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Dr. Denva | Art Historian

@dr_denva

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🎓 PhD Art Historian | Researcher & Educator
🎨 Exploring identity, power & image
🖼️ From altarpieces to Beyoncé
Across Two Seas: acrosstwoseas.com

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Today we had the honor of facilitating a Listening Circle at Rice University, where faculty, staff, and students reflected on an excerpt from the Final Report of the Task Force on Slavery, Segregation, and Racial Injustice. Together, we lifted up quotes that resonated with us, made connections between injustices of the past and present, and named what is possible within our own spheres of influence to help bring the report’s recommendations to life.

At the center of our Circle were photos of Dr. Velma McAfee Williams, who endured repeated microaggressions as one of the few Black doctoral students at Rice decades ago. Recently honored with an honorary degree, her presence grounded our conversation and reminded us why this work matters.

Here, Dr Denva Gallant shares why she thought a Circle would be an appropriate way to dialogue on the report.

#restorativejustice #restorativehouston #racialjustice #riceuniversity #circles

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Looking to fulfill an elective requirement? Interested in taking an Art History course, but not sure which one? Want a class that frequently visits the Houston Museum District? HART 101 is for you!

This Fall, Professors Denva Gallant and Sophie Crawford-Brown will be teaching "Intro to the History of Art: Ancient to Medieval" on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. A short, 50-minute course spread out throughout the week, perfect for the hectic schedules of a typical Rice student.

This course will take students around the world and will give you a little taste of what other HART courses are usually like.

Learn more at arthistory.rice.edu. Register today!

#ricearthistory #riceuniversity #ricehumanities

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From the vaulted ceilings of Notre-Dame to the Pinault Collection in the Bourse de Commerce, @dr_denva’s Paris Through the Ages traced how artists across centuries have reinvented the city’s visual language and why those conversations never really ended.

This is art history where the syllabus and the city are the same thing.

Rice Global Paris Summer Program | Earn Rice credit. Experience Paris.

#RiceUniversity #RiceGlobal #Paris #ArtHistory #GlobalEducation

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Summer course, HART 213, "Paris Through the Ages: From Gothic Grandeur to Modern Echoes" just concluded week 1 of 3 in Paris, France.

Over the remaining 2 weeks, Professor Denva Gallant will guide students through world-famous museums, and historical landmarks to study the artists who shaped one of the greatest cities in the world.

No matter where they are, students of art history make the world their classroom!

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What better way to celebrate our Owls' return from spring break than to get together outside (while the weather's still nice) with good food and ice cream!?

We loved chatting with you all at our fall course preview AND at the Humanities Hangout! Thanks for coming out, it was double the fun 😁

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Did you know that Black Africans played an important role in Renaissance Europe?

Italian filmmaker and director, Fred Kuwornu dives into this topic with his most recent project, "We Were Here: the Untold Story of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe". Narrated from an Afro-European lens, the film challenges the notion that all Black people were servants and slaves by revealing stories of them as princes, merchants, ambassadors, and religious figures.

Join the Department of Art History in honoring Black History with a free screening of the film, followed by a reception and Q&A with the director!

📅 Friday, February 20

⏰ 6:30pm

📍 Lois Chiles Theater- Moody Center

Acclaimed at the 60th International Art Exhibition la Biennale Venezia (2024), selected for the Central Pavilion curated by Adriano Pedrosa, and now officially in Oscar consideration for Best Documentary Feature (98th Academy Awards, 2026).

#blackhistorymonth #wewereherethefilm #arthistory #arthistoryrice #riceschoolofhumanities

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Imagine learning art history in the places it happened: cathedrals, museums, street corners and all.

Denva Gallant’s HART 116 (Paris Through the Ages: From Gothic Grandeur to Modern Echoes) pulls you through centuries of Parisian creativity and shows how medieval art still shapes the visuals you consume today. If you want a summer course you’ll be bragging about for the rest of your life, this is it.

Explore the 2026 Rice Global Paris Summer Program at the link in our bio!

#RiceGlobal #Paris #ParisCenter #arthistory

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@ricehumanities Pirate Day at @texrenfest!! Arrrr

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Memoria and the Spiritual Journey in the Thebaid Cycle at Santa Marta in Siena
Author Denva Gallant studies the landscape of Thebaid in Santa Marta and how it acts as a spiritual pathway the viewer is invited to follow. She explains how the viewer themself takes on the position of a traveler journeying into the desert to learn behaviors that draw them closer to God.

Read full essay here - https://differentvisions.org/memoria-and-the-spiritual-journey/

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Introduction to Environmental Narratives and the Eremitic Turn

Welcome to Issue Twelve! In this issue we take a journey into the desert to view it as a vibrant, active character in medieval religious life rather than a barren wasteland. These authors explore how landscapes and ideas shape each other across centuries and in the face of environmental importance.

Jump into the issue here! - https://differentvisions.org/introduction-environmental-narratives/

#MedievalArt #EnvironmentalHumanities #Eremitism #ArtHistory #DesertStudies #WildernessNarratives #Scholarship #NewPublication #DifferentVisions

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Sharing some of the light that has filled up the library this year. 💫

From artists spotting their books on the shelves or pulling up for inspiration to writers and art historians locating their work, curators, musicians, community organizers, kids, students and overall curious cutie pies—we love y’all and appreciate the way EVERYONE makes The Reading Room feel like home. 🫶🏾

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Ah, we miss their bright smiles already. Pictured here are our very demure, scholarly divas Prof. Sophie Crawford-Brown and Prof. Denva Gallant with their recently published books “Religious Architecture and Roman Expansion: Temples, Terracottas, and the Shaping of Identity, 3rd-1st c. BCE” (Cambridge University Press, 2025) & “Illuminating the Vitae patrum: The Lives of the Desert Ascetics in Fourteenth-Century Italy” (Penn State University Press, 2024), respectively.

They’re testing out different poses, from serious to thoughtful…to befuddlement(?) 🤔, for their new author photos….but we think their candid smiles look the best! 😄

Congratulations again to a number of our HART faculty who published new books this year, including:

-Farshid Emami, “Isfahan: Architecture and Urban Experience in Early Modern Iran” (Penn State University, 2024)

-Joseph Manca, “Free Thinking: How to Educate Yourself in the Liberal Arts” (Conrad Press, 2024) and

“Virtue in the Garden: Writing about Designed Landscape in Britain” (Brepols, 2025)

-Lida Oukaderova (Editor), “ReFocus: The Films of Larisa Shepitko” (Edinburgh University Press, 2024)
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#ricearthistory #iheartHART #ricehumanities @‌ricehumanities #riceuniversity

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