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New Faculty 2007 was a year full of challenge and success, and 2008 promises even more excitement. Since our last newsletter, we have expanded the scope of our program with two new faculty members. Tatiana Flores (PhD Columbia) is a specialist in Latin American and contemporary art. Her first book reconceptualizes the development of avant-garde art in post-revolutionary Mexico. Her current research deals with Venezuela under Chavez. Dr. Flores was previously with Florida State University. Tanya Sheehan (PhD Brown University), a postdoctoral associate who will join us as associate professor in fall, 2008, is currently completing a book based on her dissertation, which examines the relationship between studio portrait photography and medical discourse in nineteenth-century Philadelphia. She has recently begun a second book, which examines racial jokes in American photographic humor. Our department is currently conducting a search, in tandem with the history department, for a specialist in Islamic studies. So far, we have heard outstanding talks by Ali Anooshahr, Tarek Kahlaoui, Roxani Margariti, and Melanie Michailidis. As always, we are pleased to host lectures by distinguished scholars in many specialties. In February, Thomas Crow will speak on “Screen Memories in the Art of Ed Ruscha: Los Angeles as a Pop City,” presented as part of the Sydney Leon Jacobs Lectures in American Art. This lecture series was made possible through an endowment from alumna Barbara Mitnick in honor of her father, for whom it was named. In March, we will welcome Saloni Mathur, who will give the talk “On Oil, Antiquities, and the War in Iraq: The View from an Indian Artist.” Our Historic Preservation Certificate Program continues to draw new students interested in cultural resources, and several speakers have addressed eager audiences on various related issues over the past year. They have included Charles A. Birnbaum and Jayne Merkel. In conjunction with Italian Studies, Classics, and the New Jersey Italian and Italian American Heritage Foundation, the Certificate Program also hosted Alex Bauer. In October, we presented “The F Word: Reclaiming and Redefining Feminism in the Visual Arts,” a symposium on feminism and the arts, featuring Anna Chave, Elin Diamond, Coco Fusco, Aviva Rahmani, Kristine Stiles, Despina Stratigakos, Abigail van Slyck, and Midori Yoshimoto, along with faculty members Joan Marter, Susan Sidlauskas, and Andres Zervigon. The symposium received the support of Isabel Nazario, Associate Vice President for Academic and Public Partnerships in the Arts and Humanities and was co-sponsored by the Institute for Women and Art and the Feminist Art Project. We’re glad to say that attendance exceeded all of our expectations. Our faculty continues to add to their list of accomplishments; they are too numerous to mention here, but you can learn more in the Faculty section of this newsletter. We are equally proud of the achievements of our students and alumni (again, read on for more), who enhance the luster of our reputation nationally and internationally. We are also grateful to the many people who provide ongoing opportunities to promising young scholars. In particular, we thank Meredith and Michael Bzdak, both RU alumni, for their annual scholarship for undergraduates to study in Milan, and the family of Patrick Quigley, an alumnus tragically lost in the events of 9/11, who support two distinguished undergraduate seniors each year. Their generosity allows future art and architectural historians to realize their dreams, and the future of our discipline to look especially bright.
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