Christina Lamb Chakalova

Studying art history offers students a way of understanding the diversity of cultural, ethnic, religious, and social contexts that produce art, architecture, and artifacts across place and time. Knowledge of the history of art refines skills in visual literacy, and as such, one can better navigate the mass proliferation of images and new media of the global twenty-first century with exposure to this field.

I specialize in Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, with a particular focus on seventeenth-century Bolognese painting. My research also examines late Baroque art in imperial Austria. My pedagogical approaches arise from my diverse experiences at private and public institutions of higher learning in the United States and Europe. I have found that the most effective ways of teaching involve building collaborative relationships with students and actively engaging them in the classroom in ways that foster their personal and intellectual growth. Because I was drawn into art history as a studio art major in college, my curriculum also emphasizes techniques, methods, and materials. I encourage my students to look interdisciplinarily at a wide range of media to discover how identity is expressed and constructed through the visual arts.

I am happily married to my wonderful husband Petar. Petar is from Bulgaria originally and we met in Austria during our studies at the University of Vienna. We have two cherished daughters, Emma and Maria. We also have one darling Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Rosie.