Anne Heath has taught at Hope College since 2007. She teaches Introduction to Art History and courses in Medieval, Islamic, Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture, all of which take a global approach to these art historical periods. Her upper-level seminars include topics such as introduction to theory and methods, historical artistic techniques and the activation of the senses in pre-modern art. She also teaches seminars in which students have curated exhibitions for the De Pree Gallery, such as The Printed Image (2008) and Reading between the Lines (2011). Students have also proposed a redesign of the Dutch painting galleries for the Holland Museum (2014) and have assisted in exhibitions for the Kruizenga Art Museum (2017, 2019). All of Dr. Heath’s classes stress first-hand experience with works of art through field trips, object-specific projects and hands-on, professional training.

Dr. Heath has worked on archaeological excavations in Italy and France, and conducted extensive archival research in France supported by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Graham Foundation, Brown University and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her area of specialization is Gothic architecture and its role in creating spaces for worship, political power and social identity to play out among participants and audiences.

Dr. Heath has received grants and awards for her research and teaching, which have enabled her to travel in the United States and abroad to conduct archival and fieldwork research. Her publications focus on the social, political and spiritual dimensions of art, architecture and visual culture of the Middle Ages. Dr. Heath has a particular interest in the material presence of art objects, as well as the holistic sensory impact of medieval spaces.

Currently Dr. Heath is working on a book-length study of the visual and performance culture at the Benedictine abbey of La Trinité in Vendôme, France. She involves students in an ongoing interdisciplinary and multi-staged collaborative research project that reconstructs the architecture, visual culture and music of La Trinité through sound recordings, drawings and interactive maps. She recently co-edited with Dr. Gillian Elliott (George Washington University) a collection of essays by a group of international scholars titled Art, Architecture, and the Moving Viewer c. 300–1500: Unfolding Narratives (Brill Publishers, 2022).

Areas of Expertise

• Medieval architecture and liturgy (Gothic period)
• Monastic visual and performance culture

Education

• Ph.D., history of art and architecture, Brown University, 2005
• M.A., history of art and criticism, Florida State University, 1998
• B.A., art history and German, University of Maine, 1992

Selected honors, grants & awards

• National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend, 2022
• Board of Directors of the International Center of Medieval Art, 2019–2022
• Borgeson Faculty-Student Collaborative Grants, Hope College, 2017, 2019
• Jacob E. Nyenhuis Faculty-Student Collaborative Grants, 2017, 2019
• Expanding Collaborations Initiative grant, Great Lakes Colleges Association, 2014
• Mellon Scholars Excellence in Mentoring Award, Hope College, 2013
• Jacob E. Nyenhuis Faculty Research Grants, 2008, 2011

Selected Publications

• “Circulating Among Friends: The Raising of Lazarus and the Cult of the Holy Tear at the Abbey of La Trinité in Vendôme,” in Art, Architecture, and the Moving Viewer c. 300–1500: Unfolding Narratives (Brill Publishers, 2022)
• “Making New Impressions: The ‘Episcopal’ Seals of Benedictine Abbots in the 13th and 14th Centuries, Quæstiones medii aevi novae, 2018
• “Elevating Germanus of Auxerre: The Architecture, Liturgy, and Politics of Monastic Identity,” Speculum, 2015
• “Reading Between the Lines: the History and Production of Books Highlighted by the Hope College Rare Book Collection,” catalog for student-curated exhibition at the De Pree Gallery, Hope College, 2012
• “Learning between the Lines,” News From Hope College, 2012
• “Secular Power, Sacred Authority, and Urban Topography in the Palm Sunday Procession in Late Medieval Auxerre, France,” Viator, 2010
• “The Printed Image: Engravings and Etchings Collected by Richard Wunder,” catalog for student-curated exhibition, and symposium, 2009
• “Architecture, rituel et identité dans la cathédrale Saint-Étienne et l’abbaye Saint-Germain d’Auxerre,” Centre d’études médiévales Auxerre: Études et Travaux, 2005