I serve as Professor and Director of the ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Art History & Museum Studies Department and a contributing faculty member in the SAU Justice, Diversity, & Gender Studies Program. I earned a B.A. in International Studies, Economics, and French with a Russian minor from Butler University, and a Certificate in Russian Studies from Leningrad State Technical University; I received my PhD and M.A. in Art History and M.A. in Arts Administration from Indiana University. A former Fulbright-Hays scholar, my research explores nationalism in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, and Russia. My work has been included in A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Art (2018), Art, Culture and National Identity in Fin-de-Siècle Europe (2003) and Water, Leisure and Culture: European Historical Perspectives (2002).
In addition to founding and creating the SAU Art History & Museum Studies Program, I collaborated on the creation of an Arts Administration minor, as well as the creation of SAU's BA/MA integrated degree with Western Illinois University’s Museum Studies graduate program. I'm an energetic and charismatic professor who teaches more than 20 distinct courses covering a broad range of art historical and museum studies content. In 2021-2022, I was awarded the SAU Career Champion award for my dedication to supporting the career development of students by consistently empowering them to seek meaningful opportunities for work, service, and/or advanced studies with confidence, courage, and curiosity. A vocal advocate for hands-on and experiential learning, I care deeply about student success beyond the classroom, and I coordinate AH/MUSE student internships in area museums, government agencies, libraries, galleries, and historical societies. (Students in the SAU Art History & Museum Studies Program have a 98% job placement rating and 100% graduate school placement.)
A strong supporter of museums and the arts, I previously served on the Executive Board of the German-American Heritage Center & Museum in Davenport, Iowa as Secretary of the Board of Directors. Prior to my career in academia, I held a variety of museum roles, including museum director, curatorial assistant, educational programmer, research fellow, grant writer/fundraiser, special events coordinator, and exhibition installer. I'm also a former peer reviewer for the Hungarian-American Fulbright Commission, and I currently serve as faculty advisor for the ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Museum Enthusiasts Club and the SAU Lambda Beta chapter of Kappa Pi Honor Society.