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Faculty

Full-Time Faculty


Paula Birnbaum

Academic Director
(415) 422-5167

Paula Birnbaum is the Academic Director of the Museum Studies Master of Arts Program and Professor of Art History and Museum Studies at USF. She is a specialist in modern and contemporary art and holds a doctorate in Art History from Bryn Mawr College. Professor Birnbaum is a former Fulbright Scholar and fellow at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at Stanford University. Birnbaum’s research focuses on modern and contemporary art in relationship to gender and sexuality, as well as...

Education:

PhD, History of Art, Bryn Mawr College, MA, History of Art, Bryn Mawr College, BA, History of Art and French Literature, Bowdoin College

Nathan Dennis

Assistant Professor
(415) 422-4938

Nathan Dennis is an assistant professor in the Art History and Museum Studies programs at USF. He specializes in late antique and medieval art and architecture, particularly of the Mediterranean and Near East, including the material and visual traditions of Western Christian, Byzantine/Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, and Islamic cultures. He received a PhD in the History of Art from Johns Hopkins University, writing his dissertation on the pictorial, material, and liturgical strategies employed in...

Education:

PhD, History of Art, Johns Hopkins University, 2016

Expertise:

Roman, Early Christian, Medieval, and Byzantine Art, Early Christian Baptisteries, Ancient and Medieval Mosaics, Late Antique and Early Medieval Mediterranean World

Karen Fraser

Associate Professor

Karen M. Fraser earned her PhD from Stanford University, where she studied both traditional Japanese art and the history of photography. Her research focuses on modern Japanese visual culture, with particular interests in Japanese photography from ca. 1860 through the 1930s, cross-cultural interactions and influences between Asia and the West, gender issues, and museum and exhibition history. Professor Fraser’s teaching experience includes survey and upper-level courses covering both...

Education:

PhD, Art History, Stanford University, MA, Art History, University of South Florida, BS, Communications and Art History, University of Miami

Catherine Lusheck

Associate Professor, Chair for Department of Art + Architecture
(415) 422-5612

Catherine (“Kate”) Lusheck is associate professor of art history and museum studies, specializing in early modern European art and curatorial practice. Lusheck’s interdisciplinary art history research and teaching focus on issues of meaning, emulation, and self-representation in early modern European art (c. 1400-1700), with a special emphasis on the drawings of Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640). Lusheck also teaches the history and theory of museums and collaborative curatorial practice...

Education:

PhD, History of Art, University of California, Berkeley (December 2000), MA, History of Art, University of California, Berkeley (May 1992), BA, Political Science, magna cum laude, DePauw University (May 1987)

Expertise:

European Art, c. 1300—1800, Northern Baroque (Dutch & Flemish) Art, The Art of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Works on Paper and the History of Drawing, Museum Studies: History and Theory, Curatorial Practice

Stuart McKee

Associate Professor
(415) 422-6032

Stuart McKee is an Associate Professor of Design at the University of San Francisco. As an environmental graphic designer, Stuart has designed exhibition typography for the J. Paul Getty Center in Los Angeles; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland (as Senior Graphic Designer for the Burdick Group; San Francisco); and the United States Pavilion at the 1992 World's Fair in Seville, Spain (as Senior Graphic Designer for Staples & Charles Ltd; Washington, DC). As a print...

Education:

MFA in Design, Yale University, BFA, Washington University in Saint Louis

Part-Time Faculty


Fraidy Aber

Affiliate Faculty

Fraidy Aber is the Director of Education and Public Programs at The Contemporary Jewish Museum where she oversees school, teacher, teen, family, access and public programs helping realize the Museum's mission to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in exploring Jewish culture, history, art, and ideas. Award winning programs include 2014 Excellence in Education Award from California Association of Museums for the Museum’s citywide student bookmaking competition, Access Programs recognition...

Paloma Añoveros

Adjunct Professor

Paloma Añoveros is an Arts Management consultant specializing in strategic planning and management in Museum Collections and Exhibitions at the national and international levels, in both non-profit and for-profit environments. She has been associated with USF's Art + Architecture Department as guest lecturer since 2009 and as an adjunct professor since 2012. Paloma led the Collections Specialty in the Museum Studies program at JFK University from 2002–09. She is also a specialist in the...

Education:

BA, Art History, Universidad Complutense, Spain, Art Conservation Superior Degree, Escuela Superior de Conservación, Madrid, Spain, MA, Museum Studies, JFK University, Advanced Study in Conservation, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard University

Nell Herbert

Adjunct Professor

Nell Herbert holds a Master’s degree in Museum Studies from the University of San Francisco and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art Studio from the University of California, Davis. In addition to teaching at USF, Nell serves as the gallery manager at USF’s Mary and Carter Thacher Gallery where she contributes to a wide range of art exhibitions that focus on California-based artists and collections. Her work at Thacher includes exhibition development and curation, publicity and community outreach,...

Education:

MA, Museum Studies, University of San Francisco, BA, Art Studio, University of California-Davis

Emily Jennings

Adjunct Professor
(415) 422-5681

Emily Jennings serves as the director of school and family programs for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Through her work with students, teachers, families, and teens, she designs programs that develop fluency with key thinking skills such as observation, inquiry, inference, and reflection. In 2015 the California Association of Museums, recognized the excellence of the museums’ school programs, awarding the Past & Present program, designed for 6th grade learners, with the...

Education:

M.A. in art history from San Francisco State, M. Ed. in historical thinking from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Janine Okmin

Adjunct Professor
(415) 422-5681

Janine Okmin is the director of education at the Bay Area Discovery Museum, overseeing public programs, school partnerships, and camps. A museum educator and arts administrator who designs experiential educational strategies for audiences of all ages, she has also held roles as associate director of education at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco and associate manager of Learning Through Art, an artist residency program at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Janine has developed and...

Education:

M.A in Arts Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University, BA in Drama from Northwestern University

Eyal Shahar

Adjunct Professor

Eyal Shahar is a music and art technologist. Currently based in San Francisco, he works as a senior new media exhibit developer at the Exploratorium. Eyal has a BSc in electrical engineering from Tel Aviv University and an SM in Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Lab. He started his career as a professional musician, working with some of Israel's most prominent artists for over a decade. His software and hardware engineering experience includes various positions in music and art related...

Education:

MIT Media Lab, SM in Media Arts and Sciences, 2012, Tel Aviv University, BSc in Electrical Engineering, 2003

Karren Shorofsky

Adjunct Professor

Karren Shorofsky is an attorney and art historian who has spent most of her career focused on legal issues related to the arts, emerging technology, and museums and other nonprofit institutions. She holds a BA in art history from Brown University, a JD from Yale Law School, and an MA in art history from San Francisco State University.  After working with the general counsel of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Karren practiced at major San Francisco law firms for more than a decade....

Education:

JD, Yale Law School, MA, Art History, San Francisco State University, BA, Art History, Brown University

Astria Suparak

Adjunct Professor

Adjunct Professor Astria Suparak is an independent curator and artist based in Oakland, California. Her cross-disciplinary projects often address urgent political issues and have been widely acclaimed for their high-level concepts made accessible through a popular culture lens. She has curated exhibitions, screenings, performances, discussions, and other events for art institutions and festivals across ten countries, including The Liverpool Biennial, MoMA PS1, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Wexner Center...

Education:

Pratt Institute

Steven Tulsky

Adjunct Professor

Steven H. Tulsky, Principal of the Benemetrics Consulting Group, is an advisor to nonprofit organizations in the areas of financial management, planning, analysis, strategy, and operations. His career has encompassed over 35 years of experience as a financial professional. Prior to focusing on the nonprofit sector, he held positions as Chief Financial Officer, Director of Finance, Treasurer, and Assistant Treasurer of large, medium, and small public and private firms. For over fifteen years Mr...

Education:

MBA, University of North Carolina, BA, Duke University