As a specialist in the history of architecture and urbanism (M.A and Ph.D. Cornell University; B.A. University of Maryland) my work centers on architecture's relationship to culture, place, identity and memory. Ongoing teaching projects include development of courses for the Ithaca Core Curriculum on the architectural expression of racial, class and gender identities (Placing Race and Gender, Reading Buildings), the study of pre-industrial "green" building principles (Architecture Across Cultures), the incorporation of 3-D computer modeling in the study of Urban Design (Great Spaces), and the exploration of architecture's histories through the lens of literature. My scholarship focuses on architecture in France and Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries; recent publication projects examine the legacy of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the illustrated travel album as a medium of cultural exchange, the 19th century transformation of Paris, and the history of attitudes toward the architectural past. Other publications explore the writings of 19th century French architect and preservation theorist Viollet-le-Duc and the architectural impacts of the French Revolution.
Selected Courses
- Architecture Across Cultures (ICC Themes: Mind, Body and Spirit; Quest for a Sustainable Future)
- Reading Buildings (Identities; Power & Justice)
- Architecture from Renaissance to Revolution (Identities, Power & Justice)
- Placing Race and Gender (Identities, Power & Justice, Diversity)
- Great Spaces: An Introduction to Urban Design
- Memorable Cities
- Seminar: Architecture and Gender
- Seminar: Architecture and Difference
- Seminar: Architecture in the Contact Zone
- Tutorial: Foundational Texts in Architecture
- Art and Politics in Paris: Reading Power in Space and Image (team-taught w/J. Germann)