Advocating for Art History

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Advocating for Art History

Cindy Persinger, Jennifer P. Kingsley, Rosemarie Trentinella (Eds.)

by Christina J. Faraday (Univeristy of Cambridge), Catharine Ingersoll (Virginia Military Institute), Sarah Parrish (Plymouth State University), Kerry Boeye (Loyola University Maryland), Susan J. Baker (University of Houston-Downtown), Sarah E. Baker (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center), Alexandra R. Nicolaides (John Jay College of Criminal Justice), Sarah Archino (Furman University), Azar Rejaie (University of Houston - Downtown), Jennifer Borland (Oklahoma State University), Rhonda L. Reymond (West Virginia University)

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At a time when the most enlightened of recent Presidents questioned the usefulness of art history as a subject choice, it is exciting to see a group of early and mind-career art historians painting a striking and nuanced picture that shows why art history is essential in contemporary curricula. Inspired by a love of art and totally committed to their profession, while being hard-headed about realities on the ground and in the social imaginary, they make a clear case for the value of art history these days. They spell out the practicalities of pursuing their vocation at a range of institutions, from R-1 universities to local colleges, with vivid examples of successes and failures, and loads of useful advice. With advocates such as these, art history is in good hands. Join them!

Terry Smith
Slade Professor of Fine Arts, University of Cambridge, 2025-2026
Andrew W Mellon Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory, University of Pittsburgh
Emeritus Professor of Art History, University of Sydney
Professor at Large, The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, Sharjah
Professor in the Division of Philosophy, Art, and Critical Thought, European Graduate School, Saas-Fee
Faculty at Large, Curatorial Program, School of Visual Arts, New York

This collection of thoughtful essays and case studies makes a strong argument for art history’s relevance in difficult times. Attentively engaged with the realities of the discipline—especially its relationships to its enabling institutions and to the broader political climate—the contributing authors bring perspicacious insight from a welcome range of viewpoints concerning why art history counts, how to advocate for it, and where best to act on its behalf. Editors Jennifer P. Kingsley, Cindy Persinger, and Rosemarie Trentinella are to be commended for assembling a volume that is as unafraid to ask tough questions about the status of the discipline as it is to proffer honest answers that locate its value both in and out of the academy, occasionally in surprising places. Of special note, the book avoids abstractions and platitudes about the fraught state of higher education and current politics by diving into the lived intricacies of art history’s practice and enactment—as research, as teaching, and otherwise—without forfeiting theoretical acumen or losing sight of fundamental values. An invigorating and truly helpful text for those who care about art history’s role in the world.

Prof. Dr. Robert Bailey
School of Visual Arts
University of Oklahoma

Original and timely, "Advocating for Art History" is the first organized effort or call to collective action for the vital role of art history at a time when the discipline and the humanities, more broadly, are under increased threat in higher education. Guided by an understanding of the specific institutional structures and dynamics that shape each case study, the volume brings together a wide range of perspectives and methodologies. Contributors share both successful and failed endeavors, while imparting locally responsive advocacy strategies and cultivating belonging to a broader North American art history community.

Prof. Dr. Izabel Galliera
Department of Media, Art and Design
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
University of Missouri – Kansas City

Cindy Persinger, Jennifer Kingsley and Rosa Trentinella’s “Advocating for Art History” is a timely publication. The project began in response to the financial pressures that emerged in institutions of higher education because of the COVID-19 pandemic and delves into the ongoing and more recent challenges scholars in the field face at their home institutions. Showcasing a series of effective case studies, the text argues for collective action in support of the discipline of art history rather than continuing to put our energies into institutionally specific advocacy work through the collection and publication of empirical data. “Advocating for Art History” is a must-read for any department chair or dean who oversees art history programs as well as all art historians in the field.

Prof. Dr. Carolyn Butler-Palmer
Art History & Visual Studies
University of Victoria

At a moment when various uncertainties surround higher education, 'Advocating for Art History' offers theory-informed investigations, case studies, and actionable strategies to empower art historians to assess their individual policy environments and institutional contexts, recognize their spheres of influence, and develop strategic approaches to advocacy that leverage their expertise as educators and researchers.
Edited by Jennifer P. Kingsley, Cindy Persinger, and Rosemarie Trentinella, the volume draws on its contributors’ decades of experience across diverse types of public and private institutions—from R-1 universities to liberal arts colleges as well as a medical school and military academy. Chapters share successes and failures, strategies for securing and maintaining institutional support, analysis of art history’s distinctive contributions to skill and professional development as well as of the discipline’s broader value as a social good. Together, the chapters present a nuanced picture of the current moment, in which art history’s perceived vulnerabilities intersect with (and serve) broader narratives about the humanities and higher education’s supposed failures—complexities the book examines and largely counters.
Capturing a broad spectrum of contemporary art historical advocacy, 'Advocating for Art History' argues that the discipline’s future depends on art historians actively participating in shaping their institutions’ priorities, making their work visible across a variety of stakeholders both within and beyond the academy, and building collective momentum. Above all, it aims to spark reflection and essential conversations about the discipline’s future, and champions the potential for positive action. It is an essential resource for anyone invested in sustaining the humanities in higher education.

Jennifer Kingsley is Teaching Professor at Johns Hopkins University, where she directs the interdisciplinary academic Program in Museums and Society. Over the past 12 years, she has developed over twenty public humanities projects both on and off-campus in collaboration with students, museums, and community organizations. She served as the respondent for the “Advocating for Art History” panel that sparked this book project. She is a member of Engaged Art History (engagedarthistory.org) and has advocated for public art history in presentations at the National Humanities Alliance, College Art Association of America, and National Council for Public History.

Cindy Persinger is Professor of Art History in the Department of Visual & Performing Arts at Pennsylvania Western University. She is the co-editor of Socially Engaged Art History and Beyond: Alternative Approaches to the Theory and Practice of Art History (2021). She chaired and presented at the “Advocating for Art History” panel at the College Art Association (CAA) conference in 2023 that sparked this project. She has advocated for socially engaged art historical practices in presentations at SECAC and CAA beginning in 2014. She is actively involved in Engaged Art History (engagedarthistory.org), for which she co-organized the online Engaged Art History Event series (2022-24).

Rosemarie Trentinella is Associate Teaching Professor of Art History (Department of Art & Design) at the University of Tampa where she has served on a university-wide general education committee since 2020. She presented at the “Advocating for Art History” panel at the 2023 College Art Association conference that sparked this project and has chaired and presented at several panels at SECAC, CAA, and regional pedagogical conferences about “Decoding” the discipline of Art History. Her 2025 article in Transformative Dialogues, “Toward a Future for SoTL in Art History via Decoding the Disciplines,” exemplifies her deployment of the Decoding the Disciplines framework to advocate for art history in and beyond her classroom.

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