Dr. Beatrice St. Laurent is a UMass Amherst alumna with a  BA studio art and MA in Islamic art history. She received a PhD in Islamic Art & Architecture from Harvard University and is currently Associate Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University, where she teaches Islamic Art & Architecture, History of Photography and Monuments as Cultural Symbols & Emblems of Power. She has published extensively and regularly lecture on the Dome of the Rock—the focus of her research for the last 23 years. She lived in Jerusalem from 1992-1995. With the Palestinian architect in charge of the site for 32 years, she is currently preparing two books for publication on the 20th & 21st century restorations of the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque. She is also working with an Israeli archaeologist on remains removed from the site and writing an article on that material. She will return to Jerusalem next summer to continue her research.

1 Brown Bag: The Dome of the Rock: The Politics of Islamic Art & Israeli Archaeology in an Un-unified Jerusalem