Graduate Students
Karla Huebner
Modern/Contemporary
Huebner's dissertation situates the life and work of the artist Toyen (1902-1980), a founding member of the Prague surrealist group, within the larger discourses of modernism and feminism/gender studies. In particular, it explicates Toyen's construction of eroticism and gender within the contexts of early twentieth-century Czech feminism, the interwar Prague avant-garde, and Prague and Paris surrealism. As a case study of one artist working within a specific avant-garde movement, this project contributes to critical re-evaluation of surrealism, the Central European contribution to modernism, and the role of female artists in the avant-garde. Interests outside the modernist realm include 19th-century American genre painting, ancient and medieval art, and the textile arts. Huebner's background in literature, music, theater, film, and history helps her to examine art and artists within the context of broad yet specific cultural and social networks and milieus.
CV Highlights
Education
PhD – expected December 2008,
Dissertation: "Eroticism, Identity, and Cultural Context: Toyen and the Prague Avant-garde"
MA – Art History: American University, Washington, DC
BA – Theater Arts: University of California, Santa Cruz
Publications
"Girl, Trampka, nebo Zaba? The Czechoslovak New Woman," book chapter proposed for The New Woman International
"In Pursuit of Toyen: Feminist Biography in an Art-Historical Context," under review at Journal of Women’s History
"The Myth of Toyen," forthcoming in the 2006 SVU conference proceedings
"The Sanctuary Rhyton," Anistoriton 7 (June 2003, available on CD)
Conference Papers
"Girl, Trampka, nebo Zaba? The Czechoslovak New Woman," Berkshire Conference of Women Historians (June 2008)
"Prague Strategies: Toyen, Feminism, and the Czech Avant-Garde," CAA (February 2008)
"Prague Women and Modernity: Toyen’s Eroticization of Gender," AAASS (November 2007)
"Mimicry and Fascination: Toyen and Legendary Psychasthenia," New Perspectives on Surrealism and its Legacies, Tate Modern, London (June 15, 2007)
"Toyen and the Uncanny Feminine," Reflections conference, Durham, England (September 16, 2006)
"The Myth of Toyen," SVU, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic (June 27, 2006)
"Surrealist Business: Toyen as Entrepreneur," Ralph and Ruth Fisher Forum "Commodity, Consumer, Entrepreneur?: Women and the Marketplace," Urbana-Champaign, IL (June 24, 2005)
"Toyen and the Boundaries of Gender in the Czech Avant-Garde," Russian and East European Studies Graduate Student Conference, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (February 26, 2005)
"Christian Mayr, Richard Caton Woodville, and Self Promotion," SECAC, Raleigh-Durham, NC (October 30, 2003)
"Images of Girlhood Sexuality in the Work of Dorothea Tanning," Midwest Art History Conference, Pittsburgh, PA (April 11, 2003)
"Christian Mayr’s Kitchen Ball at White Sulphur Springs," SECAC, Mobile, AL (October 2002) and American University Art History Mini-Symposium, Washington, DC (April 2002)
"Animal Iconography in Aegean Bronze Age Art," College of Arts and Sciences Student Symposium, American University, Washington, DC (February 2001)
Honors
Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship (2007-2008)
Andrew W. Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship alternate (2007-2008)
FLAS Fellowship (2006-2007; 2005-2006-declined; 2003-2004)
Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Award (2005-2006)
Fulbright Fellowship (2005-2006-declined)
Czechoslovak Nationality Room Scholarship (2004)
FLAS Summer Fellowship (2004; 2003)
Merit Scholarship and Teaching Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh (began August 2002)
Graduate Assistantship, American University (2000-2002)
Regents Scholarship, UC Santa Cruz (1977-1981)
National Merit Finalist (1977)
Teaching Experience
Visiting Professor, University of Pittsburgh 2008-2009, fall classes - American Art, Intro to Modern; spring classes - Intro to Modern, Realism and Impressionism, and Approaches to Art History (Czech Modernism)
Introduction to Modern Art, University of Pittsburgh (Spring 2005)
Writing Practicum, University of Pittsburgh (2002-2003, Fall 2004)