Blog Archive

December 30, 2024

Two Retiring Professors Leave a Lasting Impact After Decades of Service

Author: Wanda Motley Odom

When retiring Associate Professor Lynn Mandarano reflects on the most rewarding moments of her decades-long academic and professional careers, she doesn’t point to her board memberships, leadership of Tyler’s Planning and Community Development program or her many published works in peer-reviewed journals. Instead, Mandarano speaks of the community-based projects by students in her capstone course for the Bachelor of Science degree in Community Development, such as a partnership with Asociacion Puertorriquenos en Marcha (APM), a Philadelphia-based community development corporation serving the neighborhood just east of Temple University’s main campus.   Read More

Joe Kopta with students, standing with materials
December 18, 2024

Byzantine Art History Class Launches Virtual Exhibition

Author: Jane DeRose Evans

Students in Tyler Assistant Professor Joseph Kopta's art history class on the art of the Byzantine Empire have launched a virtual exhibition, Fragments of Byzantium. The collaborative project features works of art from the Eastern Roman Empire (ca. 300—1453 CE), which students studied in person at local collections in Philadelphia and New York. The class collaboratively chose the objects for the exhibition, individually researched them, grouped them together into galleries, and designed the virtual exhibition. Contributors include Miranda Aebersold-Burke, Ethan Bisselberg, Jay DaCruz, Virginia Edwards, Casper McNew, Maggie Miller, Evan Morgans, Winton Petty, Teni Real, and Jericho Steele. Read More

December 12, 2024

Students Bring the Garden into the Art and Science of Photography

Author: Wanda Motley Odom

Tucked away at the base of the plate-glass facade in the Tyler Atrium, a series of photographic images were ever so slowly coming into view.The eclectic collection of anthotypes, chlorophyll prints and phytograms was a project in Adjunct Professor Laurie Beck Peterson’s plant-based photography class this fall, and they relied on the fickle nature yet ubiquitous presence of natural light to appear.“The purpose of teaching these techniques is to promote sustainability and reduce the environmental impact of hazardous photography chemical waste,” Petersen explained during the fall semester. “Students learn skills that align with current trends in sustainability, which they can then incorporate in their artwork.” Read More

December 12, 2024

Art History students and faculty presenting at CAA meetings!

Author: Jane DeRose Evans

Tyler Art History is being represented by an excellent group of students and faculty at the CAA Annual Meetings, Feb 12-15 2025. The Students and Emerging Professionals Committee’s (SEPC) Guide To All Things CAA*: · Discussant: Li Machado (PhD candidate)Prof. Leah Modigliani, “Killer Buildings, Verticality and Warped Space: the Catastrophic Return(s) of Tower Block Failure”Alexandra Schoolman (PhD candidate), “Virginia Errázuriz and Alternative Solidarity Networks in Chile during the Pinochet Dictatorship”Reimagining British Art: The Contributions of Transnational Artists in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s· Chair: Jessica Braum (PhD candidate) Read More

Lynn S. Dolby headshot
December 10, 2024

Lynn S. Dolby (MA 2004) featured in Penn Today

Author: Jane DeRose Evans

Lynn Smith Dolby (MA, 2004) is the Director of the University of Pennsylvania's Fine Art Collection.  Lynn has also been an active alum contributor to departmental workshops. You can read about her work with the Penn Collections here: Penn Today link Read More

December 10, 2024

Erin Pauwels publishes an essay on contemporary Cherokee artist Kay WalkingStick

Author: Jane DeRose Evans

Pauwels article, "Kay WalkingStick’s Layered Landscapes and Critical Stewardship in American Art History", is featured in a special section of Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art called "American Artists x American Symbols" that considers how artists working with nationalist symbols teach us to think critically and expansively about the history of art in the Americas.   Read More