Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, July 1986-May 1988
  • Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, 1980-1986
  • Adjunct Curator of Prints and Drawings, 1975-1976
• Master Drawings from the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 1983: Award of Distinction, American Association of Museums
• Century of Black Photographers, 1840-1960, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 1983: First Place, New England Museum Association

Publication Highlights

Books

• Seeing and Beyond:  Essays in 18th-21st Century Art in Honor of Kermit S. Champa, written and edited in collaboration with Dr. David Ogawa, Peter Lang, Inc., New York, 2004
• Women Making Art:  Women in the Visual, Literary, and Performing Arts Since 1960, written and edited in collaboration with Dr. Wendy Oliver, Peter Lang, Inc., New York, 2001

Essays

• "Metaphors and Memories:  The Prints and Drawings of Joseph Norman,"  Monologue II, Joseph Norman, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1997
• "The Professional Lives and Training of American Women Artists in the 20th Century," Dictionary of Women Artists, Delia Gaze, ed., Fitzroy Dearborn, London, England, 1997
• "Confluence and Influence:  Photography and the Japanese Print in 1850," Readings in Nineteenth Century Art, Janis Tomlinson, ed., Prentice-Hall, New York, 1996
• "Is Art Central to Art History, and Other Debacles," Museum Management and Curatorship, Spring 1993
• Reconsidering Japonisme:  The Goncourts's Contribution, " Mosaic, Spring 1991
• Cassatt's Color Prints of 1891:  The Unique Evolution of a Palette," Source:  Notes in the History of Art, Spring 1990

Selected Scholarly Presentations and Activities

• Conference Organizer, "Making Connections:  Women of the Academy, the Community, and the Church, National Association of Women in Catholic Higher Education," Providence, RI. June 10th-13th, 2004
• Workshop, "Building and Maintaining Women's Studies Programs," Women's Studies in the New Millennium, National Association for Women and Catholic Higher Education, Boston College, Boston, MA, June 30, 2000
• Yom HaShoah, 2000, Multidisciplinary arts commemoration of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) at Providence College during the week of May 2, 2000, prepared in collaboration with Dr. Joan Branham and Prof. Jane Perel
• Grant for the preservation of the Providence College archive of photographs by Father Edward P. Doyle of the Liberation of Nordhausen Concentration Camp from The Rhode Island Holocaust Memorial Museum, Providence, RI, June 2001
• Moderator and Chair, "The Visual Arts in the 20th Century," International Conference on the Sacred and the Profane, Atlanta, Georgia, October 22, 1995
• Survey of Western Art  course ranked by students as "One of the Ten Best Courses in the College," 1993-present

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