Dr. Mont Allen is Assistant Professor of Practice in Art History at the University of Arizona.
With a doctorate in Classical Art History (UC Berkeley), master’s degrees in the History of Religion (Syracuse University) and Modern European History (UC Berkeley), and a bachelor’s degree in Geography, his interests range widely, from Greco-Roman sculpture & painting, the archaeology of the classical world, and Greek mythology and its visual depictions, to early Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist art.
His own research concentrates on Greek mythology and Roman funerary art as they intersected in the form of Roman sarcophagi: those elaborately carved marble coffins, often sculpted with scenes from Greek myth, in which leading citizens of the ancient world’s mightiest empire were buried. His book on the subject — titled The Death of Myth on Roman Sarcophagi: Allegory and Visual Narrative in the Late Empire — was published by Cambridge University Press in 2023.
Winner of five teaching awards, including both the Liberal Arts Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award and the Faculty Mentor of the Year Award from Southern Illinois University and the ‘Everyday Hero’ Award from UC Berkeley, he teaches courses ranging from ancient Greek and Roman to Renaissance and Baroque art.
His newest research project focuses on funerary images of Dionysus, god of wine, intoxication, and ecstasy.