Pamela Berger
Professor, Art History and Film
Art History Minor Coordinator
Pamela Berger
Ph.D.
Contact
Devlin Hall 426
Telephone: 617-552-8588
Email: berger@bc.edu
Education
- B.A., Cornell University
- Ph.D., New York University
Courses
Cinema of the Greater Middle East
Cinema of Revolution and Revolt
French Cinema
Mysteries and Visions: Early Medieval Art
Imagination and Imagery: Later Medieval Art
Research Interests
Medieval art history
Historical feature films
Biography
Professor听Berger听teaches Medieval Art from 300 CE through 1425. Her special interest is iconography听- the meaning of the image in its time听- and most of her research deals with iconographic interpretation. Her most听recent book,听The Crescent on the Temple,听is about how the Dome of the Rock came to stand for the Temple of Solomon in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim art. That 鈥淭emple,鈥� represented as the Muslim shrine, is often surmounted by a crescent.
Professor听Berger听teaches two medieval Art History courses.听 鈥淢ysteries and Visions鈥� begins with the art of the waning classical world where, in addition to the imagery of Judaism and early Christianity, one finds the magico-religious art of the mystery cults of Cybele, Isis, and Mithra.听听Berger听then treats the mosaics of the First Golden Ages of Byzantine Art, Celtic-Early Christian Irish art, and the Carolingian "Renaissance." She also introduces students to the art of the Vikings and of Islamic Spain.听 In 鈥淚mage and Imagination鈥� the students study the symbolism and the multiplicity of meanings in works of art from Mozarabic Spain, and from the Romanesque and Gothic north. The students will learn about the various styles of architecture, sculpture and painting, as well as the ideological and social contexts in which the images were produced.
Professor听Berger听is also a filmmaker who has written, produced, and/or directed three feature films. 鈥淪orceress鈥� tells the story of a medieval woman who is accused of being a heretic but is actually a healer. The second film, which she wrote, produced and directed, is 鈥淭he Imported Bridegroom.鈥澨� In this comedy set in Boston in 1900, a father tries to find, back in the Old Country, a perfect bridegroom for his Americanized daughter. She takes one look at the boy he brings back and is appalled. 鈥淜illian鈥檚 Chronicle,鈥� Professor Berger's third film, is about an Irish slave who escapes from a Viking ship and is rescued by Native Americans five hundred years before the arrival of Columbus.
Professor听Berger听teaches two film courses: Students in 鈥淐inema of Revolution and Revolt鈥� examine the causes and nature of revolutions and revolts as depicted in selected films.听 In 鈥淐inema of the Greater Middle East,鈥澨鼴erger听presents a series of films from the Middle East in an effort听to help the students understand the cultural/historical context in which the films were created. These courses explore the point of view of the filmmakers and how the scripts and the shooting styles serve to accomplish their ends.
PUBLICATIONS
Books
Hebrew Psalms and the Utrecht Psalter: Veiled Origins. University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press, 2020.
The Crescent on the Temple: The Dome of the Rock as Image of the Ancient Jewish Sanctuary.听Leiden: Brill, 2012.
The Goddess Obscured: Transformation of the Grain Protectress from Goddess to Saint.听Boston: Beacon Press, 1985.
The Insignia in the Notitia Dignitatum.听Garland, New York, 1981.
Articles and Book Chapters
"The Dome of the Rock as Image of the Ancient Temple in Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Art, Temples, Synagogues, Churches and Mosques," in Sacred Architecture in Palestine from the Bronze Age to Medieval Times. Edited by Jens Kemlah and Markus Witte. In the series Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palastina-Vereins. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2020.
"Through the Eyes of an Irish Slave." Co-written with Wayne Newell (Passamaquoddy tribal elder), in American Medieval, vol. II. Edited by Ulrike Wiethaus and Gillian Overing. Gottingen, Germany: V & R Unipress, 2019.
鈥淛ewish-Muslim Veneration at Pilgrimage Places in the Holy Land,"听Religion and the Arts, 15, 2011, 1-60.
"The Temples/Tabernacles in the Dura Synagogue Paintings."听Dura Europos, Crossroads of Antiquity. Edited by Lisa R. Brody and Gail L. Hoffman, 2011.
"Judges 19: A Perverse Version of Hospitality as Illustrated in the Bible Moralis茅e."听New Aradia Review, Vol. 4, 2011. [electronic publication].
鈥淢ice, Arrows and Tumors: Medieval Plague Iconography North of the Alps, in听Piety and the Plague, Franco Mormando, editor, Truman State University Press, 2007.
鈥淎varice, Money and Judgment Day,鈥� in听Sacred/Secular, edited by Nancy Netzer and Virginia Reinberg, McMullen Museum, 2006.
鈥淭he Depiction of Jews in Early Passion Iconography,鈥� in听Pondering the Passion, edited by Philip A. Cunningham, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2004.
"Sacred Landscapes: Two Watercolors by George Petrie,"听Eire/Land, edited by Vera Kreilkamp, 2003.
鈥淎rchaeology, Iconography, and the Recreation of the Past in Iron Age Holy Lands,鈥澨�Religion and the Arts, 6, 4, 2002, 499-506.
"Crusade and Jihad: The Wars Known as Holy,"听Religion and the Arts, 5, 4, 2001, 484-494.
"Sculpted Body Parts from Ancient Healing Sanctuaries," in听The Plume and the Palette, edited by Pamela Berger and Jeffery Howe, New York, Peter Lang, Inc. 2001.
"Grain Miracle" Medieval Folklore,听An Encyclopedia of Myths, Legends, Tales, Beliefs, and Customs, Carl Lindahl, John McNamara, & John Lindow, editors, A自慰视频-Clio, Santa Barbara, California, 2000, 444-446.
"The Roots of Anti-Semitism in Medieval Visual Imagery: An Overview,"听Religion and the Arts, Spring, 2000.
"Images of Animosity, Visions of Vengeance,"听Religion and the Arts, Volume 3-1 (1999).
"Modern Propagators of Ancient Legends and Traditions: Mythic Memory or Serendipity?" in听Re/Dressing Cathleen: Contemporary Works from Irish Women Artists, 1997, 57-62.
"The Film Sorceress: A Twentieth-century Recreation of a Medieval Memory,"听Memory in the Middle Ages, ed. by Nancy Netzer and Virginia Reinberg, 1995.
"The Star System: A Mediated Form of Censorship in the Creative Process of Filmmaking,"听Agni, Vol. 31/32.
"The Historical, the Sacred, the Romantic: Medieval Texts into Irish Watercolor," in听Visualizing Ireland, Faber & Faber, 1993.
"The Bisexual Deity at Les Bolards and Gallo-Roman Springwater Therapies,"听R茅vue Arch茅ologique de l'Est, Fall 1984.
"Many-Shaped Art, Archaeology, and the Tain,"听Eire-Ireland, Vol. 17, No. 4, Winter 1982.
"The Ardagh Chalice, Numerology, and the Stowe Missal,"听Eire-Ireland, Vol. 4, No. 3, Fall 1979.
"Two Insignia from the Notitia Dignitatum," in听Inscape, 1978.
Filmography
听Pamela Berger, Writer (Story and Screenplay), Co-Producer and Co-Screenwriter. Lara Classics, Inc., 1987.听 Shot in both English, 鈥�Sorceress (English Language Version),鈥� and French, 鈥�Sorceress (French with English Subtitles).鈥� Lara Classics, Inc., Streaming on Amazon in both versions.
. 听Pamela Berger, Writer, Producer and Director. 1989. Lara Classics, Inc., DVD distributed by National Center for Jewish Film.
. Pamela Berger, Writer (Story and Screenplay), Co-Producer and Director. 1994. Lara Classics, Inc., Streaming on YouTube.
Theater
Imported Bridegroom: The Musical,听1998 (music: Hankus Netsky and Joanne Baker; book and lyrics: Pamela Berger).
Book Reviews
Review of The Image and Its Prohibition in Jewish Antiquity, edited by Sarah Pearce. Oxford: Journal of Jewish Studies, 2013. Art Bulletin online. College Art Association online publication. http://www.caareviews.org/reviews/2334#.XDZNePxOnow
Review of Luther Lind, The Devil: the Archfiend in Art, From the Sixth to the Sixteenth Century. In Religion and the Arts. Vol. 3, no. 2, 1999, 267-269.
Review of Mireille Mentre, Illuminated Manuscripts of Medieval Spain. In Religion and the Arts, Vol. 2, no. 3, 1998. 386-388.
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