I am an art and architectural historian specializing in the ancient Mediterranean, especially Egypt when it was a Roman province. I have advanced degrees in art history, Egyptology, and museology, and two decades of professional experience in museums and galleries large and small. Before joining Appalachian State, I spearheaded major curatorial projects at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (where I am a current Research Associate in the Section of Anthropology and Archaeology) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I work with temples located in Egypt and northern Sudan (ancient Nubia), like the Met’s temple of Dendur. I consider the longue durée of these monuments complete with color and multivalent contexts. I aim to rewrite both modern understanding of ancient histories and contemporary histories (especially related to ethics in collecting and displaying cultural heritage) of ancient art and architecture. I am committed to transparent and decolonial approaches in research and in my classes, which include Egyptian Art and Architecture, The Art of the Roman World, History of Museums, and the Art of the Mediterranean World 250-1450.

I am a three-time Project Director awardee of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Other agencies and institutions that have funded my research and museum work include the Maryland State Arts Council and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My publications have appeared in Egyptian Archaeology, the Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, the Metropolitan Museum Journal, the 2019 edited volume Ancient Art of Transformation, and the forthcoming edited volume, Discourses of Travel, Exploration, and European Power in Egypt from 1798 to 1956. I am currently working on my first book manuscript, Egypt in Empire: Temples from Augustan Egypt.