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Shirlynn S

- Research Program Mentor

PhD at Yale University

Expertise

History of Art (global art history from Renaissance - present); History of science and technology from 19th century - present; theories of vision and perception; history of cinema; media studies

Bio

I am an art historian who has specialized in 19th- and 20-century European, British, and American art over the course of my doctoral degree. I have designed my own course curriculum and taught as a faculty member at two different universities. At Yale Summer School, I taught an accelerated introductory art history course, and at Johns Hopkins University, I taught an advanced undergraduate course titled "Art and Technology: 1800-present". I have also had publications accepted at peer-reviewed journals, and have given public talks on my research in the United States and Europe. I enjoy problem-solving of all kinds; I became an art historian because I viewed each work of art as a puzzle to be solved through the craft of language. In my free time, I enjoy German strategy board games. I am also passionate about language-learning, and travel.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Curating a Virtual Exhibition Using Omeka and ArtSteps software

How do you tell a story using objects and sites? In this project, we will curate a virtual exhibition using the web-based Omeka software and the ArtSteps VR software. I will work with you to come up with a theme of your choice, which might be based on a particular historical phenomenon (e.g. the Industrial Revolution, the invention of photography, the development of screens), a particular artistic medium or site of display (e.g. the panorama, the medical lecture theater, sites of civil engineering), or a theme or motif that you trace through time (e.g. how visual representations of women have changed over time). I will guide you through writing a curatorial proposal, an introduction to an exhibition, a catalog essay, and catalog entries for each object you choose. We will use spatial reasoning to determine an ideal narrative strategy for your virtual gallery (e.g. placing a single object on a large wall to heighten narrative impact). We will also learn how to source objects from museum collections and archives. By the end of this project, you will have developed a cohesive visual argument about an issue you care about, and we can explore the different formats through which you can publicize your project.

Review a Museum Exhibition

How do you apply a critical eye to a museum exhibition? For this project, you will visit an exhibition at a museum local to you. I will work with you to transform your opinions and observations of the exhibition into a critical analysis of the show. We will work on skills of visual analysis, and will spend time thinking about how the exhibition is organized (chronologically? thematically?), as well as what narrative it attempts to provide. We will discuss the exhibition's aims, and the criteria that determine whether an exhibition is a successful one. We will also explore various narrative strategies, and brainstorm alternative narratives that the exhibition could have followed, as part of critical analysis. Depending on the outcome of this project, we can also discuss refining and submitting the exhibition review to online art publications.

Coding skills

HTML, CSS

Languages I know

French (intermediate reading proficiency), German (intermediate reading and speaking proficiency), Chinese (bilingual proficiency)

Teaching experience

I have taught as a Teaching Fellow at Yale for 3 years, during which time I led discussion sections of 12-20 students, and met with students one-on-one to guide them through assignments and exams. I have also taught as a faculty member at Yale and at Johns Hopkins University. At Yale, I designed my own accelerated introductory art history course curriculum for Yale's summer school, and taught virtually, giving twice-weekly 3-hour lectures. Because the course was virtual, I worked with college and high school students from around the world. At Johns Hopkins, I designed an advanced-level undergraduate course curriculum based directly on my own research, and taught students in the traditional semester-long course format. I also led writing and research workshops throughout the semester. At both Yale and Johns Hopkins, I guided students through various types of projects, including curating their own virtual exhibitions, researching long papers based on art objects of their choice, exploring visual analysis in short-form papers, and crafting discussion-focused responses based on assigned readings.

Credentials

Work experience

Johns Hopkins University (2022 - Current)
Lecturer
Yale University (2021 - 2021)
Faculty Member, Yale Summer School
Yale University (2016 - 2021)
Teaching Fellow
Yale University Office of Public Affairs and Communications (2021 - 2021)
Communications Fellow

Education

Columbia University
BA Bachelor of Arts (2014)
Double major in Political Science and Art History
Yale University
MA Master of Arts (2017)
History of Art (non-terminal MA)
Yale University
MPhil Master of Philosophy (2018)
History of Art (non-terminal MPhil)
Yale University
PhD Doctor of Philosophy
History of Art

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