January 2022

By training, I am a historian of eighteenth-century British art, science, and society. Like many scholars, my research areas have broadened over the years and now generally fall under three categories: 1) eighteenth-century history; 2) environmental studies (I’m especially focused on the Anthropocene); and 3) contemporary art and cultural policy. My interest in these three areas are logical extensions of my training, but they are also the result of my work as Director of the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute (IAHI).    

To some extent, I have always been interested in history as a field of study—perhaps because I grew up outside Philadelphia and was surrounded by locations described in my history books. Places such as Valley Forge and Washington’s Crossing were not only locations that I visited on school trips; they were also parks where I spent time with my family on weekends. When I was in high school, I lived abroad for two summers with a family just outside Paris. There, I was able to explore the rich history of the city and its environs. Surrounded by art and architecture, this experience opened my eyes to the many ways that we can learn about the past.  

In college and graduate school, these interests expanded into broader interdisciplinary approaches. I became particularly focused on looking at the past (including the contemporary past) by bringing together questions, theories, and methods from multiple disciplines. And, in my 17 years at IUPUI, my interests have further expanded into public arts and humanities work that not only engages with communities but with STEM disciplines.

In my public scholarship, I have been working on two main projects for the past few years.  

The first is the Cultural Ecologies Project, which examines how cultural interventions transform cities. On the research side of this project, we have been working with community and government organizations to better understand and address issues around arts and equity in Indianapolis. We have consulted on arts education and funding as well as public arts programs. We have also worked with artists throughout the city in education programs that have explored gentrification, arts-led urban development, and the intersection of religion, spirituality, and the arts.  

The second project is the Anthropocene Household Project, which attempts to understand the experience of global environmental change at the household level. This project works with communities to tell the stories about their environments through oral histories. There is a community-based seminar on environmental justice. And, working with our partners in the School of Science, we are providing households free water, soil, and dust lead testing kits. 

By working with organizations and municipal government, we have been able to make recommendations on how to create more equitable outcomes in arts funding and arts education. And, we have been home to ongoing conversations about ethics, equity, and the arts for the past five years.  

By working with the School of Science, we have been able provide individual households lead testing data so they can mitigate the risks of lead poisoning. By working with organizational partners, we have been able to help educate the public more broadly about the risks of lead poisoning and provide data on the scale of lead in the community.  

I love work that brings together new collaborations across the disciplines. In my work on the environment, I have been particularly excited to be able to bring together artists, humanists, socials scientists, and community leaders to address complex problems that can only be solved by working together.  

The IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute always includes graduate students and/or undergraduate students in our grants. Through the funding we receive, we are able to provide high-impact learning experiences as students participate in ongoing interdisciplinary research programs.  

We work together with community members through all phases of our projects—from conceptualization, through design, and through implementation. Depending on the project, community members might be embedded in the research team or lead community discussions. We might publish an article together or design a collaborative exhibition.    

For the Cultural Ecologies Project, we are currently doing a series of surveys to develop an understanding of how cultural institutions, artists, and community members approach diversity, equity, and inclusion in the arts.  

The Anthropocene Household Project is getting ready to expand our work in soil, dust, and water testing.