Letter from the Director

               Another year has gone by, and I am happy to say it was a busy and productive one for the Art history program. Not only does the number of our majors and minors continue to grow at an impressive rate, but we also had the pleasure of admitting our first graduate students.

                Our first cohort of master’s students is just completing their first year in the new program, and we have already admitted several more for the upcoming 2007-08 academic year. Ellen Todd graciously agreed to serve as graduate advisor and is skillfully shepherding our students through the newly minted course of studies.

                It would have been impossible to take on the extra work of the master’s program were it not for the newest addition to our faculty, Margaret Richardson. As a new term faculty member with a specialty in modern and contemporary art and a research interest in south Asia, she has taken on the herculean task of teaching many of our general education courses. These courses often introduce students to art history, and it is because of dedicated teachers such as Dr. Richardson that we are able to attract so many gifted majors.

                We also continue to make progress with the digital image database. As more and more of the faculty transition from using slides to using digital images, we are working to ensure that our image collections remain relevant and useful in the classroom. This process is expensive, but with support from the dean’s office, we have funding for the work for a few more years. Although we won’t be able to digitize the entire library, we can use these images to supplement such online collections as Artstor and transition to a digital format with minimal disruption.

                As you will read later in this newsletter, the entire Art History faculty has been involved in interesting new research projects, but special recognition had to go to Carol Mattusch. Her most recent book, The Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum: Life and Afterlife of a Sculpture Collection, received the Charles Rufus Morley Book Award from the College Art Association (see sidebar), one of the highest honors offered for art history research and a true mark of accomplishment. Many contratulations to Dr.  Mattusch for an honor that is well deserved.

                As always, I encourage you to keep in touch with the program by sending us news of your whereabouts and achievements. We always enjoy hearing from you. 

Robert DeCaroli, PhD

Director, Art History Program