Medievalist
Focused on the Visual Arts of the European Medieval Period, and the Global Medieval World.
Educator
Lecturing for introductory Art History students, and developing a personal pedagogy.
Writer
Work on Sex & Gender in Manuscript Imagery, Monstrous Depictions, and the Intersection between Text & Image.
Candidate
Currently pursuing (ABD) a PhD in Art History at CUNY and a Graduate Certificate in Africana Studies.
About me
As a doctoral candidate in Art History at the City University of New York Graduate Center, I am presently conducting research and writing in Germany on a Fulbright fellowship. My dissertation focuses on the Leiden Wigalois, a late medieval illuminated copy of Wirnt von Gravenberg’s Arthurian romance from 1210. My interdisciplinary approach considers the images and the text as related, but separate, artistic works with a distinct set of motives and messages; when considered in conjunction, I argue that the entire Leiden Wigalois object speaks to multifarious understandings of identity in Medieval Germany that do not center the young, beautiful, eponymous protagonist, Wigalois. The unusual depictions of subversive sex and gender, for example, are startlingly resonant with contemporary debates around power and identity. I expect to defend this work in November of 2026.
I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art and a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from California State University at Chico in 2014, and a Master of Arts degree in art history from Arizona State University in 2020, having received my Master of Philosophy from the Graduate Center in 2023. I have published on medieval manuscripts, early Modern book culture, and South African photography. My work employs a variety of critical methods, including queer and decolonial theory most recently in my book chapter on Zanele Muholi’s artistic practice.
Curriculum Vitae
Ph.D., Art History, expected 2026
The City University of New York
Graduate Center
Advisor: Dr. Cynthia Hahn
Dissertation: Wirnt von Gravenberg’s Illuminated Wigalois: Depicting Medieval German Identities
Graduate Certificate in Africana Studies, expected 2026
The City University of New York
Graduate Center
Africana Studies Department
M. Phil, 2023
The City University of New York
Exam Areas:
Later Medieval Art 1150-1450, Contemporary African Art, Medieval Manuscripts
M.A., Art History, 2020
Arizona State University
Advisor: Dr. Corine Schleif
Thesis: Mythological Women and Sex: Transgression in Christian and Buddhist Religious Imagery
Graduate Certificate in Medieval Studies, 2020
Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Arizona State University
B.A., Art History, 2014
California State University at Chico
Advisor: Dr. Asa Simon Mittman
Focus: Medieval Art History
B.F.A., Studio Art, 2014
California State University at Chico
Advisor: Dr. Jean Gallagher
Focus: Drawing/Painting, Glass
Culminating Exhibition: Obsession / Anxiety, B-SO Space, 2014
Professional Affiliations
