Education

• Indiana University: Ph.D. in art history major: African, Oceanic, Pre-Columbian minors: Modern art, African Studies, 1975-83
• Institute of Fine Arts, New York University: M.A. in art history. Concentration: Modern and Oceanic art, 1970-72
• Saint Olaf College: B.A. in art, 1966-70

Selected Publications

• "The Funeral of an Ijo Shrine Priest," African Arts XXI (1) 1987: 52-57, 88
• Review of Foreheads of the Dead by Nigel Barley, in African Arts XXII (3) 1989: 18-23( with Christine Mullen)
• With Christine Kreamer. Wild Spirits, Strong Medicines: African Art and the Wilderness. Seattle: Washington University Press with the Center for African Art, 1989.

Forthcoming Publications

• "Enchanted Rivers: Mami Wata in the Niger Delta," in a volume on Mami Wata edited by Henry Drewal.
• “Ijo Folklore.” In an encyclopedia of folklore.
• Two extended captions in a catalog of the African collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art. New York: Museum for African Art.”
• With Lisa Aronson. “Elites in Bonny and Opobo: Self Representation and Local Appropriation of Photography.”in Between Basel and Angola: The Travels and Explorations of the Basel Citizen Carl Passavant to West and Central Africa from 1883 to 1885, edited by Jürg Schneider and Ute Röschenthaler. Basel:

In print:

• 2004 "Water Ethos: The Ijo of the Niger Delta," in African Folklore: An Encyclopedia, edited by Philip M. Peek and Kwesi Yankah. New York: Routledge. 502-04.
• 2003 "Ijo Art," a revised version of the article published in the Dictionary of Art, e. by Jane Turner. London: Grove Publications. Also available on Grove Art Online, http://www.e-grove.com/art/tdao.html
• 2003 “Ikiyan aru: Ijo vessels of sacrifice.” African Arts XXXVI(1): 24-39, 91-92.
• 2002 “Ways of the Rivers:Arts and Environment of the Niger Delta” (Exhibition Preview). African Arts XXXV(1): 12-25, 93.
• 2002 Co-edited with Philip M. Peek, Ways of the Rivers: Art and Environment of the Niger Delta. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, UCLA. I co-wrote the introduction and conclusion, and wrote eight interleaf essays and two chapters:
  "Bulletproof: The Warrior Ethos in Ijo culture"
  "River Horses and Dancing Sharks: Canoes and Fish in Ijo Art and Ritual"
• 1999 "The Arts." In Land and Peoples of Bayelsa State. Edited by E. J. Alagoa. Port Harcourt, Nigeria: Onyoma Research Publications.
• 1998 "From Adumu to Mami Wata: Central Ijo Water Spirit Images." In The Multi-disciplinary Approach to African History. Edited by Nkparom C. Ejituwu. Port Harcourt, Nigeria: University of Port Harcourt Press.
• "Ijo Art." In Art and Life in Africa. Iowa City, Iowa: Art and Life in Africa project. This is an interactive educational CD-ROM.
• Seven field photographs in Festivals of the World: Nigeria. Singapore: Times Editions, Ltd. This is an educational-library series designed for children aged 8 to 10.
• 1997 "Delta," in Arts du Nigeria. Paris: réunion musées nationaux, 1997.
  "Ijo Art," in The Dictionary of Art. London: Grove.
• 1996 Review of Animals, by Allen Roberts, in African Arts XXIX(4): 10-14.
• 1989 with Christine Mullen Kreamer, Wild Spirits Strong Medicine: African Art and the Wilderness. New York: co-published by the Center for African Art and the Washington University Press.
• Review of Foreheads of the Dead, by Nigel Barley, African Arts XXII (3): 18-23.
• 1988 Review of African Sculpture from the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, by Allen Wardwell, African Arts XXII (1): 22-27.
• 1987 "The Funeral of an Ijo Shrine Priest," African Arts XXI (1): 52-57, 88.
  1983 Central Ijo Art: Shrines and Spirit Images. Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University.
• 1981 Catalog entry on an Ijo mask in For Spirits and Kings, edited by Susan Vogel. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 149-50.
• 1979 Co-authored with Mary Jo Arnoldi, Art in Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God. Bloomington: African Studies Program, Indiana University.
• 1975 "Expanded African Collection [at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts]," in African Arts, Spring: 72.
• with Ellen Bradbury, Black Kingdoms. Exhibition catalog. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
• 1974 with Ellen Bradbury, "Ijo Duen Fobara or Ancestor Screen," Minneapolis Institute of Arts Bulletin 61: 66-73.
• 1972 Pablo Picasso: His Use of Arcadian Imagery. Master's thesis, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
• 1970 Paul Klee and the Art of Children. Senior honors thesis, St. Olaf College.
• 1969 Australian Aboriginal Children's Art. Thesis, Minnesota SPAN Association.

Selected Awards/Honors

• 2004 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity for Academic Year 2003-2004
• International Faculty Development Grant to participate in Drew in West Africa: Mali program
• NEH grant to pride additional funding for Drew in West Africa: Mali program.
• NEH grant to attend ACASA (Arts Council of the African Studies Association) Triennial Symposium in Boston
• 2003 Chair of Leadership Award committee for ACASA, the Arts Council of the African Studies Association
• 2003 Notified of inclusion in a forthcoming edition of American Authors, published by the Gale Group and in Who’s Who in Fine Arts Higher Education, published by AcademicKeys.
• 2001 Inducted into Phi Kapa Phi
• NEH grant to attend ACASA’s 12th Triennial Symposium on African Art
  1999 Named Consultant/Associate editor of Angala, a biannual journal of the visual arts of the Niger Delta
• Alfred University Summer Research Grant
• 1998 Elected to a three-year term on the board of ACASA, Arts Council of the African Studies Association. Served as President 1999-2001
• 1995 Smithsonian Institution Short Term Visitor's Grant for research at the National Museum of Natural History
• 1991 Fulbright Hayes Faculty Research Abroad Grant, Center for International Education, U.S. Department of Education for twelve months of field research in Nigeria
• 1986 Alfred University Summer Grant for research in Great Britain
• 1980 Graduate Internship, African Studies Program, Indiana University
• 1980 NDEA Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship
• 1978 With Mary Jo Arnoldi, winner of Graduate Student Paper Competition, African Studies Program, Indiana University
• Samuel H. Kress Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship for twelve months of field research in Nigeria and two months in Great Britain
• 1977 Indiana University Kress Fellowship
• Graduate Assistantship, Indiana University Art Museum
• 1976 American Federation for the Arts Fellowship
• 1975 Indiana University Recruitment Fellowship
• 1974 NEH Graduate Internship at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• 1971 Florance A. Waterbury Fellowship, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
• 1970 Institute of Fine Arts Fellowship, New York University
• Magna cum laude, departmental honors, St. Olaf College
• 1968 Minnesota SPAN Association Scholarship for two months of independent study in Australia

Professional experience

• 1982- New York State College of Ceramics, School of Art and Design, Alfred University:
• 1997- Professor of Art History
• 1989-97 Associate Professor of Art History
• 1988-91, 92- Chair, Division of Art History
• 1982-89 Assistant Professor of Art History
• 1981-82 College of Wooster, Visiting Assistant Professor
• 1975-81 Indiana University, worked for Bambara Locks (1976) and African Household Furnishings (1979) exhibitions, I.U. Art Museum (1977), the African Studies Librarian (1977-78), and the African Studies Program as an editorial assistant (1979-80) and audio-visual coordinator (1980-81)
• 1975 Ten-week regional museum experience at the Minneapolis Regional Native American Center as part of NEH internship
• 1974-75 NEH graduate intern, Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Research, didactic materials, and docent training on African and Oceanic art, functions of the Registrar
• 1973-74 Minnesota Museum of Art. Assistant to Program Division Director, Museum Education Coordinator.
• 1970 Research assistant to Colin Eisler, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University