Department of Art History and Art

Mather House
Phone: 216.368.4118 or 368.4039; Fax: 216.368.4681
Elina Gertsman, Acting Chair
elina.gertsman@case.edu


The Department of Art History and Art offers opportunities to study art history, to engage in pre-professional museum training, to participate in a broad range of studio offerings, and to pursue state teacher licensure in art education. The Bachelor of Arts degree is granted in art history and in pre-architecture (second major only). The department offers graduate programs leading to the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy in art history, Master of Arts in art history, Master of Arts in art history and museum studies, and Master of Arts in art education. In conjunction with the School of Law, the department also offers a combined JD/Master of Arts in art history and museum studies. Qualified undergraduates majoring in art history or art education may participate in the Integrated Graduate Studies Program.

All art programs are considerably enhanced by close cooperation with cultural institutions located in University Circle, in particular the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). The planned Nancy and Joseph Keithley Institute for Art History, to be created jointly with the Cleveland Museum of Art, will promote art historical studies through graduate fellowship support, collections-based graduate seminars, travel and research funding, undergraduate internship funding, and joint programming with the Cleveland Museum of Art.

In collaboration with the Department of Physics and other university associates, the department is launching a new series of programs under the umbrella art.lab.cle to support the transformation of the fields of art history and art education. We pursue this ambitious objective through transdisciplinary collaboration with the sciences and technology, and through the pursuit of social justice.  At times, these two approaches mesh in a single project. The democratization of art is at the heart of our vision.

Art History Program

The study of art history expands visual literacy, deepens critical reading and writing skills, and increases students' abilities to think across fields. The discipline is profoundly multidisciplinary, and it enhances awareness of cultural diversity around the globe and throughout time. Students majoring in art history have a wide variety of career opportunities. Graduates with a strong background in art history are employed as college and university professors; as museum professionals (in curatorial, educational, and administrative positions); as art librarians and archivists; as development officers; as journalists; as art gallery or auction house staff members; as art conservators and restorers; as art specialists in the diplomatic service and at all levels of government; and in other careers in industry, film, and television. Some of these specialties require additional study and professional preparation beyond the bachelor’s degree. Other art history majors who have fulfilled the required prerequisites go on to attend law, medical, or business school. Increasingly, familiarity with global visual culture is desirable for those pursuing careers well outside the field (for example, engineering students).

The graduate programs in art history are offered as part of the exceptional joint program in art history of Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Most classes, undergraduate and graduate level, are held in the museum, and some courses are offered or co-taught by museum curators who hold adjunct appointments in the department. Students taking advanced-level courses use the museum’s extensive research library, and all students have an opportunity to study original works of art in the museum’s superb collections and conservation laboratories. 

Art Education Programs

There is a temporary pause in admissions to the Art Education Programs.

The Art Education Programs’ mission is “to prepare proactive, scholar-practitioner art educators who will develop into leaders, teachers, and talented artists in the field of art education.”

The undergraduate and graduate degree programs in art education are offered in conjunction with the Cleveland Institute of Art. Art education majors have the advantage of pursuing their academic studies in a university environment and their studio studies at a professional art school that educates artists and designers. Students participate in educational field experiences conducted in many of Greater Cleveland’s urban and suburban school systems, museums, and cultural institutions. Graduates of the Art Education Programs have pursued careers as teachers, supervisors, and consultants in public and private schools, colleges, art schools, and museums; as administrators of galleries and art organizations; as designers of educational programs for industry; and as practicing artists. The programs are especially proud of their record in recruiting and graduating students from diverse backgrounds.

Art Studio Program

For students seeking to develop and nurture their artistic and creative talents, the Art Studio Program offers a variety of introductory art courses in a variety of art media. Courses in drawing, painting, design, ceramics, enameling and jewelry, textiles, photography, digital media, and architecture are taught at various skill levels by experienced, professional artists. These courses can be taken as university electives or to fulfill minors in art studio, photography, or architecture. The program offers pre-architecture as a second major and as a minor for students who expect to continue architectural studies at the graduate level or who simply wish to pursue an area of interest to complete a second major in pre-architecture. At the end of each semester, there is a comprehensive public art exhibition of student work in the Art Gallery.

Department Faculty

Elina Gertsman, PhD
(Boston University)
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Professor in Catholic Studies II and Distinguished University Professor; Director of Graduate Studies; Acting Chair, Department of Art History and Art
Medieval art

Elizabeth Bolman, PhD
(Bryn Mawr College)
Elsie B. Smith Chair in the Liberal Arts; Professor and Chair, Department of Art History and Art
Late Antique and Byzantine visual culture

Henry Adams, PhD
(Yale University)
Ruth Coulter Heede Professor in Art History
American art

Erin Benay, PhD
(Rutgers University)
Associate Professor
Early Modern Southern European art

Steven Ciampaglia, EdD
(Northern Illinois University)
Champney Family Professor of Art; Associate Professor; Director, Art Education and Art Studio Programs
Social justice and community arts; critical pedagogy; art + tech; media arts education

Maggie L. Popkin, PhD
(The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)
Robson Junior Professor; Associate Professor
Ancient Roman art and archaeology

Andrea Wolk Rager, PhD
(Yale University)
Associate Professor; Director of Undergraduate Studies
Nineteenth- and twentieth-century British and European art


Adjunct Faculty from the Cleveland Museum of Art

Louis Adrean, MLS
(Syracuse University)
Adjunct Instructor; Head, Research and Programs, Ingalls Library and Museum Archives

Susan Bergh, PhD
(Columbia University)
Adjunct Associate Professor; Curator, Art of the Ancient Americas

Cory Korkow, PhD
(University of Virginia)
Adjunct Associate Professor; Associate Curator, European Art

Heather Lemonedes, PhD
(The Graduate School and University Center, City University of New York)
Adjunct Associate Professor; Deputy Director and Chief Curator

Sonya Rhie Mace, PhD
(Harvard University)
Adjunct Professor; George P. Bickford Curator of Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Sooa Im McCormick , PhD
(University of Kansas)
Adjunct Assistant Professor; Assistant Curator, Korean Art

Emily Peters, PhD
(University of California, Santa Barbara)
Adjunct Professor; Curator, Prints and Drawings

William Robinson, PhD
(Case Western Reserve University)
Adjunct Professor; Curator, Modern European Art

Barbara Tannenbaum, PhD
(University of Michigan)
Adjunct Professor; Curator, Photography

Sinead Vilbar, PhD
(Princeton University)
Adjunct Professor, Curator, Japanese and Korean Art


Art Education

Steven Ciampaglia, EdD
(Northern Illinois University)
Champney Family Professor of Art; Associate Professor; Director, Art Education and Art Studio Programs
Social justice and community arts; critical pedagogy; art + tech; media arts education

David King, MFA
(Kent State University)
Lecturer; Supervisor, Art Education Secondary Student Teaching


Adjunct Art History Faculty

Heather Galloway, Certificate in Conservation; MA in Art History
(Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art)
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Physical examination of works of art

Gary Sampson, PhD
(University of California, Santa Barbara)
Associate Dean, Graduate Studies, Cleveland Institute of Art
History of photography

Holly Witchey, PhD
(Case Western Reserve University)
Adjunct Professor
Museum studies


Art Studio

Steven Ciampaglia, EdD
(Northern Illinois University)
Champney Family Professor of Art; Associate Professor; Director, Art Education and Art Studio Programs
Social justice and community arts; critical pedagogy; art + tech; media arts education

Jerry Birchfield, MFA
(Cornell University)
Lecturer, Photography Advisor
Photography, creative photography

Margaret Fischer, MA
(Case Western Reserve University)
Lecturer
Enameling and jewelry

Adriel Meyer, MA
(Case Western Reserve University)
Lecturer
Fibers and textiles

George Kozmon, BFA
(Cleveland Institute of Art)
Lecturer
Design

Sally Levine, MA
(University of Illinois)
Lecturer
Architecture

Martha Lois, MFA
(Kent State University)
Lecturer
Ceramics

Barney Taxel, BA
(Case Western Reserve University)
Lecturer
Digital photography


Emeriti

Ellen G. Landau
Andrew W. Mellon Professor Emerita of the Humanities

Edward J. Olszewski
Professor Emeritus

Catherine B. Scallen, PhD
Andrew W. Mellon Professor Emerita of the Humanities
Northern Renaissance and Baroque art and historiography