KENNESAW, Ga. | Jul 1, 2019

After a successful year serving as Interim Faculty Executive to the Dean, Dr. Jessica Stephenson has been appointed Interim Associate Dean of the College of the Arts at Kennesaw State University (KSU), effective July 1, 2019, by Dr. Ivan Pulinkala, dean of the College of the Arts (COTA).

Dr. Pulinkala said, “Dr. Stephenson has been a valuable asset to COTA over the past year during our period of interim leadership in the College and I believe that she will continue to add great value to the work being done here. She will continue to foster greater faculty governance on the COTA leadership team and help facilitate more published research from both faculty members and our undergraduate students.”

Dr. Stephenson said, “During this coming year I will work to support faculty and undergraduate capacity for—and production of—research in the arts. In focusing on nurturing published research within COTA, we will make positive contributions to KSU's R2 Roadmap and bring research into closer dialogue with COTA's already strong creative activities.”

“We owe it to our students to offer top quality academic advising, clear navigable degree curriculums, class availability to keep them on track for timely graduation, and service learning/ internships through which to apply degree knowledge to workplace practice. I look forward to supporting and enhancing these areas of student success for all COTA students over the coming year,” she continued.

Dr. Stephenson received masters and doctorate degrees in African art history from Emory University in 2000 and 2006, with a minor in ancient Egyptian art and ancient American art. In 2003 she was appointed Associate Curator of African and Ancient American Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, and in 2009 promoted to Curator of African Art. She joined the School of Art and Design at KSU as full-time faculty in 2013 and served as Coordinator of the Art History program from 2015 to 2019. She has curated many exhibitions at leading venues including Michael C. Carlos Museum, Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, North Carolina and the Zuckerman Museum of Art. She has chaired numerous conference sessions and presented papers at national and international venues, including the College Art Association (CAA), South East College Art Association (SECAC), African Studies Association of America (ASA), and Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA) and at more specialized conferences in Europe and Africa. Her publications include numerous reviews, encyclopedia entries and research articles on modern and contemporary African art. Her current publication project is the book Looking Both Ways: Carved Ivory Sculptures and Colonial Photography in the Congo (1880 - 1910) for which she is conducting archival and collections research in museums across the United States and Europe.