Maude Southwell Wahlman, Dorothy and Dale Thompson/ Missouri Endowed Professor of Global Arts, Professor of Art and Art History, (BA Colorado College 1969; MA Northwestern University, 1969; Ph.D. Yale University, 1980). Core faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies. History of African and African American women’s arts. Author of Signs and Symbols: African Images in African-American Quilts. Second Edition. Atlanta, GA: Tinwood Books, 2001; Signs and Symbols: African Images in African-American Quilts. New York: The Museum of American Folk Art and Penguin USA, 1993; Traditional Art of West Africa (Introduction by Robert Plant Armstrong). Waterville, MN: Colby College Museum of Art, 1980; Ceremonial Art of West Africa (Introduction by Roy Sieber). East Lansing, MI: Kresge Art Center Gallery, Michigan State University, 1979; Contemporary African Arts. Chicago: The Field Museum of Natural History, 1974; nine exhibition brochures or catalogs; 46 articles, co-author of two books; and co-editor of four books. Curator of 27 art exhibitions.

My past research examines the aesthetics of African American quilters. My current research is for my textbook on African and African American Protective Charm Traditions. I teach courses on The Arts of Africa and New World Cultures, African Diasporan Arts, African and African American Women and Creativity, Meso-American Art, Native American Art, and Visual Arts Administration. I advise art history graduate students in the I.Ph.D. Program, and direct the Global Arts Initiative.