Emily Neumeier

Emily Neumeier is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Temple University's Tyler School of Art and Architecture, specializing in Islamic art and architecture with a focus on the eastern Mediterranean and Ottoman Empire. Her research explores architecture and urbanism, cultural heritage and antiquarianism, Islamic calligraphy and the arts of the book, and transnational networks of mobility and exchange.

Education:

• PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 2016
• MA, University of Pennsylvania, 2012
• BA, Boston College, 2008

Neumeier's scholarly work centers on Ottoman architectural patronage, particularly along the empire's frontiers during the Age of Revolutions. She challenges conventional narratives by demonstrating how Ottoman elites actively engaged with classical antiquity and Byzantine heritage as part of their political legitimacy strategies. Her research often focuses on Ali Pasha of Ioannina and his architectural projects in the Ottoman borderlands. She approaches monuments as dynamic entities that accumulate multiple meanings across different historical periods and communities, rather than static objects with singular interpretations.

Her publications reveal a consistent trajectory examining how architectural spaces serve as sites of cultural negotiation, political assertion, and historical memory. A significant portion of her work analyzes photography's role in diplomatic relations between the Ottoman Empire and Western powers, particularly through figures like Eadweard Muybridge. She also explores contemporary manifestations of Islamic calligraphic traditions, connecting historical practices to modern artistic expressions.

Scientific Awards and Recognition:

• Getty/American Council of Learned Societies Fellow in the History of Art (2018-2019) at the Gennadius Library in Athens
• Recipient of Fulbright Program research support
• Supported by the American Research Institute in Turkey
• Awarded the 2017 Preveza Prize by the Actia Nicopolis Foundation

Neumeier is deeply committed to public scholarship and innovative pedagogy. She serves as executive producer of the "Monument Biography" podcast series, which examines how monuments accumulate multiple meanings across time and for different communities. The ten-episode series was developed from a graduate seminar she taught at Temple University and features episodes on diverse subjects including Philadelphia's City Hall, the Galata Tower in Istanbul, and Gettysburg National Military Park. Prior to her position at Temple, she taught at Ohio State University and was a Research Collaborator in the Max Planck Research Group "Objects in the Contact Zone: The Cross-Cultural Lives of Things" at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, Italy. She actively encourages students to explore emerging technologies in their research and to engage in public-facing scholarship.

Her interdisciplinary approach bridges traditional art historical methods with digital media and public engagement initiatives, creating innovative pathways for understanding architectural heritage and cultural memory in the eastern Mediterranean region.