Faculty Profiles
Elena FitzPatrick Sifford Associate Professor, Art History |  |
Education
B.A., Art History and African American Studies, Oberlin College
Ph.D., Art History, The City University of New York
Teaching Interests
What can a work of art tell us about a given place, time, or culture? How did humans across time and space use objects to reflect group identity, promote political ideals, or to venerate a higher power? In short: what does art tell us about us
My courses engage students in these questions using high impact learning strategies. Lectures are frequently punctuated by active in class learning opportunities including student debates and discussions, drawing and other visual exercises related to course material, and video and writing activities. A student in my courses might find themselves debating a fourteenth century commission one week and posing as an ancient sculptural group the next.
My courses include the art history survey as well as courses in the Early Modern period (c. 1500-1800) from a global perspective. I also teach a survey of Latin American art as well as Art of the Ancient Americas. Prior to joining the faculty at Muhlenberg I taught at Louisiana State University, Pratt Institute, and Lehman College.
Research, Scholarship or Creative/Artistic Interests
My most recent work investigates the depicting of Africans in the visual culture of colonial Mexico and Peru. “Mexican Manuscripts and the First Images of Africans in the Americas” was published in Ethnohistory (Duke University Press, 2019), and “A Fly in Milk: Fears of Black (In)visibility in New Spanish Painting,” was published in Emotions, Art, and Religion in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, c. 1400-1800 (Brill, 2021).
I have also worked with a colleague at Cornell University, Ananda Cohen-Aponte, on several projects addressing issues of diversity and inclusion in the field of art history. We conducted a survey to gather data regarding faculty of color in the professoriate in order to widen the pathway to a more diverse and equitable field of Latin American art history. That resulted in publications entitled “Addressing Diversity and Inclusion in Latin American Art,” in Latin American and Latinx Visual Cultures and “A Call to Action” in Art Journal.
I am a member of College Art Association, Association for Latin American Art, and Renaissance Society of America. Outside of work I enjoy spending time in nature with my husband and kids, playing indoor soccer, practicing yoga, traveling, and visiting museums and historic sites.
