My research focuses on 19th-century art and visual culture, with an emphasis on new media such as photography and illustrated newspapers. My current research on children’s picture books and instructional texts is inspired by today’s discussions around visual literacy. Like us, the Victorians were inundated with new forms of visual media. My research asks how, amid this profusion of imagery, 19th-century children were taught to look at and interpret pictures. My previous work examined illustrated newspapers and their influence on traditions of painting in Victorian England, as seen in the work of Luke Fildes, Frank Holl and Hubert Herkomer (Printing and Painting the News in Victorian London: The Graphic and Social Realism, 2015).
This course introduces students to the study of art and visual culture. Students will learn how to analyze images and works of art while engaging with select examples of both historical and contemporary art and visual culture.
Fall Term 2020 Winter Term 2021This course examines the history and theory of photography from its origins in the late 18th-century to the present. We will consider photographs and photographic practices from a number of different perspectives, with an emphasis on the following topics: the nature of photography, personal photography, art photography and documentary photography.
Winter Term 2021Why should we care about gender and sexuality when we look at art and other visual images? In this course, students will answer this question by studying feminist art history, as well as scholarship addressing LGBTQI identities and intersections between gender, sexuality and race.
Fall Term 2020Selected topics in art history and visual culture. Prerequisite: Any 200-level Art history course or consent of the instructor.
Winter Term 2021Selected topics that highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the Liberal Arts and Sciences. This seminar-style class is a key aspect of the Augustana First Year Experience. The focus and content of each course are determined by faculty interests, and vary from year to year.
Fall Term 2020