Nathan S. Dennis Assistant Professor of Art History & Museum Studies Department of Art + Architecture University of San Francisco 2130 Fulton Street San Francisco, CA 94117-1080 (415) 422-4938 (Office) [email protected] Education • • • • • • Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland o Ph.D. (2016), Department of the History of Art Dissertation: “Performing Paradise in the Early Christian Baptistery: Art, Liturgy, and the Transformation of Vision” Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland o M.A. (2010), Department of the History of Art § Major Field: Early Christian Art of the Mediterranean Basin and African Littoral, 3rd to 7th Century (Adviser: Herbert L. Kessler) § Minor Field: Monumental Art of Early Byzantium: Ravenna, Thessaloniki, and Constantinople (Adviser: Henry Maguire) Golden Gate Seminary, Mill Valley, California o Th.M. in Jewish and Early Christian Art (2006) § Thesis: “Early Christian Viewers in the Greco-Roman World: Art and Visual Hermeneutics in Second Sophistic and Late Antique Christianity” Golden Gate Seminary, Mill Valley, California o M.Div. in Ancient Near Eastern Studies (2004) University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon o B.A., Department of Art History (1999), Departmental Honors § Major Field: Greek and Roman Art and Architecture University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon o B.A., Department of English (1998), Summa cum Laude § Major Field: British Modernism and World War I Literature Books With Robin M. Jensen and Nathan P. Chase, Baptisteries of the Early Christian World (twovolume book manuscript and searchable online database) (under contract with Brill). Paradise Regained: Reconstructing Eden in the Early Christian Baptistery (in progress). N. Dennis, 2 With Rachel Danford, Kitsch and Craft in the Premodern World: An Alternative History of Art (in progress). Articles “A Tale of Two Inscriptions: Tipasa, Djemila, and the Role of Textual Icons in the North African Cult of Saints.” Mosaic 47 (2020), forthcoming. With Vladimir Ivanovici, “Light, Vision(s), Transformation. Experiencing Baptism in Canopied Fonts (ca. 230–ca. 500 CE).” Hortus Artium Medievalium 26 (2020), forthcoming. “Bodies in Motion: Visualizing Trinitarian Space in the Albenga Baptistery.” In Perceptions of the Body and Sacred Space in Late Antiquity and Byzantium. Ed. Jelena Bogdanović. London: Routledge, 2018. 126–149. “Living Water, Living Presence: Animating Sacred Space in the Early Christian Baptistery.” In Holy Water in the Hierotopy and Iconography of the Christian World [Святая вода в иеротопии и иконографии христианского мира]. Ed. Alexei Lidov. Moscow: Феория in association with Lomonosov Moscow State University, Institute for World Culture; the Russian Academy of Arts; and the Research Centre for Eastern Christian Culture, 2017. 89–119. “Welcome to Paradise: Threshold Mosaics and the Spiritual Geography of Eden in Early Christian Baptism.” In Proceedings of the 14th Conference of the Association Internationale pour l’Étude de la Mosaïque Antique, Nicosia 15–19 October 2018. Ed. Demetrios Michaelides. Athens: ΣΗΜΑ Εκδοτική, forthcoming. “Optical Games and Spiritual Frames: A Reassessment of Imitation Marble Mosaics in Late Antiquity.” Convivium 8 (2021), forthcoming. “Vessels of Holy Fire: The Censer and the Womb of the Mother of God in Early Byzantine and Coptic Devotion.” In Holy Smoke: Censers Across Cultures. Eds. Beate Fricke and Ittai Weinryb. Heidelberg: Arthistoricum, forthcoming. “The Aesthetics of Prosthetics: From the Premodern Uncanny to the Postmodern Imaginary.” In The Routledge Companion to Art and Disability. Eds. Timothy W. Hiles and Keri Watson. London: Routledge, forthcoming. “From Shrouds to Shrines: Early Christian Painted Textiles in Egypt” (in progress). “Baptizing Virgil: The Early Christian Baptistery at Djemila and the Making of a Pagan Saint” (in progress). Book Reviews Sean V. Leatherbury, Inscribing Faith in Late Antiquity: Between Reading and Seeing (London: Routledge, 2019), Church History 89 (2020), forthcoming. N. Dennis, 3 William R. Caraher, Thomas W. Davis, and David K. Pettegrew, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019). Church History 90 (2021), forthcoming. Emilie M. van Opstall, ed., Sacred Thresholds: The Door to the Sanctuary in Late Antiquity (Leiden: Brill, 2018), in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 78, no. 4 (2019): 472– 473. Jelena Bogdanović, The Framing of Sacred Space: The Canopy and the Byzantine Church (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), in Journal of Sacred Architecture 33 (2018): 35. Papers Presented 2021 2020 2020 2019 2019 2019 2019 “Teaching the ‘Political Animals’ of Contemporary America: Addressing Real-Time Inequality and Exclusion in the Classroom,” 2021 Archaeological Institute of America and Society for Classical Studies Annual Meeting, Chicago, January 7–10, presented at the session, Difficult Topics in the Classroom. “Signs, Seals, and Stigmata: Imprinting the Flesh with the Marks of Faith in Early Christian Baptism,” for the conference “Materiality and Conversion: The Role of Material and Visual Cultures in the Christianization of the Latin West,” Hans Belting Library, Masarykova Univerzita, Brno, Czech Republic, November 30–December 1. “Nature Tamed and Framed: Reimagining Paradise in the Early Christian Baptistery” [“La nature apprivoisée et encadrée : réimaginer le paradis dans le baptistère paléochrétien”] for the international colloquium “Baptême et baptistères : regards croisés sur l’initiation chrétienne entre Antiquité Tardive et Moyen Age,” Sorbonne Université, Paris, France, November 12–13. “The Archaeology of Ritual at Bir Ftouha: Mosaic Pavements and Processional Movement in a Sixth-Century Pilgrimage Church,” 2019 American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Diego, November 23–26, presented at the session Contextualizing North African Christianity: Professional Seminar on Material Culture. “Vessels of Holy Fire: The Censer and the Womb of the Mother of God in Early Byzantine and Coptic Devotion,” for the workshop “The Censer: Global Perspective in a Comparative Approach,” University of Bern, Switzerland, July 7–8. Organized by the University of Bern and the Bard Graduate Center in New York. “Per visibilia ad invisibilia: Carnal and Spiritual Vision in the Early Christian Baptistery,” for the conference “Spaces of Initiation: Objects, Images, and Rituals in the Middle Ages,” Hans Belting Library, Masarykova Univerzita, Brno, Czech Republic, March 11–13. “The Ganymede Statue from Carthage: Roman Identity in a Shifting Religious Landscape,” 2019 Archaeological Institute of America and Society for Classical Studies Annual Meeting, San Diego, January 3–6, presented at the Forum Workshop, “Grounding” Roman Sculpture, in honor of Elizabeth Marlowe. N. Dennis, 4 2018 2018 2016 2014 2014 2014 2014 2013 2013 2013 2013 2009 2004 2003 “Welcome to Paradise: Threshold Mosaics and the Spiritual Geography of Eden in Early Christian Baptism,” 14th Conference of the Association Internationale pour l’Étude de la Mosaïque Antique (AIEMA), Nicosia, Cyprus, October 15–19. “Baptizing Virgil: The Early Christian Baptistery at Djémila and the Making of a Pagan Saint,” North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, May 24–26, presented at the session Early Christian Buildings and Ceremonies. “Optical Games and Spiritual Frames: A Reassessment of Imitation Marble Mosaics in Roman Africa,” 2016 Archaeological Institute of America and Society for Classical Studies Annual Meeting, San Francisco, January 6–9, presented at the session Mimesis, Repetition, and the Aesthetics of Roman Art. “Living Water, Living Presence: Hierotopy and Aquatic Agency in the Early Christian Baptistery,” for the conference, “The Life-Giving Source. Water in the Hierotopy and Iconography of the Christian World,” Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, June 24–26. “Liminal Bodies, Transfigured Minds: Visualizing Perichoresis in the Albenga Baptistery,” 49th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 8–11, presented at the session Baptismal Spaces and Their Decoration: Making a Christian Community. “From Shrouds to Shrines: Early Christian Painted Textiles in Egypt,” Medieval Academy of America Annual Meeting and the Medieval Association of the Pacific Annual Meeting, University of California, Los Angeles, April 10–12, presented at the session Sites of Encounter: North Africa. “Liminal Bodies, Transfigured Minds: Visualizing Perichoresis in the Albenga Baptistery,” 44th Annual Middle Atlantic Symposium in the History of Art, National Gallery, Washington, DC, March 8. “Per visibilia ad invisibilia: Carnal and Spiritual Vision in the Early Christian Baptisteries of North Africa,” for the conference “Sense-Ability: Multi-Perceptual Encounters with Art,” 48th Annual UCLA Graduate Student Association Symposium, University of California, Los Angeles, October 26. “Mimesis and Materiality: Imitating Marble in the Pavement Mosaics of North African Churches,” 20th International Medieval Congress, Leeds, England, July 1–4, presented at the session Variegated Pleasures: The Sensation of Stone in Medieval Visual and Material Culture, sponsored by the International Center of Medieval Art. “The Sensuality of Stone in Early Christian Baptisteries of North Africa,” North American Patristics Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, May 23–25, presented at the session Material Christianity in Roman Africa. “The Sensuality of Stone in Early Christian Baptisteries of North Africa,” Johns Hopkins University, Department of the History of Art Internal Colloquium, April 6. “The Reception of Greco-Roman Epic in an Early Christian Manuscript,” hosted by the Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, Abteilung für Klassische Archäologie and Abteilung für Christliche Archäologie und Byzantinische Kunstgeschichte, AlbertLudwigs-Universität, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, June 26. “From House Churches to Basilicas: The Evolution of Worship Space in Early Christianity,” Historical Society, Golden Gate Seminary, Mill Valley, California. “Anti-Neronian Propaganda in the Architecture of Early Flavian Rome,” Historical Society, Golden Gate Seminary, Mill Valley, California. N. Dennis, 5 Invited/Guest Lectures Fall 2020 Spring 2018 Fall 2017 Fall 2016 Fall 2014 Spring 2013 Spring 2011 With Jessica Blum-Sorensen, “Ancient Democracy, the Present Moment, and the Future of a Political Ideal,” public lecture for the Ancient Art Council of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, presented at the Legion of Honor, October 3. “Nature Tamed and Framed: Reimagining Paradise in the Late Roman and Early Christian World,” public lecture for the Ancient Art Council of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, presented at the Legion of Honor, May 19. “Preserving Cultural Heritage in an Age of Conflict,” Center for Research, Artistic and Scholarly Excellence (CRASE) Digital Humanities: Possibilities and Projects, University of San Francisco, October 4. Ball State University, Department of English/Honors College. Guest lecture on the David Owsley Museum of Art’s collection of ancient and medieval art, for the course “Afterlives & Undiscovered Countries” (Prof. Vanessa Rapatz). West Texas A&M University, Department of English. Guest lecture on Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (Prof. Valerie Dennis). “Personal Beauty and Appearance in the Ancient World,” Johns Hopkins University Archaeological Museum. Invited Valentine’s Day public lecture that highlighted artifacts in the collection pertaining to masculine beauty and grooming in the Greco-Roman world. University of Baltimore, Department of English. Guest lecture on Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (Prof. Valerie Dennis). Awards and Fellowships • • • • • • • • • • • University of San Francisco (USF), Graduate Student Organization Advisor of the Year Award (Museum Studies Graduate Association) (2020) USF, Davies Forum Award to teach “Political Animals: Democracy from Athens to America” in Fall 2020—competitive teaching award that comes with a $20,000 budget USF, Faculty Development Fund (FDF) for research in Switzerland (Summer 2019) USF, FDF for research in Cyprus (Fall 2018) USF, FDF for research in Greece, Albania, and Kosovo (Summer 2018) USF, FDF for research in mainland France, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily (Summer 2017) American Academy in Rome, Paul Mellon/Samuel H. Kress Foundation Pre-Doctoral Rome Prize (Ancient Studies, 2014–2016) Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Department of the History of Art (DHA), Sadie and Louis Roth Fellowship for research in Russia (Summer 2014) American Research Center in Sofia (ARCS), Bulgaria, ARCS Pre-Doctoral Fellowship (2014–2015, declined) JHU, dissertation fellowship from the Charles Singleton Center for the Study of PreModern Europe for research in Italy (Spring 2014) JHU, Dean’s Teaching Fellowship for the course “Art and Architecture of Early Christian and Medieval North Africa” (Fall 2013) N. Dennis, 6 • • • • • • • • • • • • • JHU, DHA, Sadie and Louis Roth Fellowship for research in Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, and Turkey (Summer 2013) JHU, Department of German and Romance Languages and Literature, Singleton Summer Travel Fellowship for research in Italy (Summer 2012) JHU, DHA, Sadie and Louis Roth Fellowship for research in Algeria and Tunisia (Summer 2012) JHU and the Walters Art Museum, Robert and Nancy Hall Fellowship for Museum Studies (Summer and Fall 2012) JHU, DHA, Sadie and Louis Roth Fellowship for research in Italy (Summer 2011) Pittsburgh Foundation, Walter Read Hovey Fellowship in Art History (2011, declined) JHU and the Walters Art Museum, Robert and Nancy Hall Fellowship for Museum Studies (Summer 2010) JHU, DHA, Elizabeth Cropper Travel Prize for research in Italy (Spring 2010) JHU, Department of Classics Exchange Program, Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, Abteilung für Klassische Archäologie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany (Summer 2009) Golden Gate Seminary, Valedictorian for Graduating Class of 2004 Golden Gate Seminary, Broadman and Holman Publishers Seminarian Award (2004) Golden Gate Seminary, Presidential Scholarship (2001) University of Oregon, Study Abroad Fellowship, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland (1996–1997) Courses Taught University of San Francisco • • • • • • • • • • • • INTD 350-01: “Davies Forum—Political Animals: Democracy from Athens to America” (co-taught with Jessica Blum-Sorensen) (Fall 2020) MUSE 611-01: “Cultural Heritage and Social Justice” (Spring 2020; Spring 2021) ART 318-01: “Roman Art” (Fall 2019) ART 398-57: “Directed Study: Medieval Manuscripts” (Spring 2019) ART 421-01/422-01/423-01: Internship for Fine Arts Museums/Commercial Galleries/Arts Nonprofits (Spring 2019) ART 317-01: “Multicultural Middle Ages” (Fall 2018) MUSE 690-01: “Cultural Heritage: Museums & Memory in the Age of Globalism” (Spring 2018; Spring 2019) ART 313-01: “Early Christian Art” (Fall 2017; Spring 2021) ART 195-02: “Sacred Art in the City” (Fall 2017). First-Year Seminar that met offcampus each week at San Francisco museums, galleries, and historical churches, synagogues, and mosques. ART 398-98: “Directed Study: Greek Papyrus & Manuscript Studies” ART 214-01: “Islamic Art” (Spring 2020; Spring 2019; Spring 2018, Spring 2017) SII 302-01: “Music and Art” (Spring 2017). St. Ignatius Institute (SII) honors program seminar on intersections between early music and medieval and early modern art. N. Dennis, 7 • • ART 390-02: “Economies of Exchange: Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Medieval Mediterranean” (Fall 2016) ART 101-01: “Survey of Western Art History I” (Fall 2020; Fall 2019; Fall 2018; Fall 2017; Fall 2016) American Academy in Rome • Classical Summer School (Co-Director, Summer 2015). Taught on site in Rome and its environs with Genevieve Gessert. Johns Hopkins University • • • AS.010.306: “Florence and Beyond: Art and Culture in the Central Italian Renaissance” (January Intersession, 2014). The course was taught on site in Florence, Italy, with additional trips to Pisa, Lucca, Fiesole, Siena, and Ravenna. AS.010.254: “Art and Architecture of Early Christian and Medieval North Africa” (Fall 2013) (cross-listed with the Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Center for Africana Studies) AS.010.101: “Introduction to the History of Western Art I” (Fall 2011) Graduate Theses Supervised • • • • • • • • Annette Burns, M.A. in Museum Studies, University of San Francisco (USF), December 2020 Haley Khosrowshahi, M.A. in Museum Studies, USF, December 2020 Megan K. Udell, “The Museum of the Infinite Scroll: Assessing the Effectiveness of Google Arts and Culture as a Virtual Tool for Museum Accessibility,” M.A. in Museum Studies, USF, December 2019 Libby C. Tyson, “A Father but Not a Family: Thomas Jefferson’s Racially Paternalistic Motivations behind the Lewis and Clark Expedition,” M.A. in Museum Studies, USF, December 2019 Kirsten Desperrier, “Unwilling Partners: Turkey, the West, and the Quest for Cultural Property,” M.A. in Museum Studies, USF, December 2019 Hannah Baldwin, “An Ethical Toolbox for the Curation and Display of Maritime Archaeological Objects,” M.A. in Museum Studies, USF, May 2020 Anna J. Volante, “Renouncing the Universal Museum’s Imperial Past: A Call to Return the Rosetta Stone through Collaborative Museology,” M.A. in Museum Studies, University of San Francisco, December 2018 Colette P. Militello, “The Destruction of UNESCO World Heritage Sites Aleppo and Palmyra in Syria Due to Civil War: Accessioning and Cataloging the Satellite and Drone Imagery into a Museum Collection,” M.A. in Museum Studies, USF, December 2018 N. Dennis, 8 Academic Service • • • • • • • • • • Scientific Advisory Board member for the journal ABside: Rivista di Storia dell’Arte Advisory committee member for a 20-Year vision plan and capital program for the visual and performing arts at the University of San Francisco (USF) (2018–2020). Advisory committee member and cross-listed faculty member for the Classical Studies minor at USF (2017–Present). Thacher Gallery Advisory Board member, USF (2017–Present). Director of the Museum Studies Graduate Association, USF (2019–Present) Director of the undergraduate Art History Student Association, USF (2018–2019) Admissions representative and planning committee member for the graduate program in Museum Studies at USF (2017–2019). Principal coordinator of the Annual Bay Area Undergraduate Art History Research Symposium at the de Young Museum (2017–2019); participants include Dominican University, Mills College, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, Santa Clara University, Sonoma State University, St. Mary’s College, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and USF. Johns Hopkins University, Graduate Representative Organization, Representative for the Department of the History of Art (2009–2010). Golden Gate Seminary, President of the Historical Society (2003–2005). Professional Affiliations • • • • • • • • • Archaeological Institute of America Association Internationale pour l’Étude de la Mosaïque Antique Byzantine Studies Association of North America College Art Association International Catacomb Society International Center of Medieval Art Italian Art Society Medieval Academy of America North American Patristics Society Research Languages • • • • • • • • Coptic French German Greek (Classical/Byzantine) Hebrew (Ancient) Italian Latin (Classical/Medieval) Spanish