Italy and the Modern Museum
Study abroad in Rome and Florence, Italy.
Teaching
As an Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia, I am based in the Department of History and am a core faculty member in the Museum Studies Program. My teaching is student-centered, with an emphasis on project-based learning and collaborations with museums and archives. I direct field study programs in Atlanta and Italy and integrate museum practices into my on-campus coursework, like co-curating exhibitions with students.
Courses at the University of Georgia
Museum Studies in Atlanta
Domestic field study course in Atlanta, Georgia.
Museum Education
Teaching and learning in museum contexts, from theory to practice.
Museum Ethics
Museum controversies, challenges, and responsibilities.
Historic House Museums
Preservation and interpretation of historic house museums.
Introduction to Museum Studies
Overview of key concepts, issues, and careers in museums.
American Mountains
Mountains as both natural features and cultural constructs.
GradFIRST Seminar
Professional development for incoming graduate students.
Teaching with Collections
Objects and collections invite students to ask questions, examine evidence, and construct knowledge through firsthand engagement with the material world. As a trained educator with experience teaching in classrooms and museums, I design object-based learning experiences that foster curiosity, critical thinking, and meaningful connections between concepts and works of art and material culture.
Gallery Teaching
Museum galleries provide opportunities for dialogue, curiosity, and collaborative discovery that are difficult to replicate in a traditional classroom. I design interactive sessions that use works of art and material culture to illuminate course concepts, encourage discussion, and foster interdisciplinary thinking.
Close Looking
Close looking teaches students to slow down, notice details, and build interpretations from careful observation. Drawing on my interdisciplinary background, I help students develop visual literacy while using material evidence to explore historical, scientific, and cultural questions.
Museum Practice
Museums are best understood through active participation. Through collections research, exhibition development, object handling, internships, and public-facing projects, I give students authentic museum experiences that build practical skills while fostering ethical practice, collaboration, and public engagement.
Past Experience
For more than 15 years, I have taught, mentored, and developed educational programs across higher education, K–12 schools, museums, and community colleges. My career has included positions in museum education, archaeology collections, university academic advising, and secondary and postsecondary science education. Across these settings, I have taught courses in archaeology, museum studies, history, chemistry, and physics, directed museum internship programs, advised undergraduate students, and mentored graduate students.
My teaching is grounded in both formal preparation and extensive professional practice. I hold an M.Ed. from Lesley University, a Postdoctoral Certificate in College Teaching Preparation from Yale University, and a Graduate Faculty Mentoring Certificate from the University of Georgia. In previous positions as Postdoctoral Fellow in Academic Affairs and Outreach at the Yale University Art Gallery and Curator of the Stanford University Archaeology Collections, I collaborated with faculty across disciplines to expand access to collections and integrate object-based learning into university courses.