Graduate School of Management and Technology
Stanley J. Drazek
Teaching Excellence Award Recipient

Eva J. Allen

Eva Allen has been an art historian since 1971 and joined the UMUC art history faculty in 1989. Through her dynamic teaching style, she has helped students develop a profound appreciation for art through problem-based learning experiences. Her goal is to lead students to multiple sources of inquiry so they can “uncover multiple meanings rather than one absolute answer” and to encourage them to be active participants in their learning experiences.

Dr. Allen has shared her strengths as a teacher through her efforts as a course developer. She was instrumental in bringing many art history courses from the traditional classroom to the online format—a move that has tripled enrollment in art history courses.

In addition to her teaching, Dr. Allen has also served as a curator for many major art shows and as a member of the Art Advisory Board at UMUC. She has published numerous articles and presented at professional conferences, often talking about the interaction between technology and art history. She is responsible for the attribution of a painting in the Budapest Museum of Fine Art—a new discovery that will be highlighted in an exhibition of Dutch 17th-century genre painting scheduled for summer 2008.

Dr. Allen’s active and exciting work in the art world allows her to share with students not only the history of art, but also the world of discovery that knowledge of history makes possible. In her words, Dr. Allen believes that “artworks do not exist in a vacuum, but reflect the particular political, social, and cultural environment from which they originated.” In addition, her work with the scientific art community allows her to share with students insights into the ways art is authenticated.