CAA News Today
New Faces for CAA’s Journals
posted by Christopher Howard — August 02, 2013
The president of the CAA Board of Directors, Anne Collins Goodyear, has confirmed new appointments to the editorial boards of CAA’s three scholarly journals and to the Publications Committee, in consultation with the vice president for publications, Suzanne Preston Blier. The appointments took effect on July 1, 2013.
The Art Bulletin
The three new members of the Art Bulletin Editorial Board are: Sarah Betzer, assistant professor of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century art and director of the undergraduate program in art history at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; Rita Freed, a historian of Egyptian art and chair of the Department of Art of the Ancient World at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in Massachusetts; and Glenn Peers, a professor of medieval art at the University of Texas at Austin. They will serve four-year terms, through June 30, 2017. In addition, Goodyear appointed David Getsy of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Illinois to a two-year term as editorial-board chair.
Art Journal
The new member-at-large for the Art Journal Editorial Board is Juan Vicente Aliaga, a curator and a professor of modern and contemporary art and theory at Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain.
caa.reviews
The caa.reviews Editorial Board welcomes David Raskin as editor designate through June 30, 2014. Raskin is professor of contemporary art history in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism and chair of the Department of Sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Illinois. Juliet Bellows, assistant professor of nineteenth- and twentieth-century art in the Department of Art at American University in Washington, DC, joins the editorial board for a three-year term.
New field editors for the journal are: Suzanne Hudson, a historian of modern and contemporary art at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and an active critic, as field editor for reviews of exhibitions of modern and contemporary art on the West Coast; Kevin Murphy, chair of the History of Art Department at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, as field editor for books on architecture and urbanism from 1800 to the present; Kristoffer Neville, assistant professor in the Department of the History of Art at the University of California, Riverside, as field editor for books on architecture and urbanism, pre-1800; Andrei Pop, assistant professor of art history at Universität Basel in Switzerland, as field editor for books on theory and historiography; and Jason Weems, assistant professor in the Department of the History of Art at the University of California, Riverside, as field editor for books on American art.
Publications Committee
Susan Higman Larsen joins CAA’s Publications Committee. Larsen is director of publications at the Detroit Institute of Arts in Michigan and an adjunct professor in the graduate program in museum studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
First Issue of Art Journal under New Editor-in-Chief
posted by Christopher Howard — July 31, 2013
The new issue of Art Journal, which features Burn the Diaries, an artist’s project by Moyra Davey, is the first in the editorship of Lane Relyea.
Essays consider topics such as role of the art critic in the emerging art market of China ca. 1990, the 1970s Tee Pee Video Space Troupe of the artist Shirley Clarke, obscurity and stillness in current film-based installations, and ethnicity in Marcel’s Duchamp’s gender-bending alter ego, Rrose Sélavy.
An essay by Michael Jay McClure on the work of Trisha Donnelly, titled “If It Need Be Termed Surrender,” has been published as free content on the Art Journal website, along with Maymanah Farat’s review of the exhibition and publication The Fertile Crescent.
Advertise in CAA’s Directories of Graduate Programs
posted by CAA — July 19, 2013
For the first time, CAA is offering advertising space in its annual directories of graduate programs in the arts. Promote your institution, program, product, or service in the go-to resource for prospective graduate students in the arts.
CAA’s directories are the most comprehensive resources available for new and incoming graduate students in fine art and design, art and architectural history, curatorial and museum studies, arts administration, art education, film production, conservation, and more in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
The directories provide prospective graduate students with the critical information they need to complete the application process and navigate the academic landscape, from availability of financial aid and fellowships to faculty and deadlines.
CAA Publishes Annual Report 2012–2013
posted by CAA — July 16, 2013
CAA has just published the Annual Report 2012–2013, which describes the organization’s accomplishments over the past year as well as other notable efforts as they relate to the Strategic Plan 2010–2015. You may download a PDF of the nineteen-page document.
Abundantly illustrated by photographs from the 2013 Annual Conference in New York, the report describes recent developments in several important areas, such as the Task Force on Fair Use, several publications initiatives (including an analysis of the financial structure and distribution of CAA’s three journals), a grant from the Alliance for Networking Visual Culture for two scholarly projects using the Scalar platform, and the CAA International Travel Grant Program, generously funded by the Getty Foundation. Also covered is an overview of the Task Force on the Strategic Plan for 2015–2020 as well as highlights from the current plan that CAA has accomplished so far, such as free wireless internet at the Annual Conference and the publication of CAA’s directories of graduate programs in the arts.
In addition, the annual report includes a membership report, a selected list of grants received during the fiscal year, and statistics related to CAA News, www.collegeart.org, Twitter, and Facebook. An update on professional-development activities and a financial statement on the 2012 fiscal year close the report.
We hope you will enjoy reading about CAA’s accomplishments.
Download the 2013 Abstracts and Directory of Attendees
posted by Christopher Howard — July 01, 2013
Registrants for the 2013 Annual Conference in New York may download the Abstracts and Directory of Attendees. These publications, available as PDFs, summarize the contents of hundreds of papers and talks that were presented in program sessions and list the names and contact information for those attendees who registered by both the early and advance deadlines.
Program sessions are alphabetized by the chair’s last name and appear in the contents pages (4–10). An index in the back of the publication names all the speakers. Alternatively, use your Adobe Reader to conduct a keyword search for terms relevant to your interests. Similarly, the Directory of Attendees helps with networking and communication after the conference.
To download the two publications, registrants can log into their CAA account, click the “Conference Registrant Information” image, and then click the Abstracts and/or Directory of Attendees icon to download a PDF. The Abstracts and Directory of Attendees are part of the registration package; there is no added cost to paid or complimentary registrants for access to these publications.
Conference attendees who purchased single-time slot tickets, or those who want the Abstracts but did not go to New York, may attain the document for a charge: $30 for CAA members and $35 for nonmembers. The Abstracts and Directory of Attendees will remain on the CAA website for download or sale through July 31, 2013.
Beginning with the 2010 conference in Chicago, CAA offers its Abstracts exclusively as a PDF download. Past issues of the printed publication from 1999 to 2009 are also available. The cost per copy is $30 for CAA members and $35 for nonmembers. For more information and to order, please contact Roberta Lawson, CAA office coordinator.
Contribute to the Art Bulletin Publication Fund
posted by Christopher Howard — June 25, 2013
As you may already know, 2013 marks the one hundredth anniversary of The Art Bulletin, CAA’s first print publication and a preeminent scholarly journal for the history of art and visual studies. The Art Bulletin covers the full range of art history in essays by some of the world’s most acclaimed scholars of art. Essays from The Art Bulletin have been staples in art-history courses at colleges and universities for decades, and the journal continues to support exemplary scholarship in all areas of art history.
In honor of this important anniversary, CAA invites you to make a contribution to the Art Bulletin Publication Fund. Contributions of $50 or more made before July 1, 2013, will be acknowledged with a special thank you in the September issue, and contributions of $250 or more will be acknowledged in four consecutive issues and on the CAA website for twelve months.
Please join CAA in celebrating The Art Bulletin’s longstanding excellence as a leader in art-historical scholarship. We look forward to many years to come.
Call to Action by the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences
posted by CAA — June 20, 2013
At the end of a day-long presentation on June 21st, a group of 200 academic corporate and government leaders gathered in the Capitol Atrium to hear “The Heart of the Matter,” a new report created by members of the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences and supported by members of Congress about their personal and professional views on the value of the humanities. The three major goals of the report are to increase the literacy and knowledge of history for all Americans to help build better citizens; to invest in research and teaching; and to expand international cultural knowledge and awareness through the study of languages and international study.
The report addresses the hardest hit disciplines of language and literature as well as the drastically underfunded Fulbright Fellowship programs. Actor John Lithgow cited Senator Fulbright, a champion of the international education program that has benefitted thousands of students and enriched the country in incalculable ways, for a relatively small government investment. The report also calls for greater interactivity and communication between academics and the public and for open access to research. John W. Rowe, cochair of the Commission and retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Exelon Corporation, urged everyone in the humanities to get out in their communities, cities, and states to advocate the value of the humanities. David Brooks, New York Times reporter and PBS commentator, addressed the communication gap between academia and the public. He stated his belief that in the past the humanities’ importance and relevance in society suffered amid the turn toward political, gender, and race issues that severed dialogue between academia and the public, and turned attention away from the core value of the humanities.
The Commissioners, who are leaders in the corporate, academic, legal, governmental, and philanthropic communities, focused on the value, need for support, and societal applications of the humanities and social sciences. The two recurring themes in the presentations extolled the wisdom of America’s founders who, as Senator Lamar Alexander quoted from the writer David McCullough, were “marinated in the humanities.” And almost every presenter recalled the transformative experience of their own college humanities courses. Pauline Yu, President of the American Council of Learned Societies stated that the country flourishes when it follows the example of its founders. Senator Karl Eikenberry, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General, cited the need for more informed historians to warn the government against overreaching internationally. He characterized the humanities and social sciences as a wellspring of soft power.
Richard Broadhead, President of Duke University and cochair of the Commission, believes that the major issue facing the country today is how to bring the greatest number of people to reach their fullest abilities. He sees the current discussions about education as narrowing the issues to pragmatic concerns; parents, for example, might say that they do not want their children to study the humanities instead of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM disciplines). Broadhead pointed out that the humanities and STEM disciplines are not at opposition but are interrelated and integrated. This concept was, in fact, graphically presented in a promotional film made by Ken Burns and George Lucas which used the image of a stem (read STEM) of a flower (read the humanities).
The report calls for support for the humanities from all sectors of the country, and the program provided many strong arguments to use, value, and nurture them. The hope is that this dialogue will continue on Capitol Hill to restore funding, and that it will provide greater exchange between the academy and the public for greater understanding of the importance of the humanities. Lithgow said he sensed a fresh breeze of bipartisanship that wafted through the Capitol yesterday with the focus on the humanities.
The report does not specifically address the visual arts, but it does address a greater focus on research and teaching in higher education. In the last four years there has been greater national emphasis on K-12 education and this report may assist in bringing the national dialogue around to higher education federal funding. The concept of a Culture Corps similar to AmeriCorps could serve to bring greater public access to the humanities and greater public-academic interchange. And, it could also provide the bridge between graduate school and the career path for students in the humanities. The report is a good catalyst for discussion and change. Let’s hope that the “fresh breeze” continues.
Report Warns against Declining Emphasis on Humanities and Social Sciences
posted by Christopher Howard — June 19, 2013
Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington, DC, turned a spotlight on the urgent need to refocus the country on maintaining national excellence in the humanities and social sciences—and how failure to do so will have consequences at home and abroad for the future of American education, security, and competitiveness.
Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Mark Warner (D-VA) and Representatives Tom Petri (R-WI) and David Price (D-NC) came together on Capitol Hill this morning to accept a report, prepared at their request, by the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Today’s release of the report, titled The Heart of the Matter, launches a national conversation about the importance of the humanities and social sciences to America’s future. Presented by the commission’s cochairs—Richard H. Brodhead, president of Duke University, and John Rowe, retired chairman and chief executive officer of Exelon Corporation—the report looks at the vital role of the humanities and social sciences in preparing and sustaining Americans for the responsibility of productive citizenship in the United States and the world.
The Heart of the Matter focuses on five areas of concern: K–12 education; two- and four-year colleges; research; cultural institutions and lifelong learning; and international security and competitiveness. It also makes recommendations to achieve three goals:
1. Educate Americans in the knowledge, skills, and understanding needed to thrive in a twenty-first-century democracy:
- Invest in the preparation of citizens with a thorough grounding in history, civics, and social studies
- Increase access to online resources, including teaching materials
2. Foster an innovative, competitive, and strong society:
- To ensure the vibrancy of humanities and social-science programs at all levels, philanthropists, states, and the federal government should significantly increase funding designated for these purposes
- Create a Humanities Master Teacher Corps to complement the STEM Master Teacher Corps recently proposed by the White House
3. Equip the nation for leadership in an interconnected world:
- Develop a “Culture Corps” that would match interested adults (retirees, veterans, artists, library and museum personnel) with schools, community centers, and other organizations to transmit humanistic and social-scientific expertise from one generation to the next
- Expand education in international affairs and transnational studies
“The American character is defined not by ethnicity—Americans come from many countries, races, religions, and cultures—but by a common set of ideals and principles that unite us as a country,” said Senator Alexander. “Those ideals and principles have always been shared and learned through the study of history, philosophy, and literature, but today their study is at risk. This report is a first step to highlighting the importance of, and ensuring a future for, our nation’s humanities education—and our unique American character as well.”
Senator Warner added, “I commend all the members of the commission for their hard work on The Heart of the Matter. Having a strong knowledge of civics, comprehensive reading and writing skills, and an appreciation of history are important for a well-rounded member of the twenty-first-century world. We must use this report as a foundation to continue to engage with the public on how best to keep our humanities and social sciences robust.”
Congressman Petri noted, “Knowledge and promotion of the humanities and social sciences are absolutely important so that citizens have a firm understanding of our nation’s unique history, culture, and heritage. I hope the recommendations in this report will be seriously considered to improve the teaching and understanding of the humanities and social sciences.”
“The humanities and social sciences help us understand where we’ve come from and who we are as a people, and that understanding points us toward the endeavors we must undertake to help every person reach their full potential,” said Representative Price. “Studies in these areas are critically important to a well-rounded education and the future of our country. This report comes at a crucial moment, and I hope it will help raise the profile of the humanities, provide a better understanding of their value, and spur a national conversation about how the humanities and social sciences keep our nation strong and competitive.”
“Today’s leaders in business, government, the military, and diplomacy must be able to analyze, interpret, communicate, and understand other cultures,” said Brodhead, cochair of the commission. “This report will remind Americans that a broad-based and balanced education, integrating the sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences, is the best way to equip our citizens to approach the complex problems of our rapidly changing world.”
“The humanities and social sciences comprise many of the things that give life meaning,” said commission cochair Rowe, “both at the highest level and in our day-to-day activities. They need more public and private support and compared to other things a little money goes a long way.”
A short companion film, The Heart of the Matter, from the Emmy Award–winning Ewers Brothers Productions was also released today. Appearing in the film are the producer, screenwriter, and director George Lucas, the actor John Lithgow, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a steadfast supporter of the humanities and arts in this country, provided primary funding for the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. The Carnegie Corporation of New York also provided important funding.
The views expressed in the report are those of the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences and not necessarily those of the officers and fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
June 2013 Issue of The Art Bulletin
posted by Christopher Howard — June 11, 2013
The June 2013 Art Bulletin, the leading publication of international art-historical scholarship, is the second issue of the journal’s centennial year. In “Regarding Art and Art History,” Cecelia F. Klein ponders Precolumbian art and the canon. “Notes from the Field” offers short essays on the subject of mimesis by Dexter Dalwood, Suzanne Preston Blier, Daniela Bohde, Helen C. Evans, Sarah E. Fraser, Thomas Habinek, Tom Huhn, Jeanette Kohl, Niklaus Largier, Peter Mack, and Alex Potts. The June interviewee is Timon Screech, who discusses fantasies and foreign contact in the art history of Japan with Yukio Lippit.
In their essay “An Émigré Art Historian and America: H. W. Janson,” Elizabeth Sears and Charlotte Schoell-Glass explore institutional art history in the mid-twentieth century through the lens of the American career of the German-born author of the classic survey text, History of Art. Emine Fetvaci’s “From Print to Trace” considers why the Ottoman creators of a 1579 book of imperial portraits may have consulted European models, raising questions about the understanding of the portrait as a visual document and the concepts that underpinned it.
Analyzing the intricate iconography of an illustrated thesis print on the system of natural philosophy by the seventeenth-century Franciscan professor Martin Meurisse, Susanna Berger demonstrates the complex uses of imagery in philosophy education in early modern France. Viccy Coltman studies a group of portraits of the Frasers of Reeling, a Scottish Highland family, by the late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century Scottish artist Henry Raeburn to reveal an understanding of portrait likeness as present and prescient in the global British Empire. Finally, in “The Cultural Politics of the Brushstroke” Martin Powers examines the debates between and among European, American, and Chinese intellectuals over some four centuries in order to deconstruct the seductive rhetoric of the brushstroke as employed in both “East” and “West.”
In the Reviews section, Charles Palermo considers three books on fin-de-siècle culture in Europe: Dario Gamboni’s The Brush and the Pen: Odilon Redon and Literature, Linda Goddard’s Aesthetic Rivalries: Word and Image in France, 1880–1926, and Anna Sigrídur Arnar’s The Book as Instrument: Stéphane Mallarmé, the Artist’s Book, and the Transformation of Print Culture. Next, Bridget Alsdorf reviews Mary Jane Jacob and Michelle Grabner’s edited volume, The Studio Reader: On the Space of Artists, and Bolaji Campbell assesses David T. Doris’s Vigilant Things: On Thieves, Yoruba Anti-Aesthetics, and the Fates of Ordinary Objects in Nigeria.
CAA sends The Art Bulletin to all institutional members and to those individuals who choose to receive the journal as a benefit of their membership. The next issue of the quarterly publication, to appear in September 2013, will feature essays on, among other topics, Albrecht Dürer, Horace Walpole, Tanaka Atsuko, and public fountains in nineteenth-century Havana.
Inaugural Recipients of the Meiss/Mellon Author’s Book Award
posted by Christopher Howard — June 05, 2013
CAA is pleased to announce the five inaugural recipients of the new Meiss/Mellon Author’s Book Award. Thanks to a one-year grant of $60,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, CAA will provide funds to emerging authors who are publishing monographs on the history of art and related subjects. The purpose of the subventions is to reduce the financial burden that authors carry when acquiring images for publication, including licensing and reproduction fees for both print and online publications.
The winning books for spring 2013 are:
- Claudia Brittenham, The Cacaxtla Paintings: How Art Shaped the Identity of an Ancient Central Mexican City, University of Texas Press
- Chelsea Foxwell, In Search of Images: Kano Hogai and the Making of Modern Japanese-Style Painting, University of Chicago Press
- Jesse Locker, “The Hands of Aurora”: Artemisia Gentileschi and Her Contemporaries, Yale University Press
- Megan R. Luke, Kurt Schwitters: Space, Image, Exile, University of Chicago Press
- Karl Whittington, Body-Worlds: Opicinus de Canistris and the Medieval Cartographic Imagination, Press of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
Successful applicants are emerging scholars who are under contract with a publisher for a manuscript on art history or visual studies. For full details on the grant, please review the Application Guidelines and the Application Process, Schedule, and Checklist. Fall deadline: September 15, 2013.
