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In July 2008, Archer St. Clair Harvey stepped down as Chair of the department after serving for the past three years (with an interlude during which Susan Sidlauskas skillfully took over the helm). During her stewardship, Dr. Harvey oversaw the astonishing growth of the department which now numbers nineteen faculty! We welcomed to campus this fall our newest faculty member, Tarek Kahlaoui. Awarded his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008, Dr. Kahlaoui

specializes in Islamic art, offering undergraduate and graduate courses in Islamic Art and Culture. While Dr. Kahlaoui’s primary responsibility lies in the Department of Art History, his appointment is shared with the History Department, in which he teaches one course annually. His research centers on the cartography of the Mediterranean world in the 11th-16th centuries, Ottoman numismatics, early Islamic codicology and paleography, and the archeology of the Tunisian island of Jerba. Dr. Kahlaoui brings an entirely new field of teaching and research to Rutgers, complementing offerings in the History department and the Middles Eastern Studies program. His expertise in medieval Islamic art enriches Rutgers Art History’s traditional instruction in Western medieval art, and his familiarity with modern Islamic visual culture adds a broadened perspective to our offerings in modern European and American art.

Our graduate program has also expanded and taken a new direction with a Master’s track in Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies, recently approved by Douglas Greenberg, Executive Dean of the School of Art and Sciences. Developed by Professors Archer Harvey and Tod Marder from the certificate program in Historic Preservation, the program is now accepting applications for fall 2009--please see the full description of this exciting initiative further on in the Newsletter. We can look forward to future events such as the symposium organized last spring by Dr Marder and undergraduate students enrolled in the Historic Preservation certificate program: “Candlelight Vigil marking the 5th Anniversary of the looting of the Baghdad museum.”

The excellence of our graduate program has been recognized by the inclusion of Art History among six Humanities departments in SAS singled out for funding by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Beginning this year, our grad students are eligible to compete for Mellon summer fellowships and dissertation-year fellowships intended to support their timely progress towards completion of the degree.

During the past year, the department has hosted numerous events, only a few of which can be singled out here. A crowning highlight was the inauguration in February 2008 of the annual Sydney Leon Jacobs Lecture in American Art, generously endowed by alumna Barbara Jacobs Mitnick--read further on for the full story. Our Graduate Students Organization invited prominent scholars to campus for the Distinguished Lecture series; the impressive roster of speakers included: Dr. Roger Rothman, The Samuel H. Kress Chair and Assistant Professor of Art History at Bucknell University, “Dali's Femininity”; Dr. Giovanni Freni, Index of Christian Art, Princeton University, “Visual Allegories and their Interpretive Paradigms”; Dr. Jesus Escobar, Fairfield University, “Baroque Architecture in the Spanish World: History-Writing and Myth-Making”; Dr. Damian Dombrowski, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, “Apotheosis in Bernini's Later Portrait Busts”; Dr. Nina Rowe, Fordham University, “Confrontation and Submission: New Approaches to Ecclesia and Synagoga”; and Dr. Jacquelyn Tuerk, Kean University, “Sacred Space and Magical Amulets”. This past fall, graduate students enrolled in the Curatorial Studies Certificate Program and working under the supervision of its director Professor Joan Marter had the extraordinary opportunity to organize and contribute to the catalog of the stunning exhibition, “Pop Art & After: Prints & Popular Culture,” held at the Zimmerli Art Museum.

The Art History faculty was engaged as usual in activities that crossed departmental borders. In fall 2008, Professors Tod Marder and Laura Weigert served as respondents at the interdisciplinary symposium “Performances of Power: Architecture, Landscape, and the Stage in Absolutist France,” co-sponsored by Art History. Also last fall, Professors Andres Zervigon and Tanya Sheehan co-founded the “Developing Room,” a working group on photography drawn from several different departments under the umbrella of the Rutgers Center for Critical Analysis. In addition, the Department was proud to collaborate with the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions in presenting the exhibition, “Sacred Spaces: Photographs of Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey by Mary Cross,” which opened in October 2008 at the Brodsky Center Gallery at the Heldrich Hotel in downtown New Brunswick. The Department continues to support as well the initiatives of the Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series, a rich program of events co-organized by Art history alumna, Ferris Olin (PhD, 1998).

2008 saw a major boost to our capacity to deliver the highest quality images in our classrooms with the acquisition of the database ARTstor, made possible, thanks to Dr. Harvey, by a grant from the Academic Excellence Fund. In a separate report in this issue, Visual Resources Curator Don Beetham provides further details on this and other news from the VRC.

Undergraduate Art History majors are currently energizing the Art History Society--read about their past and upcoming events in the report from their president, Sakina Namazi, and visit the new undergraduate lounge created in the space on the lower level of Voorhees Hall formerly inhabited by the photo study boards (no longer used in our changed digital environment). The space is being enhanced by amenities such as a large screen TV and DVD player.

Read on to learn about the many accomplishments of our faculty, students and fellow alumni. In this issue we honor alumnus Phillip Earenfight, winner of the CAA Exhibition Catalog award. We are proud of his achievement and those of our students and alumni who contribute immeasurably to the national and international profile of the department.
On behalf of the whole department, I express here our gratitude to the many individuals whose contributions provide ongoing opportunities to promising young art historians. In particular, we thank Art History alumni Meredith and Michael Bzdak, for their annual scholarship for undergraduates to study in Milan (a separate account is included). We recognize a special debt to the family of Patrick Quigley, an alumnus tragically lost in the events of 9/11, who established the Quigley award in support of two distinguished undergraduate seniors each year. Their generosity offers a rare opportunity to aspiring art and architectural historians to realize their dreams.

The Department of Art History is looking forward to another exciting year. Despite increasing budgetary constraints, the department will pursue excellence in all its endeavors. Please help us ensure that continued excellence by lending your support to our programs and, above all, our students. At the end of the newsletter, you will find a handy form to send us your news along with a contribution to the department.

Department of Art History
Voorhees Hall
71 Hamilton Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Tel: 732-932-7041
Fax: 732-932-1261

Catherine Puglisi, Chairperson

Erik Thunø , Undergraduate Director

Susan Sidlauskas, Graduate Program Director

Cathy Pizzi, Department Administrator

Geralyn Colvil, Student Coordinator

The Department Website is maintained by the Art History Webmaster.
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