Mina Kim, PhD
Mina Kim (PhD 2016) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama specializing in contemporary Korean art, Korean American art, East Asian art, transnational and global visual culture, and visual communication. Out of all the knowledge and experience she gained as a graduate student, it is the History of Art Department’s fluidity in relationship to disciplinary boundaries that made the most steadfast impression. “The open-mindedness toward various disciplines that I acquired at OSU," Mina reflects, "along with the diverse academic approaches to understanding works of art remains the foundation of my research and teaching.” Highly influenced by her studies with Professor Emeritus Julia Andrews, Mina’s expertise in East Asian art history and visual arts has resulted in a number of books, including Jung Yeondoo’s Media Art: Quantum Deformation through Coincidence of the Real and the Virtual (2018) and Contemporary Korean Art: New Directions since the 1960s (2024). This most recent publication showcases a collection of largely overlooked Korean artists and works from the 1960s and ’70s. Placing these practices in aesthetic and political context, Contemporary Korean Art examines performance, gender, identity, internationalism, and the evolution of multimedia. Her current project, No Boundaries on Boundaries: Transnational Communication in Korean American Art and Visual Culture is forthcoming.
Michael Bowman, PhD
After completing his degree in the History of Art, Michael Bowman (PhD 2015) made a career pivot, channeling his knowledge and experience into higher education administration. Michael pursued a graduate certificate in Higher Education Administration from Northeastern University and a certificate in Public and Non-Profit Leadership from OSU’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs on his way to joining the staff here at Ohio State. Beginning as a program assistant in the College of Education and Human Ecology, Michael now works as the College Registrar for OSU’s College of Pharmacy. While he’s left his studies of art history and the Roman world in the rearview, he credits his successes, in part, to the critical-thinking, problem-solving, and investigative skills learned and honed through the History of Art program. “In a world coming to be dominated by quick-fix, AI-derived anti-solutions,” Michael says, “having the skills to organize and conduct a deep dive into a topic, or to think deeply about a problem and its context continue to serve me well.”
Mira Yiwen Liu, PhD
Shortly after leaving OSU, Mira Yiwen Liu (Phd 2021) kicked off a curatorial career working on China’s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta at the Cleveland Museum of Art. These days, Mira works as a project manager in Harvard’s Cognitive Aesthetics Media Lab (CAMLab), a research center that showcases art and cultural heritage using innovative technology and design. While working to present and preserve the artistic heritage of an ancient Buddhist kingdom via the Digital Gandhara project, Mira also leads planning for Cosmic Cycles of Life: New Perspectives on Mawangdui Tombs, an augmented art catalogue. Reflecting on her time at OSU, Mira was grateful to be surrounded by a supportive and intellectually challenging community. “I think it is equally important to have excellent professors and supportive cohorts, [and] luckily I had both during my years at OSU.” Her career has been shaped by the guidance and expertise of her advisor, Professor Emeritus Julia Andrews, from whom Mira learned how to engage with collections and craft compelling curatorial narratives. Mira’s global and interdisciplinary perspective was shaped by courses in and out of the History of Art Department: working with Professors Namiko Kunimoto and Byron Hamann broadened her knowledge of art outside of China, while courses in the History Department and East Asian Languages and Literatures taught her to “read against the grain” and think across disciplines.
Keyu Yan, PhD
Keyu Yan (PhD 2025) begins his teaching career in fall 2025 as a full-time faculty member at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Teaching both undergraduate and graduate-level courses, Keyu draws on the breadth of OSU’s graduate programs through courses on East Asian art, contemporary global art, film studies, and the Western tradition. His experience teaching while studying at OSU set Keyu up for success on the academic job market: he had already developed several of his own syllabi and taught independent courses in East Asian and Chinese art before completing his doctoral degree. His time as a research assistant working with Professor Emeritus Julia Andrews and Professor Christopher Reed (Department of History) rounded out his research chops, while his work as the Henry Luce Foundation Curatorial Research Associate on From Shanghai to Ohio: Woo Chong Yung (1898-1989) at the Cincinnati Art Museum gave him hands-on experience in the museum world. Armed with this wealth of experience garnered at OSU, Keyu will continue his own research into Chinese, queer, and international contemporary art while developing compelling courses for his students.
Sarah Magnatta, PhD
After working as an interpretive specialist in the Asian Art Department of the Denver Art Museum, Sarah Magnatta (PhD 2014) accepted a teaching position at the University of Denver. As an Assistant Professor of Global Contemporary Art, Sarah continues to draw inspiration from OSU’s History of Art faculty. She often finds herself assigning texts by Professor Emeritus Julia Andrews in her courses—“a testament to the clarity of thought and original perspectives throughout Andrews’ scholarship,” she says—and emulating the teaching styles of Professors Emeritus Susan and John Huntington. “Their teaching was driven by passion,” Sarah reflectss, “—a great motivator for students grappling with unfamiliar material.” Her research on Tibetan and Himalayan art has been shared recently in the journals HIMALAYA, Art Journal, and the Journal of Aesthetics & Culture; as well as in the Routledge Handbook of Asian Transnationalism and the exhibition catalogue for the 2023 Nepal Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Tales of Musted Spirits, Dispersed Threads, Twisted Shangri-La.
Kristen Adams, PhD
Since filing her dissertation several years back, Kristen Adams (PhD 2020) has kept close to home, lecturing on art of the European Renaissance in OSU’s History of Art Department. In fall of 2024, Kristen’s position was made permanent as she was appointed Assistant Professor of Teaching in History of Art. Though evolving into her own style, Kristen’s teaching and research continue to reflect the approaches of her OSU advisors, including Professor Emeritus Barbara Haeger and Professor Namiko Kunimoto. “It’s impossible to highlight all the ways in which my graduate experience impacts my research and teaching interests,” Kristen shares, “but the vibrant intellectual life that the department fosters through engaging courses, guest lectures, and other events—combined with the genuine care that faculty have for the students—has been a tremendous benefit to me.”
Elizabeth Sandoval, PhD
Elizabeth Sandoval (PhD 2018) has channeled her knowledge of fifteenth-century medieval manuscripts into a rewarding position at the esteemed Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA). As an Assistant Curator in an academic museum, Elizabeth has been able to balance curatorial work and research with teaching and academic engagement. Since joining Williams College in 2019, Elizabeth has developed exhibitions and taught seminars, advised on student theses, mentored interns, and led the college’s Graduate Program in History of Art. “Working with students and empowering them through museum work experience and academic interests have been among the most fulfilling aspects of my role,” she explains. In her work as a curator, Elizabeth aims to prioritize the art object—a principle she traces back to the influence of OSU faculty. “[Professor Emeritus] Barbara Haeger would say to always start with the object, a principle I have taken to heart in my object-centered curatorial methodology." Working directly with objects in the collections of the WCMA, Elizabeth is able to practice a grounded art history reflected in recent exhibition projects including Embodied Words: Reading in Medieval Visual Culture, Cracking the Cosmic Code: Medieval Numerology in Art, and Remixing the Hall: WCMA’s Collection in Perpetual Transition. Elizabeth is also proud to collaborate, travel, and write with a group of medieval scholars led by Dr. Kathryn Rudy; and is an active member of the Historians of Netherlandish Art.
Trenton Olsen, PhD
Trenton Olsen (PhD 2020) was lucky to begin his current position as an assistant professor in Art History at Lindenwood University immediately after finishing his degree in 2020. Emphasizing writing and research skills alongside non-traditional methodological approaches informed by the digital humanities, Trenton’s teaching reflects OSU’s broad curriculum. “The depth and exposure to subfields across art history [at OSU] are critical,” Trenton says, “as I teach global surveys in each time period every semester. The work I did as a GTA prepared me for this learning and also helped me start developing skills as an instructor.” This engagement with pedagogical practice now shapes Trenton’s research as well. Along with others at Lindenwood University, he studies how digital tools—from virtual reality and digital reconstructions to artificial intelligence—can be leveraged in art historical classrooms. He is currently developing an immersive recreation of the historic 1785 French Salon exhibition, a restorative project that will not only enable users to experience the exhibition as its contemporaries did but also to view and study lost artworks. Trenton’s first book project, based largely on his dissertation “Post-Imperialist Masculinities: Portraiture and the Performance of French Manhood ca. 1815-1848,” is also in the works.
Caroline Koncz, PhD
Caroline Koncz (PhD 2022) hasn’t slowed down at all since finishing her degree at OSU. After relocating to Texas for a position as Assistant Professor of Art History at Angelo State University, Caroline was named a Provost’s Scholar for the 2024-2025 academic year. She used her course release to complete revisions on her manuscript, The Nude of Early Modern Venice: Painting Gender, Body Politics, and Patriarchy, forthcoming from Amsterdam University Press. At Angelo State, Caroline has taught a wide range of courses that bring together several veins of her own research, her graduate teaching experience, and other interests incubated at OSU. Her courses in gender and sexuality in the Renaissance and Rococo are inspired by courses taught by Professors Andrew Shelton and Christian Kleinbub, while her class on medieval manuscripts takes cues from Professor Karl Whittington’s course on the same subject. While her teaching reflects both global and transhistorical perspectives, Caroline’s research remains focused on European and Italian art, with specific interest in women’s place in the “Renaissance,” and the connections between early modern Venice and the Mamluk Sultanate. Most recently, she has published articles on these subjects in Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Supplementi, and Explorations in Renaissance Culture.
Seunghan Paek, PhD
Quickly following the completion of his degree in 2014, Seunghan Paek (PhD 2014) took up a postdoc position with the Council on East Asian Studies (CEAS) at Yale. After his time with CEAS, Seunghan returned to his native South Korea where he is now an Assistant Professor at Pusan National University specializing in architectural theory. In addition to teaching, Seunghan has developed a number of publication and exhibition projects, including Ordinary Senses: JUNGLIM Architecture 50 Years. His studies at OSU continue to influence his work, which remains centered on the intersections of art, architecture, visual culture, and the city. His dissertation project on the phenomenon of commercial signage in contemporary Korea aimed to articulate theories of the everyday or the ordinary through the lenses of philosophy. “My interest in the everyday,” he says, “has now expanded into contemporary issues such as posthumanism, new materialism, affect theory, atmosphere, Object-Oriented Ontology, assemblage, and plasticity (to name a few).” Most recently, these interests have taken shape as undergraduate classes on South Korean Urbanism, Affective Urbanism, and Installation Art and Architectural Space, as well as two forthcoming book projects: Spectacularly Ordinary: Urbanism, Signs, and the Everyday in Contemporary South Korea and Indifferences: On Architecture’s Passibilities.
Brid Arthur, PhD
Now based in Northern California, Brid Arthur (PhD 2015) works as a Senior Project Manager for a real estate development company, Sares Regis. Working primarily with major Silicon Valley Tech firms, Brid assists clients in building and managing their corporate offices and real estate portfolios. At OSU, Brid focused on Tibetan architecture and visual culture with her dissertation “Envisioning Lhasa: 17-20th century paintings of Tibet’s sacred city” examining on depictions of the built environment. While her doctoral work may seem a world removed the machinations of California real estate, Brid finds a through-line. “In my work,” she says, “we interpret our clients’ needs and desires and help to turn them into a reality by working with architects, engineers, and designers to create a beautifully-built environment that will shape people’s work-life, the urban landscape, and the future of offices for years to come. Thanks to my academic background, I like to think that I am able to see the larger picture, the long-term impact, and the subtle ways in which buildings and urban layout inform and influence our experiences and our culture.”
Elise David, PhD
Elise David (PhD 2019) now works as a contract translator and editor providing services in English, French, and Chinese to various clients including contemporary artists, museums, and art publications. This interest in translation and transcultural exchange developed out of her studies at OSU. “From the beginning,” she explains, “the History of Art Department taught me to look for cultural intersections, to lean into the exchange of language and ideas that so defined Chinese art in the early twentieth century. Much of my work, both as a translator and a scholar hinges on maintaining a nuanced understanding of Western art theories and linguistic paradigms in different cultural contexts.” She is currently working on two long-term projects: a series of English translations of primary documents by the prominent Chinese artist Huang Yongping (1954-2019); and an English-language volume of important art-related texts from China’s Republican period (1911-1949), co-edited with Professor Emeritus Julia Andrews and Dr. Kuiyi Shen.
Natalie Pretzman
After completing her BA in History of Art at Ohio State, Natalie Pretzman (PhD Student 2016-2018) received an MA in Art History and Museum Studies at Case Western University. Natalie returned to OSU the next year, spending two years in the PhD program focusing on European art. Though Natalie left the PhD program before finishing her degree, the knowledge that she developed as a History of Art student continues to shape her life in meaningful ways. Shortly after leaving OSU, Natalie was hired at a local boutique travel agency, Grandview Travel, where she has worked ever since. Her position there allows Natalie to work from anywhere and leverage her art historical knowledge in building ideal travel itineraries for her clients. “The travel industry is, I believe, a very overlooked career choice for Humanities students,” Natalie shares. “Travel agencies are often scouting for potential travel advisors with experience in languages and cultural studies, not just sales and business. When you are designing itineraries, you need to know the essentials of sightseeing around the world, much of which involves museum collections, famous monuments, archaeological sites, religious landmarks—and you must be able to sell the importance and wonder of these places to your potential clients. So, my passion for art has never diminished, and I have been able to visit so many bucket list museums and sites [as a travel advisor] that I only dreamt of seeing a decade ago!”
Alanna Radlo-Dzur, PhD
Following a position as a research specialist at the Getty Research Institute (2020-2023), and a postdoctoral research appointment at Princeton University (2023-2024), Alanna Radlo-Dzur (PhD 2023) joined the faculty of the Art and Art History Department at the University of Rochester. With a background as a filmmaker and lens-based artist, Alanna draws on a rich diversity of experiences in her approaches to teaching and scholarship. Alanna’s research is focused on Mesoamerica and rooted in the intensive study of Nahuatl language and culture in Mexico and the US. The History of Art Department at OSU facilitated Alanna’s commitment to language revitalization and archival research. Travel funding awarded during her doctoral work enabled Alanna’s travels to Mexican, Spanish, and American archives and collections; and courses across the University made her well-positioned for the academic job market. Her collaborations with OSU faculty involved in the K’acha Willaykuna project helped Alanna to hone a respectful and culturally-informed approach to the art, culture, and languages of Native peoples across the American continent; and the mentorship of other OSU faculty has inspired a rigorous intellectual engagement with theories and methodologies across disciplines and a “socially engaged approach to teaching.”
Rebecca Howard, PhD
Associate Professor of Art History Rebecca Howard (PhD 2017) recently received tenure at the University of Memphis, where she has taught since 2019. Rebecca’s experience in the History of Art graduate program set the course for her career. “My experiences teaching several sections of the survey courses [at OSU] were invaluable when entering the job market,” she says, “and it provided an essential basis for really in making those courses my own over the years. I am also grateful for the colleagues and friends that I now have all over the world from my time at OSU.” Rebecca’s current book project, Portraiture and Mnemonics in Renaissance Italy: Modes of Connecting and Remembering in Central and Northern Italy is forthcoming from Amsterdam University Press, and her newest research project explores the construction and decoration of Italian Renaissance villas through the lens of the memory palace.
Linda Huang, PhD
After her postdoc appointment as a Teaching Fellow at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Linda Huang (PhD 2021) accepted a role as a lecturer in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Tufts University in Massachusetts. At Tufts, Linda continues to cultivate her interests in technology, the body, and East Asia through her own research and through the development of topic-based courses. Continuing the threads began in her dissertation, “Re-imagining Post-socialist Corporeality: Technology, Body, and Labor in Post-Mao Chinese Art,” Linda has developed courses including “Bodies and Technology in East Asia” and “Horror and Hauntology in East Asia.” “I am particularly inspired,” she says, “by Professor Kris Paulsen’s seminar on The Interface and Professor Kunimoto’s seminar, Gender in East Asian Art. These courses spurred my interests in haunted media, bodily abjection, and techno-horror.”
Mabi Ponce de León, PhD
Mabi Ponce de León (Phd 2023) is an independent scholar, instructor, and exhibiting artist based in Ohio. Born and raised in Argentina, Mabi received her MFA from Stony Brook University in 1992. Across the decades, Mabi has taught both studio art and art history courses. Currently, she teaches AP Art and Design and AP Art History courses at Bexley High School as well as an art survey at Ohio Wesleyan University. She also serves as moderator for the AP Art History Online Community and has a member of the AP Art History exam committee and the College Board Arts Academic Advisory Committee. Inspired by the transdisciplinary approaches of OSU faculty members including Professor Emeritus Byron Hamann, Mabi’s politically- and socially-engaged research focuses on Latin American artists confronting structures of power. Alongside Professor Héctor Fernández L’Hoeste, Mabi is currently at work on an edited volume, Art, Politics, and Nation in Twenty-First Century Latin America. Mabi’s artwork has recently been exhibited at Chicago’s Woman Made Gallery, as well as the Zanesville Museum of Art, the Ohio Arts Council, and other regional arts venues. Her work was included in the Springfield Museum of Art’s 2022-23 exhibition Mirror Mirror, which looked at the roles that women play in their families and communities through the lens of their artistic work.
Julia Fischer, PhD
Julia Fischer (PhD 2014) is an Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of Art & Design at Lamar University in Texas. As an instructor, Julia continues to draw on the examples set by OSU faculty members including Professors Emeritus Timothy McNiven, Barbara Haeger, and Myroslava Mudrak, and current faculty member Professor Andrew Shelton. Julia’s publications include the recent Power and Propaganda in the Large Imperial Cameos of the Early Roman Empire, published by Routledge in 2024, and How to Speak Art: Understanding Its Languages, Issues, and Themes from Cognella Academic, 2015.
Jimena Berzal de Dios, PhD
Following the completion of her doctoral studies, Jimena Berzal de Dios (PhD 2014) took a position at Western Washington University in Bellingham. Jimena adores her current academic home in Washington state, praising the department’s innovative approach to global art history, and the university’s first-rate art collection. "It's a treat to have Richard Serra’s Wright’s Triangle right outside of the department,” Jimena notes. Jimena’s career across the past eleven years has been fruitful and busy: she’s published a book based on her doctoral dissertation, authored seven articles and a few essays, curated exhibitions, and designed a museum studies major for the university. The faculty of OSU’s History of Art department continue to influence Jimena’s teaching and approach as a mentor for her own students. “It’s not just scholarship,” she notes, continuing: “I’ll be ever thankful for the patience and charity that OSU faculty extended to me and my (often idiosyncratic) projects. I recently published an article on the 1960s experimental film Fire in Castile, in which the artist Val del Omar engages with the Spanish Renaissance sculptures of Berruguete and Juni—the courses at OSU really gave me the historical and theoretical tools to engage with such transhistorical encounters, which is something that set OSU [apart] from other programs.”
Erin Gregory
Following her time in OSU’s History of Art graduate program, Erin Gregory (MA, 2017) assisted Medieval and Renaissance scholar Andrew Butterfield on developing the exhibition and catalogue, Verrocchio: Sculptor and Painter of Renaissance Florence. Following that experience, Erin worked as an Editorial Producer for the renowned TED Talks series, launching talks from figures ranging from Lizzo to Bill Gates. In 2021, Erin pivoted to user experience design and now works as a Senior User Experience (UX) Content Designer for the international financial giant, JPMorgan Chase. While her current work on mobile apps and personal financial tools may not engage directly in art history, the critical and creative thinking skills that Erin honed at OSU certainly help her in navigating design constraints, conducting research, and developing audience-centered content. “[My professors at OSU] taught me to probe more deeply and interrogate the concepts and ideologies that life presents,” Erin offers, “which has led me to a fuller, richer understanding of the world—both in my career and otherwise.”
Our graduates go on to have diverse careers. The resources below are available to current graduate students as they chart their post-graduate path.
Graduate School - Career Building Strategies and Skill Development
The Graduate School has compiled an extensive list with career building and skill development resources that are available to graduate students at Ohio State.
ImaginePhD
ImaginePhD is a free online career exploration and planning tool for PhD students and postdoctoral scholars in the humanities and social sciences.
ImaginePhD is designed to meet this need by allowing users to: assess their career-related skills, interests, and values, explore careers paths appropriate to their disciplines, create self-defined goals, and map out next steps for career and professional development success.
Beyond the Professoriate
Beyond Graduate School and Beyond The Professoriate provide detailed guidance on developing effective resumes, including instructional videos covering soft vs technical skills, resume formatting, sample resume sections, and more.
Both platforms are free to ASC graduate students and postdocs. You can log into the platform via your institution.
Graduate School - Career Building Strategies and Skill Development
The Graduate School has compiled an extensive list with career building and skill development resources that are available to graduate students at Ohio State.
ImaginePhD
ImaginePhD is a free online career exploration and planning tool for PhD students and postdoctoral scholars in the humanities and social sciences.
ImaginePhD is designed to meet this need by allowing users to: assess their career-related skills, interests, and values, explore careers paths appropriate to their disciplines, create self-defined goals, and map out next steps for career and professional development success.
Beyond the Professoriate
Beyond Graduate School and Beyond The Professoriate provide detailed guidance on developing effective resumes, including instructional videos covering soft vs technical skills, resume formatting, sample resume sections, and more.
Both platforms are free to ASC graduate students and postdocs. You can log into the platform via your institution.