Elizabeth S. Bolman

Elizabeth S. Bolman is the Elsie B. Smith Professor in the Liberal Arts and Chair of the Department of Art History, Art and Art Education at Case Western Reserve University. She is currently on sabbatical until Spring 2025. Bolman leads the Keithley Institute for Art History in collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Art and oversees the Joint Program between CWRU and the museum.

Education:

• PhD, Bryn Mawr College
• MA, Bryn Mawr College
• AB, Smith College

Bolman specializes in the visual culture of the eastern Mediterranean, focusing on Egyptian Christian monuments (5th–14th centuries) and Byzantine depictions of the Galaktotrophousa (Nursing Virgin Mary). Her work challenges assumptions about artistic production in Byzantium, emphasizing generative cultural centers and gender dynamics.

Publications and Research Trends: Bolman’s scholarship includes multidisciplinary studies of Byzantine and Coptic art, such as Monastic Visions (2002) and The Red Monastery Church (2016), which document her decade-long conservation project of early Byzantine paintings in Egypt. Her edited volume Worlds of Byzantium (2024) explores religion, culture, and empire in the Medieval Near East through symposium contributions.

Scientific Awards and Grants:

• Heritage Preservation Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Preservation (College Art Association)
• Lindback and Great Teacher Awards (Temple University)
• Guggenheim Fellowship
• Fulbright Program Fellowship
• National Endowment for the Humanities Grant
• Dumbarton Oaks Fellowship
• American Research Center in Egypt Fellowship
• United States Agency for International Development Grant

Bolman has directed conservation projects at the Red Monastery Church, including cleaning and preserving early Byzantine paintings. She co-organized the Dumbarton Oaks Spring Symposiums on Byzantium and is currently preparing the Rostovtzeff Lectures for publication, while also contributing to the exhibition Africa and Byzantium (MMA, CMA).