The School of Visual Studies is proud to highlight Dr. Brittany Rancour (PhD, Art History & Archaeology, 2020), whose journey from graduate student to professor demonstrates a deep commitment to research, teaching, and building academic communities.

This fall, Dr. Rancour begins a new position as Assistant Professor of Art History in the Department of Communication, Media, Art & Design at Morehead State University. She will be teaching courses across the art history curriculum, including Contemporary Art this fall and the Medieval Art Survey in the spring.

Dr. Rancour’s scholarship focuses on medieval visual culture and women’s roles in society. Her dissertation, “The Visual Language of Identity: Women’s Seals in Scotland and Ireland, c. 1100–1400,” explored the use of wax seals by women to authenticate documents. Her research reveals the ways women participated in land ownership, inheritance, and legal disputes—providing critical evidence of their active presence in medieval society. She continues this line of research today, working on an article featuring the Lacock Abbey charter and seals housed in Special Collections at Mizzou, while also pursuing a long-term goal of publishing a monograph based on her dissertation.

During her time at Mizzou, Dr. Rancour gained valuable classroom experience as a teaching assistant for introductory courses and later as a graduate instructor for upper-level art history classes. “These roles gave me the confidence to design new courses and explore innovative approaches to student engagement,” she reflects. She credits her faculty mentors for modeling collaborative and effective teaching, which continues to inspire her.

Her work with the Medieval and Renaissance Studies program at Mizzou was especially formative, as she appreciated the program’s interdisciplinary nature and sense of camaraderie. She now hopes to develop a similar initiative at Morehead State to bring together students with shared interests and foster a supportive academic community.

As a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History at Mizzou, Dr. Rancour also contributed to curriculum development and accreditation documentation, experiences that strengthened her understanding of institutional standards and student learning outcomes.

When asked what she valued most about her time at Mizzou, Dr. Rancour points to her students:

“I loved getting to know my students and helping them discover which areas of art history they could thrive in.”

The School of Visual Studies congratulates Dr. Brittany Rancour on her new role at Morehead State University and looks forward to following her continued contributions to art history and higher education.