Polly Nooter Roberts
Day in the Life
“The arts provide a way to think about one’s place in the world. This is what our students do: they make things, they perform, and they learn how to match theory with practice. One of the pillars of our school is to manifest theoretical learning in real-life practices of making art.” – Polly Nooter Roberts, Professor, Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance.
One of the world’s foremost scholars of African arts, Polly Roberts has been illuminating the world with her groundbreaking interdisciplinary research, writing, curating, and teaching for more than 25 years. Her seminal museum exhibitions and publications—often produced with her husband and research partner, Dr. Allen F. Roberts, also a professor of world arts and cultures—enliven our awareness of objects in contexts of culture and performance, offering innovative frameworks for understanding and appreciating global arts and religious iconography.
Complementing her scholarly work, Polly Roberts has played an active role in developing an important area of engagement at UCLA: museum and curatorial studies that enrich the School of the Arts and Architecture’s offerings and provide students with a new array of possible futures. This dynamic scholar often works with practicing artists, inspiring her students to develop deeper ways of looking and understanding. She helps students to question their own identities even as they develop greater sensitivity to how we explore the integral role of the arts in diverse cultures throughout the world.
LEARN MORE:
http://www.wacd.ucla.edu/people/28-people/faculty/135-mary-polly-nooter-roberts