A&A NEWS

Professor Tina Campt Named Scholar in Residence at The Museum of Modern Art

Tina Campt, director of the Princeton Atelier, moderates Now is the Time: Artists Go to Work — Toni Morrison’s Atelier and the Importance of Artistic Convening and Collaboration, a panel discussion hosted in the Wallace Theater on March 27, 2026. (Photo/ Ron Wyatt)

Princeton Atelier Director and Professor Tina M. Campt has been named the 2026–27 Scholar in Residence by The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). 

MoMA launched this unique residency program in 2022, which the Museum states, “supports the work of creative thought leaders with demonstrated records of achievement to pursue independent research projects with full access to MoMA’s collections, library, archives, and other research resources.”

MoMA’s Scholar in Residence program is made possible by the Alice L. Walton Foundation. According to the Museum’s press release, scholars such as Campt are chosen because they are “inspiring thinkers who offer fresh perspectives on the history of modern and contemporary art.”

Campt is Director of the Princeton Atelier, Roger S. Berlind ’52 Professor in the Humanities, and Professor in the Program in Visual Arts and Department of Art & Archaeology at Princeton. She is also the faculty convener for the Princeton Collaboratorium for Radical Aesthetics, housed in the Lewis Center for the Arts and the Department of Art & Archaeology.

The release of Thinking from Black: A Lexicon on September 8, 2026, which Campt coedited with the Practicing Refusal Collective, is being celebrated with a series of launch events taking place in New York City and Toronto.

Read the full news release from MoMA

Jennifer Trimble Opens the A&A Signature Lecture Series Unpacking the Visual Culture of Roman Slavery

By Riley Glickman, A&A Graduate Student

On Thursday evening, Jennifer Trimble of Stanford University gave the first A&A lecture of the school year entitled “The Visual Culture of Roman Slavery: Bills of Sale.” Working off of her research for an upcoming project, her talk focused on examining bills of sale - first starting with a general overview, then looking at the life cycle of the documents. A bill of sale is a formal legal document that records the buyer, seller, price, and other important information regarding the sale of a high-value item. In this instance, the bills recorded information on the sales of enslaved people. Trimble described how the very act of making this document required specialized labor, knowledge, and actions, creating a choreographed dance of how a document like this should be made.

Trimble then discussed how these documents were stored and later discarded. She used a series of “access maps” to better understand where these bills of sale were stored, noting that all archival chests and cabinets were in rooms “off the beaten path” and away from unwanted attention. She demonstrated how these tablets were stored and maintained carefully so as to never misplace them or break their wax seals while keeping them from the views of others.



Trimble’s discussion on Roman bills of sale provides valuable insights into the practice of slavery in Rome, highlighting the everyday visual mechanisms and functioning of the slave trade, as well as important themes of visibility and invisibility.

Top: Professor John Sigmier with Professor Jennifer Trimble; above: Professor Trimble presents “The Visual Culture of Roman Slavery: Bills of Sale" (Photos/ Jonah Vimont)

Professor Rachael Z. DeLue to Join Maya Lin for Inaugural Exhibition Opening at New Briger Hall Gallery

On September 22, Princeton’s High Meadows Environmental Institute (HMEI) will unveil the new Environmental Gallery with the inaugural exhibition What Is Missing? What If? by Maya Lin, in collaboration with the Princeton Humanities Initiative. Lin will give an artist talk at 4:30 pm on opening day, joined by Director of the Princeton Humanities Initiative and A&A Professor Rachael Z. DeLue and Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology David Wilcove.

Lin created the exhibition around the core question “How can we protect it, if we don’t even realize it’s missing?” A two-story multimedia wall displays immersive, larger-than-life video and audio of endangered species, like swimming whales and walking tigers and an interactive learning lab traces natural history, displays visitor memories, and explores nature-based solutions.

“Addressing today’s environmental challenges requires the expertise of many different fields of study, including the humanities," said DeLue. "The study of things like literature, history, philosophy, and the arts provides insight into how humans understand their relationship to the natural world and in turn helps us comprehend the cultural and social dimensions of environmental history—all necessary knowledge when it comes to developing lasting, holistic, and just solutions to the problems we face. There’s no nature without culture, after all, so the conversation really has to be a deeply interdisciplinary one.”

Full article by Gabrielle Langholtz, HMEI

Top: View of the new Environmental Gallery in Briger Hall featuring What Is Missing? What If? by Maya Lin; above: interactive learning lab inside the gallery (Photos/ Daniel Quiyu)

Index of Medieval Art Open House Draws Enthusiastic Crowd!

Photo/ Fiona Barrett

The Index of Medieval Art kicked off the new academic year with a buzzing Open House this week! The Index welcomed A&A undergraduate and graduate students and faculty, as well as PU attendees from across disciplines and other area medievalists. Index director Pamela Patton reported, “It was great to welcome old and new friends and so many students to the new Index space. We look forward to seeing more of them in the year ahead!"

On October 5, from 10 to 11 am, the Index is offering an online Index database training session; Index specialists Maria Alessia Rossi and Jessica Savage will demonstrate how the database can be used with advanced search options, filters, and browse tools to locate works of medieval art. 

Please mark your calendar for November 21, when the Index hosts the international conference "Thinking with Medieval Images.” Speakers will examine how scholars deploy images to support historical arguments, reevaluate the promise and limitations of visual evidence, and reflect on the responsibility and impact that comes with using it. 

Talia Goldman ’27 Participates in the Jewish Museum Summer Institute

By Talia Goldman '27, History of Art major

This summer, I was fortunate to work at the Jewish Museum in New York City as a curatorial intern. Working with the curators of Judaica, I had the opportunity to bring my academic experience in the Department of Art & Archaeology to a fast-paced, practical museum context, contributing to various exhibitions throughout nine weeks at the Museum. My internship was part of the Jewish Museum Summer Institute, in which I joined fourteen undergraduate and graduate interns in exploring museum work through intern projects, independent work, trips, and seminars across the city.

I conducted early-stage research for several upcoming exhibitions, helped to select objects for a contemporary installation, and wrote wall labels for a diverse group of Jewish ceremonial art objects. As I worked on these objects–for instance, a Torah case or a ritual handwashing set–I utilized the research, writing, and close-looking skills I continually sharpen at Princeton.

Each component of the Summer Institute was deeply meaningful to me and has influenced my work as a growing scholar. In the intern role, I was able to utilize and build on knowledge of Jewish ceremonial art that I gained through my Junior Independent Work on nineteenth-century Viennese Hanukkah lamps. Through my intern projects, I was able to think deeply about Judaica and how it can be discussed art historically and in museum settings. Coming out of the internship, I feel empowered to continue exploring Jewish ceremonial art in my Senior Thesis, which will engage the Jewish Museum collections. I look forward to carrying my formative learning experience from the summer into my senior year and into a career in art history.

Top: Talia Goldman outside the Jewish Museum during the 2026 Museum Mile Festival; above: Goldman presents her independent project, “Crafting Tradition: Artistic Process and the Tobe Pascher Workshop,” at the Jewish Museum Summer Institute Symposium (Photos courtesy of Talia Goldman)

In Memoriam: Department of Art & Archaeology Champion Robert J. H. Janson-La Palme *76 Dies at 97

Robert “Rob” J.H. Janson-La Palme died on September 1, 2026, at age 97. After stoking his passion for art history during Navy deployments, he earned his Ph.D. in the Department of Art & Archaeology, specializing in Italian Renaissance art. His profound connection to A&A spanned decades. He served as a long-time member of the Department’s Governing Council and, highlighting his enduring legacy, the Janson-La Palme Visiting Professorship was endowed in his honor by his mother-in-law, Lillian Bayly Marks.

He taught at Columbia University, Rochester University, and Washington College, where he founded the art history department and led an archaeological dig uncovering the original 1783 campus foundations. A champion of historic preservation, he chaired Chestertown’s Historic District Commission for 16 years, created its bronze plaque program, and co-founded the Maryland Association of Historic District Commissions.

He is survived by his wife, Dr. Bayly Ellen Marks. A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 1 p.m. at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Chestertown, MD.

Robert J. H. Janson-La Palme *76 obituary

CONGRATULATIONS!

Anisa Tavangar (Photo/ Kirstin Ohrt)

Congratulations to Anisa Tavangar, who has been named the 2026-27 Public Humanities Fellow at the Princeton Public Library through the GradFUTURES Social Impact Fellowship.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Field trip to Creatures of Myth and Imagination: Europe and the Americas at the Met Cloisters

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to join a Medieval Studies chartered bus trip to the the Met Cloisters on Saturday, September 26 to see the exhibition Creatures of Myth and Imagination: Europe and the Americas, on view through October 18, 2026.

The group will join Julia Perratore for a curatorial tour at 1pm.

The bus will depart at 10:30am from Wawa (152, Alexander St, Princeton) and leave from the Met Cloisters at 5:00 pm. Estimated arrival back on campus is 7:00 pm.

RSVP for the bus to the Cloisters on September 26

Please note that on this occasion attendees are responsible for purchasing their own tickets to the museum, and making provision for lunch. Tickets for NJ students are pay-what-you-wish: undergraduates and graduate students, please do not forget your Princeton IDs. Tickets can be purchased on-site, or online in advance. The Cloisters has a café, or you are welcome to bring lunch on the bus, or to eat elsewhere near the museum.

ALUMNI NEWS

Nicole Fabricand-Person ’76 01: Marquand Library Japanese Art Specialist and A&A Alumna Co-Curates New Exhibition

Ahead of the opening of “The Art of Japanese Publishing” in the Firestone Library, Princeton University Library Communications Strategist Brandon Johnson spoke with exhibition co-curator and Japanese Art Specialist Nicole Fabricand-Person ’76 *01 reflected on her time at Princeton.

"I arrived at Princeton in September of 1972 as a member of the fourth class of women admitted to the university," said Fabricand-Person. "I think students today would be very surprised at how different life for female undergraduates was at that time. We weren’t always taken seriously by faculty or our male peers.

Still, it was an exciting time to be a woman given the rare opportunity to study with the best scholars in their fields. Perhaps, given my career trajectory, the thing I most remember is something that was truly wonderful about Princeton University: its commitment to undergraduate education. In 1974, the Asian Art major in the Department of Art and Archaeology did not exist. It was created for me because I wanted to major in a field that combined both my interests. Robert Bergman, a medieval Italian art professor and Yoshiaki Shimizu, who later became my graduate advisor, created the program, which, I’m happy to say, still flourishes today."

— Nicole Fabricand-Person ’76 *01

Full interview with Nicole Fabricand-Person ’76 *01