Elizabeth Sears

Elizabeth Sears is the George H. Forsyth Junior Collegiate Professor of History of Art at the University of Michigan, affiliated with the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia and the International Institute. She holds a PhD from Yale University.

Her research focuses on two primary areas: European representational arts from the 8th to 14th centuries and art historiography. Her medieval work examines manuscripts through thematic lenses such as sensory perception iconography, authorship theories, and guild regulations. Her historiographical studies analyze methodologies of image analysis, emphasizing figures in the Warburgian tradition like H. W. Janson and Edgar Wind. She is currently authoring a collective biography, Warburg Circles, 1929–1964, exploring the intellectual legacy of German emigré scholars.

Elizabeth Sears’ affiliations include the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia and the International Institute at the University of Michigan.