Dr. Hilary Haakenson earned her Ph.D. in Renaissance Art History from Rutgers University. Her teaching interests include: social/political commitment in art, cultural myths and geographies, and the intersections between art and philosophy. Currently, her research examines early Italian cartography and the grand civic monuments commissioned by several maritime cities in Italy-Venice, Pisa, Genoa, and Naples. She explores how these maps and monuments visualized the cultural encounters occurring in and around the Mediterranean Sea, and how, in turn, art shaped the contemporary European visions of the world. She has been the recipient of several awards including a Fulbright Fellowship. Before joining us in Los Angeles, she taught at the University of Connecticut, Murray State University, and Rutgers University.
