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Texts & Technology PhD Program 

Current Research

Using inclusive, culturally responsive pedagogies, I examine the impact of STEM-based collaboration on museum engagement – particularly for marginalized communities. My goals are to increase the technological resources available to museum staff and audiences and foster collaborative projects that enhance intellectual access and equity through immersive content. 

Recent Talks/Presentations

  • Co-Presenter, "This is America: Re-viewing the Art of the United States," Museums Today Series, George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, 2023. This Is America: Re-Viewing the Art of the United States is a new, inclusive introduction to American visual culture from early history to the present. By combining close visual and historical analyses with discussion of how works of art operated within specific cultural contexts and for us today, this publication prioritizes art’s critical role in social discourse. Join authors Keidra Daniels Navaroli and Keri Watson as they discuss the development of the project and share tips for engaging with its culturally relevant themes.

  • Presenter, "Waters of the Abyss: The Intangible Landscapes of Fabiola Jean-Louis," Southeastern College Art Conference, 2023, Richmond, VA. This talk contextualizes the intersections of social and environmental justice through the interdisciplinary work of Haitian-born contemporary artist Fabiola Jean-Louis.  Water and the archipelagic landscape form a critical framing device for the analysis of Jean-Louis’s responsive work. By grounding the artist’s explorations in the capitalist exchange of materials, bodies, and landscapes, Navaroli offers new, futurist-centered possibilities for activism and speculative practice.

  • Panelist, “Reality of Artificial Intelligence,” University of Central Florida, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 2023, Orlando, Florida. What is AI, or Artificial Intelligence? What’s the connection between AI and art, and how does that challenge our values around creativity and content? It’s legal, but is it ethical? Hosted by the UCF Center for Ethics, in collaboration with the Center for Computer Vision and the School of Visual Arts and Design, this panel discussion includes experts in ethics, visual art, industry and computer science.

  • Presenter, "New Directions: Considerations for Experimentation and Innovation in Textile Practice," Textile Talk Webinar Series, Studio Art Quilt Associates and Surface Design Association, 2023. Increasingly, contemporary artists are pushing the perceived boundaries of textile practice, creating both challenges to tradition and dynamic new possibilities. The collaborative work of artists, researchers, and museum professionals is key to understanding this changing landscape and engaging public audiences. This illustrated talk presents a diverse group of artists whose innovative work provides unique opportunities for inclusive scholarship and public engagement.

Affiliations

Recent Publications

  • This is America: Re-viewing the Art of the United States (Oxford University Press). The discipline of art history teaches that art fundamentally shapes our understanding of the world around us. To date, however, few survey textbooks of American art have challenged the hierarchical narratives that marginalize diverse makers, scholarship, and media. This is America offers a response and a corrective, focusing on the nation’s cultural hybridity and encouraging a re-viewing of American art that will change the way you see the world.

  • [Exhibition Review] "In Conversation: Will Wilson," Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art 9, no. 1 (Spring 2023), https://doi.org/10.24926/24716839.17458. Will Wilson (b. 1969; Diné) is an internationally recognized photographer whose work is grounded in Indigenous cultural practice. Since the early 2000s, the artist has engaged with interdisciplinary practices, including digital technologies, to not only critique the role of colonialism in the study of art and science but also to engage in a critical dialogue with the historic constructions of Indigeneity.

Recent Honors & Awards

  • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award, Southeastern College Art Conference, 2023

  • Outstanding Arts and Humanities Presentation for "This is America: Re-viewing the Art of the United States," Statewide Graduate Research Symposium, Florida Conference of Graduate Schools, 2022

  • Judges' Choice Award for "This is America: Re-viewing the Art of the United States," Student Scholar Symposium, University of Central Florida, 2022

  • McKnight Doctoral Fellowship, Florida Education Fund, 2021

  • Graduate Dean’s Fellowship, University of Central Florida, 2021

  • Graduate Summer Mentoring Fellowship, University of Central Florida, 2021

  • Silver Award, Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) “Excellence in Exhibitions” (for Designed to Mobilize: Propaganda Kimono 1920-1945), 2019

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