Cortney Anne Berg
Doctoral Candidate, Art History, The City University Graduate Center
Guest Researcher, German Philology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Education
08/2020–11/2026
The City University of New York Graduate Center
PhD Art History, Medieval
Graduate Certificate in Africana Studies
Dissertation: Wirnt von Gravenberg’s Illuminated Wigalois: Depicting Medieval German Identities
08/2020–09/2023
The City University of New York Graduate Center
M.Phil, Art History
Exam Areas: Later Medieval Art 1150–1450, Contemporary African Art, Medieval Manuscript
08/2017–05/2020
Arizona State University
MA Art History, Medieval / Early Modern
Graduate Certificate in Medieval Studies
Thesis: Mythological Women and Sex: Transgression in Christian and Buddhist Religious Imagery
08/2007–05/2014
California State University, Chico
BA Art History
BFA Studio Arts, Dual Emphasis Glass and Painting
Culminating Exhibition: Obsession / Anxiety, B-SO Space, 2014
Teaching Experience
08/2022–12/2024
Adjunct Faculty, St. Joseph’s University, Patchogue, NY
Art History 101: History of Western Art I
01/2024–05/2024
Adjunct Faculty, Hunter College (CUNY), New York, NY
Art History 22100: Later Medieval Art
08/2023–05/2024
Graduate Teaching Fellow, Baruch College (CUNY), New York, NY
Art History 1011: History of Global Art I
Art History 1012: History of Global Art II
08/2021–05/2023
Graduate Teaching Fellow, Queens College (CUNY), Flushing, NY
Art History 101: History of Western Art I
08/2017–05/2020
Teaching Assistant, Arizona State University
Fellowships and Awards
09/2025–07/2026
Fulbright Research–Study Fellowship to Germany, The Fulbright Program, U.S. Department of State
08/2024–05/2025
Writing Across the Curriculum Fellowship, City College of New York CUNY
07/2024–08/2024
Middlebury Summer Language Schools German Grant, Middlebury College
04/2024
Doctoral Student Research Grant, CUNY Graduate Center
07/2023
Mina Rees Library Open Knowledge Fellowship, CUNY Office of Library Services
07/2023
Rose-Carol Washton Long Travel Fellowship, CUNY Graduate Center
07/2022–08/2022
Kress Foundation Fellowship for Middlebury Language School, Samuel Kress Foundation
08/2020–05/2024
Graduate Teaching Fellowship, CUNY Graduate Center
03/2020
Donald N. Rabiner Memorial Fund Award, Arizona State University Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
08/2017–05/2018
Special Talent Award, Arizona State University School of Art
Peer Review Publications
08/2024
“Theodor De Bry’s Representations of the Americas and Indigenous Agency: A Reframing of Timucua Medical Practice,” in Terrae Incognitae, vol. 56, no. 2 (August 2024), 160–185.
09/2022
“Sanudo’s Vision, Vesconte’s Expertise, and the Ghost Hand: Reception of the Maps in the MS Additional 27376,” in The Material Culture Review, no. 94 (Fall 2022): 33–49.
Editorial Review Publications
09/2026 (Forthcoming)
“Animalia Aquae-Terrae: The Agency of the Oceanic Hybrids of St. Martin’s Church in Zillis,” in Blue Animal Aesthetics, Cultural Animal Studies, ed. Martin Ulrich, Jessica Ulrich, and Tabea Weber (Stuttgart; Berlin: Metzler, Forthcoming).
02/2026
“Zanele Muholi’s Faces and Phases Series, Community-Based Practice, and Queer Subjectivities,” in New Perspectives in Africana Studies, ed. Crystal Edwards and Abul Pitre (New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026), 112–135.
Conference Papers
01/2026
“Unicorn Resistance: Agency in the Unicorn Tapestries,” Nonhuman Agency im vormodernen Bild – ökokritische Perspektive, Universität Mainz
10/2025
“Medieval Aquatic Resistance: The Animal Hybrids at St. Martin’s Church in Zillis,” Blue Animal Aesthetics, Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg
06/2025
“Reading the Gawain Manuscript: Medieval Positionalities on Moral Ambiguities,” 12th Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies, St. Louis University
04/2025
“The Morality of the Gawain Manuscript: Deviations Between Reading Text and Image,” 2025 Medieval Studies Inter-University Doctoral Consortium Conference, Columbia University
10/2024
“Theodor De Bry’s Representations of the Americas and Indigenous Agency: A Reframing of Timucua Medical Practice,” 65th Annual Conference of the Society for the History of Discoveries
06/2024
“Courtly Beasts and the Beastly Court: Yvain, His Lion, and the Chivalric Ideal,” 11th Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies, St. Louis University
05/2024
“The Fantastic Beings of Wigalois in Text and Image,” Monsters in/of/and the Archive, 59th International Congress on Medieval Studies
05/2024
“The Role of King Joram in Text and Image: Models of Virtue in the Arthurian Romance Wigalois,” Very Minor Arthurian Characters: French and German Traditions (A Roundtable), The 59th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies
09/2023
“The Livre de Merveilles du Monde and Gender Performance: Articulations of Distance and Proximity,” 64th Annual Conference of the Society for the History of Discoveries
09/2023
“The Morgan Manuscript M.461 Amazons: Dangerous Women in Courtly Guises,” 2023 Feminist Art History Conference, American University
04/2023
“Lucas Cranach the Elder and Judith: Powerful Portraits of Tyrannicidal Women,” Mary L. Cornille 39th Annual Boston University Graduate Symposium
10/2021
“The Pain that Humanizes: Lynd Ward’s Illustrations of Beowulf,” Northeast Popular Culture Association Conference
05/2019
“Le Roman de La Rose and the Dialectic of Vices: Texts and Images,” Pearl Kibre Medieval Study Annual Conference, CUNY Graduate Center
04/2019
“Monsters in Zillis: A Curious Ceiling in the Church of Saint Martin,” Council of Graduate Art Historians Annual Symposium, Arizona State University School of Art
Co-Authored Conference Papers
05/2026 (Forthcoming)
“Resounding Imagery: Marginalia and Liturgical Performance Practice in the Geese Book,” with Kieran A. Foss, The 61st Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies
Organized Conference Sessions
05/2026 (Forthcoming)
“Monsters on the Page: Interdisciplinary Examinations of Monsters in Manuscripts,” Sponsored by MEARCSTAPA, 61st Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies
06/2025
“The Social Lives of Arthurian Manuscripts,” Twelfth Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Saint Louis University
05/2025
“Engendering the Monstrous: Gender and Monstrosity in Medieval Contexts,” Sponsored by MEARCSTAPA and Society for Queer Medieval Studies, 60th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies
05/2025
“Deviant Images 1: Text/Image Relationships in Medieval Manuscripts, Sacred/Secular,” Sponsored by Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, 60th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies
05/2025
“Deviant Images 2: Text/Image Relationships in Medieval Manuscripts, Visual Interventions,” Sponsored by Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, 60th Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies
Professional Service
2023–2027
Society for the History of Discoveries
Executive Secretary, Governing Board Member (2023–2027)
Student Research Prize Committee Member (2025–2027)
2025–2027
MEARCSTAPA
Graduate Student Representative
2024–2027
International Arthurian Society North American Branch
Graduate Student Representative
2024–2025
Doctoral and Graduate Students’ Council, CUNY Graduate Center
Program Alternate for the Art History Department
2017–2019
Council of Graduate Art Historians at Arizona State University
Logistics Coordinator and Social Media Monitor, Senior Officer (2018–2019)
Logistics Assistant and Social Media Monitor (2017–2018)
Languages
English (native), German (Goethe-Institut B1 Level), French (reading), Latin (reading), Middle High German (reading), Old French (reading), Old English (reading)
Professional References
Dr. Cynthia Hahn, Distinguished Professor
The City University of New York Graduate Center and Hunter College
cynthia.j.hahn@gmail.com
The City University of New York Graduate Center and Hunter College
cynthia.j.hahn@gmail.com
Dr. Jennifer Ball, Professor and Executive Officer
The City University of New York Graduate Center and Brooklyn College
jball@gc.cuny.edu
The City University of New York Graduate Center and Brooklyn College
jball@gc.cuny.edu