Biography
Anne Allen (Art History) is Professor of Fine Arts and has taught at Indiana University Southeast since 1994. She helps oversee the Art History and Art Appreciation curriculum. Anne received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her Master of Arts in Art History is from California State University, San Diego. Her Master’s thesis is The Tapa Cloth of Tonga and Samoa: A Study in Continuity and Change. Anne received her Doctor of Philosophy in Art History from Columbia University in New York City. Her dissertation is titled Space as Social Construct: The Vernacular Architecture of Rural Samoa. She is a Fulbright-Hays Scholar, which funded a full year of research in the independent Pacific nation of Samoa. She returns there whenever possible to continue her work. Her research areas include Samoan village architecture, cloth, and ritual, and how these are reflected in and facilitate cultural conceptualizations and usage of the spatial domain. She has numerous publications in the field of Pacific Art History as well as international and national conference presentations.
In addition to her scholarly work Anne has received numerous awards for teaching, including the Indiana University Southeast Distinguished Teaching Award in 2005 and five Trustees Teaching Awards. She was selected as a member of Indiana University’s FACET (Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching) in 2004 At Indiana University Southeast she teaches a broad range of topics including both Western and Indigenous art traditions: Native America, South Pacific, Baroque, Japanese, Northern Renaissance, Pre-Columbian, and Ancient art, among others. Anne also sponsors trips to major cities such as Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York on a regular basis in order to broaden and enrich her students’ experience of art and culture. In Summer 2014 she will be taking students for a month long trip to the Polynesian islands of Samoa. Working with students, Anne has curated several exhibitions for the Indiana University Southeast Ronald Barr Gallery of art from Africa, the Pacific, and Native America.
- Former Editor of Pacific Arts, the Journal of the Pacific Arts association
- Member of the international board of the Pacific Arts Association
- Member of FACET (IU Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching)
- Member of the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania
Academic Background
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Doctorate
- Columbia University, New York, United States
- Doctor of Philosophy, Major in South Pacific and Native American Art, Minor in Mesoamerican Art and Northern Renaissance Art
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Masters
- California State University, San Diego, United States
- Masters of Arts, Major in South Pacific Art, Minor in Native American Art and Baroque Art
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Bachelors
- University of California, San Diego, United States
- Bachelor of Arts, Major in Biology
Professional Interests
Teaching
The art of Japan, the South Pacific, Native America, The Baroque, and the Ancient World
Research
Polynesian Art
