I specialize in medieval art in western Europe in tandem with the historical arts of Africa. My research explores how the two were treated, sometimes together, in the course of their respective receptions in European and American museums. The plurality of the term "primitive" and investigations of "primitivism(s)" that move beyond Modernist painting have been of particular interest in my thinking about the history of art.
Currently I am working on the art historian Meyer Schapiro, with a particular focus on how non-western art shaped his understanding of Romanesque art. I am concurrently working on a book length study of the museums of the Trocadéro palace in Paris.
I have taught courses on the history of museums, the political complexities of non-western arts in western museums, and an introduction to global art history through the concept of pilgrimage.
Education:
Ph.D., Columbia University (2015)
M.A., Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London (2004)
B.A., University of Chicago (2002)
Courses:
Art Across Cultures: Pilgrimage from West to East
Introduction to the History of Museums
Exhibiting African Art
Exhibition Seminar: African Nomadic Architecture
Art and Architecture of Africa
Primitivism in Paris