JESSICA MERTURI
Staff Writer
Dr. Jaclynne Kerner, adjunct processor of art history, brings a world of experience to Pepperdine.
From starting out as a pre-med student at New York University to ending up 3,000 miles away from home teaching about non-Western art, she has been on quite the educational journey.
“You think you have it all planned out, and then you may encounter something and then your life can take a totally different path,” Kerner said.
After the brief stint in the pre-med program, Kerner eventually found that her real interest was studying art. While she doesn’t claim to be artistically talented, Kerner says she is a researcher at heart. Western European art, in particular, took precedence in her studies during her undergraduate program. However, a class on Islamic art during graduate school at NYU paved yet another path in Kerner’s journey.
“I was immediately drawn to its physical beauty,” Kerner said. Having little knowledge of Islamic culture itself, she was quick to envelope herself in it. Kerner went on to receive a doctorate degree in the history of art and archaeology at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, specializing in Islamic art and architecture.
She was so fascinated with the Islamic culture that she also took an interest in learning the Arabic language, which she studied during her doctorate program. Her time spent learning classical Arabic literature became a great help when she traveled to Istanbul and was able to study manuscripts that were part of her dissertation research. “That was a great experience — being able to immerse myself in the culture,” Kerner said of Istanbul.
Kerner also served as a pre-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in the Department of Islamic Art. There, Kerner said, her responsibilities included acting as research assistant for a publication on medieval Syrian ceramics and cataloguing the Islamic art collection. Cataloguing consisted of storing files filled with information on each object in the museum into a computer, which Kerner said was a slow process.
“We joked that our grandchildren would still be working on them in 75 years,” she said.
The experience at the Met helped her to easily move into her job at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Kerner, a Long Island native, took a position at the LACMA in January 2004 just after she finished her doctoral program. While there, she rediscovered her love for teaching.
“Grad students would often come to me for advice or for help with writing their grad proposals,” Kerner said. “I found myself fulfilling that role and realized that’s really where my heart is.” Kerner had previously taught as an adjunct at Fordham University for a short time during her graduate studies but had to put it on hold to finish her dissertation.
When Kerner learned of the position at Pepperdine, she didn’t let the chance to teach pass her. Sonia Sorrell, associate professor of art history who interviewed Kerner for the position, said Kerner’s broad range of non-Western courses she took in graduate school made her “uniquely suited” to the job. Kerner’s experience at LACMA intrigued Sorrell, as well. “[LACMA] gave Dr. Kerner the real world experience of applying her art historical training to a museum context,” Sorrell said. Sorrell thought this would be a great way for Seaver students, especially those majoring in art history, to see an actual application of their majors.
Josh Damian, a former student of Kerner’s, agreed.
“Professor Kerner’s class was truly enjoyable because she brought real-life experience in the field to us,” Damian said.
He said he appreciates Kerner’s class because it broadens students’ idea of art — not only limiting it to European art.
“Art is the product of culture, and this class truly brings about a sense of appreciation and reverence for other cultures and customs outside the standard narrow mindset,” he said. Damian said he reveres Kerner’s vast knowledge of the art world and thinks of her as a “fantastic resource.”
Another one of Kerner’s students, Sarah Towers, also agreed.
“Dr. Kerner was an extremely knowledgeable source of information,” Towers said. Like Damian, Towers pointed to the benefits of Kerner’s extensive incorporation of outside information in the class. Towers also said the visual aids Kerner uses in class are very helpful in “increasing our perception of various cultures around the world.”
“The class was an enlightening experience and makes me feel more well-rounded and cultured as a result,” Towers added.
Kerner said teaching the course has been an eye-opening experience— sending her curiosity in yet another direction. Since the class covers art in the entire non-Western world it’s broadened some of her interests to cross-cultural studies. “I’ve started looking into the cross-cultural influences between China and the Islamic world, especially in terms of different decorative motifs and media-like ceramics and textiles,” Kerner said.
This is Kerner’s second semester at Pepperdine.
“The students are wonderful,” Kerner said. “The atmosphere has been very warm and welcoming, and it has been very nice to have the support of the department and faculty.”
What Kerner said she enjoys most about teaching is that she can share something she loves with other students and watch them grow to care about it as well.
Kerner also works as an adjunct professor at another school in the L.A. area and writes articles on Islamic Art. While her goal is to become a full-time professor, she would like to continue publishing articles and editing literature.
She is contributing to a volume of essays that honor her dissertation professor, Priscilla P. Soucek, called “Embroidering History: Cotton Tiraz Textiles of al-Muqtadir Billah” which will be published this spring.
01-25-2007
