PATRICIA BERMAN AND JACQUELINE MUSACCHIO, Specials to The Denisonian—News has traveled all the way to Massachusetts that the much-revered Professor Joy Sperling will retire after 32 years of teaching at Denison University. As sister art historians, a Modernist and a Renaissance specialist, we want to share our admiration of Dr. Sperling as an innovator and inspiration.
Joy Sperling has been committed throughout her career to the close examination, historical contextualization, and ideological dimensions of visual and cultural materials. Her work as a scholar and teacher honors the contemporary reception of historical materials, their meanings at their moments of creation, and their effects in all of the moments in between. She is recognized internationally for her work across time and media, particularly on women’s issues and production. As Denison students, you have been so fortunate to have such a generous, forward thinking, and responsive scholar to guide you, and such a committed teacher to push you to understand your experiences and responsibilities within the world of images and objects. And as professional colleagues, we are grateful for Dr. Sperling’s contributions to our national conversations, and we are certain that she will continue to make these contributions long after her retirement from teaching.