Maureen G. Shanahan

Dr. Maureen G. Shanahan is a Professor of Art History at James Madison University (JMU), affiliated with the School of Art, Design and Art History. She previously taught at SUNY Oswego, directing the women’s studies program and coordinating a SUNY-wide French exchange program. Before academia, she practiced law at the Securities and Exchange Commission and worked as a grants writer for the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles. She also served as Associate Director of JMU’s Honors Program from 2004 to 2012.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Art History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• M.A. in Art History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
• B.A. from Duke University, Durham, NC

Research Interests: Visual culture of the 19th–20th centuries, French Modernism post-World War I, trauma and disability studies, decolonial critiques, and gender/sexuality studies. Her work bridges art and psychiatry, colonial history, and interdisciplinary analysis of cultural symbols like Simón Bolívar.

Recent Articles: Her 2019 article in African Arts explores colonial dynamics through the lens of WWI architecture. Other publications address topics like modernist aesthetics, transatlantic cultural identity, and the intersection of art with legal and medical frameworks.

Awards:

• National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar (2014)
• Clark Art Institute Award (2015)
• Fulbright Scholar Award to France (2017)
• JMU Inaugural Faculty Fellow Award (2022–2023)
• Madison Scholar Award & Edna Schaeffer Award (both 2018)

Advising & Grants: Supported by major grants for her research, she has advised students through JMU’s Honors Program and curated exhibitions such as Colonial Wounds / Postcolonial Repair (2019). She actively engages in international academic collaborations and has spoken at conferences globally, including the College Art Association and French Colonial History Society.

Labs/Teams: While no formal lab is mentioned, her curatorial work and interdisciplinary research projects (e.g., co-edited volumes, exhibition catalogs) reflect collaborative academic contributions.