Student Work
Gretchen Stolte is interested in rock art and has taken advantage of the interdisciplinary nature of that study, looking into anthropology, geology, and mapping. In the spring of 2005, Gretchen traveled to Australia on the Amy and Ross Kan Travel Grant scholarship to study aboriginal art and pictographs up close. She even took on a two-month independent research project after her term of study there. Gretchen looks to present her findings at an on campus art history symposium open to undergraduate students this fall.
Art History major John Murphy is the 2005 recipient of the Wilma Wittemyer Scholarship and a member of Mortar Board and the Art History Association. John’s Honor’s College thesis is on the Jesuits of South America. “I am interested in the art that was produced in the missions, particularly the sculpture that was made mostly by indigenous craftsman, sort of under the tutelage of the Jesuit priests.” One of the best things about the Art History department is the energy of its faculty, he says. “I found that to be pretty infectious… I invariably find myself getting really into what they are doing because they are so passionate about it.”
Selected Faculty Work
Assistant Professor James G. Harper’s research on the art of the renaissance and baroque periods focuses on several intersecting fields, like the intersection of art and politics. James’ has been examining how European artists imagine and represent the Ottoman Empire and its peoples. “A recent development in my teaching has been the reopening of the university’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. I like to have my students interact directly with artworks, and use the university’s collections in my teaching,” says James.
Professor Jeffrey M. Hurwit specializes in the history of art and culture in Archaic and Classical Greece. He approaches the work of art as an expression of culture, and tries to situate it within its historical, philosophical, and social contexts.