|
honors & awards
UAH Humanities
Center Research Grant (Research in Italy), 2001 and 2002
UAH Foundation Distinguished Teaching Award, 2000-2001
UAH Mini-Grant (Research in Italy and Germany), 1999 and 2000 presentations
Amazons,
Roma, and the Revealed Breast
SECAC - Mobile, Alabama 10/02
AIA annual meeting - New Orleans, Louisiana 01/03
keynote speaker for Alabama Classical Association - Huntsville, Alabama 02/03
Ecstasy
in Miniature: Maenads on Roman Gems
one of eight invited speakers to Decorum and Decadence in Art
Symposium sponsored
by Loyola University and the D'Arcy Museum -
Chicago, Illinois 04/02
Ariadne
Transformed in Pompeii's House of Fabius Rufus
presented at SECAC- Columbia, South Carolina 10/01
publications
In Press Ecstasy
in Miniature: Maenads and Satyrs on Roman Gems
SECAC Review
XIV, 2 (2002)
Dirce
Disrobed Classical Antiquity 20, 2 (2001) 221-238
Multisemantic
Visualizations of the Bacchanalia in Roman Relief Sculpture
New
Scholars/New Ideas, 2 (1995)
teaching
During my doctoral
studies at UCLA the faculty in art history, classics, and history guided
me through the challenges of working in the interdisciplinary field of
ancient culture. For a minor field I chose to study medieval art. Upon
completing my coursework, or so I thought, I discovered that my minor
field advisor was leaving the university. If I wanted to finish in a
timely manner I would need to change minors, which I did, choosing Renaissance
art. This potential setback turned into an asset. At UAH, in addition
to the survey of Ancient to Medieval art, I teach a variety of upper-level
courses in Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance art, including special topics courses such as Greek and Roman Theater and Roman Women.
research interests
Until the summer of
2002 my research had focused on female figures in the circle of the wine
god Dionysus such as his celebrants, maenads, and his consort, Ariadne.
I also explored female figures that came into conflict with the god such
as Dirce, who was trampled to death under a bull for her impiety. A
characteristic shared by all three figures was that artists often portrayed
them with
bared breasts. My current goal is to explore this complex topic in an
interdisciplinary book entitled The Breast Revealed, which will include
analyses of historical and mythological figures. As a springboard into
this project I am working on an article-length manuscript Amazons,
Roma, and the Revealed Breast. The Goddess Roma was the embodiment
of Rome and a complex figure who symbolized political and religious ideas.
Numerous studies have identified Roma's appearance using attributes such
as her helmet, weapons, globes, and trophies. However, one attribute
that scholars have overlooked is her revealed breast. The majority of
representations of Roma as a complete figure, either standing or sitting,
portrayed her as an Amazon with one breast exposed. Her Amazon costume,
deriving from a long tradition in Greek art, did not necessitate revealing
the breast; artists and patrons chose her guise purposefully. My research
explores possible interpretations of the revealed breast in images of
Roma as they developed and standardized in the early imperial period. |
