Welcome to My Web Page!
How to Find Me:
Department: Art and Art History
E-mail: sjames@mbc.edu (the best way to reach me)
Mailing address: Deming Fine Arts Building, Mary Baldwin College, Staunton, VA 24401 USA
Office Location: Chris House 102, 233 Sycamore Street. (2 doors toward Coalter from MBC Campus Security Office)
Office Phone: (540) 887.7195 Deming Fine Arts Fax: (540) 887-7139
Office Hours: Deming 202: TTh: 10:45-11:15 and 2:40-3:30 Chris House 102: MW 2:30-3:30 and by appointment
Classroom: Art History classes are normally taught in Deming Fine Arts Building, Room 105, but sometimes my classes are in the Academic Building (such as INT213), so check your class on the college course offerings schedule, MyMbc, or Blackboard.
Who I am: I am Professor of Art History at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, located in the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley. I am also an active scholar in Italian Renaissance art history. My book, Signorelli and Fra Angelico at Orvieto: Liturgy Poetry and a Vision of the Endtime (Aldershot,UK/Burlington,VT, Ashgate Publishing, 2003) is available on the publisher’s website and from Amazon. I’ve also published chapters, articles, and book reviews, and presented papers at scholarly conferences on Luca Signorelli, Giorgio Vasari, Cardinal Wolsey, various narrative painting cycles in Orvieto, Italian Renaissance Art, and Medieval-Renaissance English Art.
What I teach:The beauties of teaching in a small liberal arts college are many. I am able to get to know my students and be their advocate for jobs or graduate school when they need it. I am able to teach broadly: Ancient Greece and Rome, Medieval Cathedrals, Italian Renaissance Art, Northern Renaissance painting, Baroque Art and Architecture (Seventeenth Century in Europe). I also teach more focused colloquia on various periods (Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance) as well as on Michelangelo and the City of Rome.
Spring 2013 Course offerings: click for details on a separate web page and look on Blackboard.
ARTH 102: The Survey of Western Art: Medieval-Renaissance 1:25-2:40 in Deming 105
ARTH 203: The High Renaissance in Italy TTh 9:25-10:40 in Deming 105
INT 213: An Honors Colloquium in Technical Art History: Science Meets Art: Making, Materials, and Meaning. Wednesday evenings 6-8:30 PM Pearce Science Center Lab 311
Plan Ahead!! May Term in Italy 2015
I offer an exciting Studies Abroad Course in our May Term, which runs from late April through mid-May. For May Term 2015, I am offering ARTH 343: Renaissance Studies in Italy. Students apply through the Spencer Center. You need to have a strong background in art history so you can appreciate what we see. Prerequisite Courses are available, especially in the spring semester preceding the trip. Follow the link to my web page on May Term for more information. This course will not be available in May Term 2014.
I’ve maintained a website since 2000. I use this web page for information, announcements, resources, and other communications. Beginning this fall, I also will use Blackboard for detailed information on my courses, including posted readings, assignments, and syllabi.