Dr. Kara Burns

Dr. Kara Burns

Associate Professor
Department of Art & Art History

Education

  • B.A. University of Arizona, Tucson
  • M.A. University of Oregon, Eugene
  • Ph.D. University of Arizona, Tucson

Biography

A native of Arizona, Kara K. Burns joined the Department of Art & Art History of the University of South Alabama in 2007. She is one of the organizers of both the Art History Bachelor of Arts degree in Department of Art & Art History and the minor in Museum Studies. Additionally, she serves as a professor of Classical studies for the interdisciplinary minor in Classics and the Classics concentration in the Department of Philosophy. She is also one of the co-founders of the Gulf Coast Society of the Archaeological Institute of America. Dr. Burns specializes in Ancient Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art and archaeology. Her research interests include ancient mystery cults and beliefs in the afterlife in the ancient Mediterranean region and the larger Roman Empire, and Roman Villas in Italy and the Western provinces. During her time at South, Dr. Burns has taught both Art History Survey courses, as well as a variety of upper division courses on Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art and archaeology, including seminars on the Etruscans, Greek Iconography, Greek and Roman Religion, and Roman Villas. At present, Dr. Burns is finishing a book on the Orpheus mosaics in southwest Britain. Her newest research focuses on the impact of Greek mystery cults on Etruscan beliefs in the afterlife in the Classical (479-323 BCE) and Hellenistic periods (323-31 BCE).

Gulf Coast Society of the Archaeological Institute of America

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Courses

  • ARH 100: Art History Survey: Paleolithic-Pop Culture (Online)
  • ARH 103: Art History I: Paleolithic to Gothic
  • ARH 123: Art History II: Renaissance to Modern
  • ARH 304: Ancient Greek Art and Architecture
  • ARH 306: Roman Art
  • ARH 390: Art and Archaeology of the Roman Empire
  • ARH 390-Honors: Greek and Roman Religion
  • ARH 492: Etruscan Art and Archaeology
  • ARH 492: Iconography
  • ARH 492: The Roman Villa
  • ARH/CLA 103: Art History I: Paleolithic to Gothic
  • ARH 492/590: Iconography
  • ARH 390-Honors: Art and Politics

Publications

Books

  • The Iconography of Mystery: The Relationship between Orpheus and Bacchus on the Orpheus Mosaics of Southwest Britain, Summertown, UK: Archaeopress, Forthcoming, 2019.