Mary Pardo first began teaching art and art history at UNC in 1985. Now, after 34 years of scholarship and education, Pardo is retiring from her teaching position.
Her retirement ceremony will be held on Nov. 12 at the Hanes Art Center. During the celebration, Professor Emerita of the History of Art, Patricia Simons, will lecture on “Allegory and Pleasure, Virtue and Voyeurism: the visual dynamics of Susanna and the Elders” which will be followed by the reception.
“Mary is one of the most brilliant scholars alive," said Lucia Binotti, a professor in the department of romantic studies. "In addition to that, she is an amazing teacher. She has been teaching for many, many, many, many years."
Binotti and Pardo first met in 1991 after receiving the same arts and humanities scholarship. In 2003, they founded the honors study abroad program in Rome together, Binotti said.
“She has really impacted the lives of an incredible amount of students," Binotti said. "When you have taken a class with Mary Pardo, you never forget it.”
Pardo has taught at each level of the undergraduate program, developed classes at UNC such as World Art and directed graduate students dissertations. She said teaching in many different environments is very enriching.
"I've discovered that the best students in art history come from all majors — they don't have to be art history majors,” Pardo said. “It’s always very gratifying to see this discipline can actually be of interest to students of many different backgrounds.”
Pardo earned her Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh, concentrating on art criticism and theory of the Italian Renaissance, according to the press release. She is currently studying the relationship between words and images of love in religious worship.
“When I was first hired here, I felt very fortunate to be coming here, because it was such a fine program and it was also one in which there was a lot of opportunity,” Pardo said.
