About Me

In my teaching and research I range across disciplines and institutions to explore the meaning of heritage - the places and things through which we understand our past and through which we create meaning in the present. Whether through excavations of an 18th- century Chesapeake terraced garden, tourist experiences at the California missions, or the enduring effects of redlining in Indianapolis, landscapes reveal complex intersections of power and privilege.

Essential to moving toward a more just society is an understand of the history of structures and practices that perpetuate social inequalities. Landscapes can help trace those stories, reveal the diverse experiences of communities living in and moving across the same spaces, and start a conversation about what we see but rarely pay attention to.

Preparing the exhibit "Do the homeless have heritage" at the Indiaapolis Central Lirbary, 2011

EDUCATION

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Cultural Heritage

Critical explorations of the tangible and intangible remains of the past and their role in the politics of the present

1985-1991

Brown University, Anthropology

MA, 1987; Ph.D., 1991

Landscape Archaeology and History

Multidisciplinary investigations of the built environment with a focus on landscapes of inequality in Indianapolis and US historic gardens.

Museum Studies

Inquiry into the organization and roles of museums in their communities

1980-1984

Harvard University

A.B., 1984