Education

2001 Vassar College, B.A.
2006 Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, M.A.
2013 Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, Ph.D

View CV (PDF)

Courses Taught

Foundations: Art in Context I
Art History Methods and Inquiry
Art, Culture, Place: Mediterranean Naturalism
History of Graphic Design
Worlds of Art: Death, Gods and Power
Art, Theory and Criticism
Ancient through 15th Century Art
BFA Art Capstone Preparation

Career Specialties

Trained in the art and archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean, with a sub-specialty in Italian Renaissance art, Rose Trentinella now focuses her scholarly work on pedagogical research and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Art History (SoTL-AH). Her current projects center the Decoding the Disciplines pedagogical framework, with special emphasis on clarifying and promoting the interoperable potential of essential art historical competencies such as visual analysis, contextual research, comparative interpretation and more.

Professional and Community Activities

Trentinella regularly chairs and presents at regional, national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary conferences on topics relating to art history pedagogy and undergraduate student engagement. Her 2026 co-edited volume, Advocating for Art History, emerged from one of these panels and offers theory-informed investigations, case studies and actionable strategies to empower art historians to assess their individual policy environments and institutional contexts, recognize their spheres of influence and develop strategic approaches to advocacy that leverage their expertise as educators and researchers.

Her 2025 article in Transformative Dialogues, "Toward a Future for SoTL in Art History via Decoding the Disciplines," exemplifies her ongoing deployment of the Decoding pedagogy framework in art history and offers a potential model for colleagues across the field. She is currently engaged in a variety of SoTL-AH projects that explore art history's interoperability within and beyond academia.

Trentinella also continues to serve on the University-wide Spartan Studies general education curriculum committee, which she joined at its formation in 2020. In early 2026, she collaborated with Reverend Magrey deVega of the Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa, FL to record a series of short conversations for the church’s “Visio Divina” video series. Each conversation centers one (or two) significant works of historical art depicting key Biblical narratives associated with specific Gospel passages appropriate for the Lenten season, intended to be set within the context of a weekly sermon the church presents online for synchronous and later viewing through their website and on their YouTube channel. 

Honors and Awards

2022-2023 Outstanding Faculty Achievement in Service Award, College of Arts and Letters, University of Tampa
2010-2011 Fulbright Research Grant to Italy
2010-2011 Torch Prize Dissertation Research Fellowship, New York University