Shana Klein

Shana Klein is associate professor at Kent State University and holds a Ph.D. in art history from the University of New Mexico. She is author of the award-winning book, “The Fruits of Empire: Art, Food, and the Politics of Race in the Age of American Expansion,” which demonstrates how pictures of food were a platform for artists and viewers to discuss heated debates over race and citizenship.  Her current book project, "Spoiled Milk," considers the politics of motherhood in U.S. art.  Klein has been awarded several fellowships for her research at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, among others.  She has presented her research in a number of peer-review journals and podcasts and she teaches classes that bring together U.S. art, visual culture, and social justice.