Dr. Adrienne Rooney

Biography

Adrienne Rooney is an Assistant Professor of Visual Material Culture at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She previously served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Frederick Douglass Institute, Department of Black Studies at the University of Rochester, New York. Dr. Rooney obtained her PhD in Art History from Rice University, alongside certificates in African and African American Studies and Critical Cultural Theory. Her academic focus broadly explores the relationships between (de)colonization and visual material culture in the Americas, with particular attention to the Caribbean and the U.S. South. Her research foregrounds emancipatory artistic practices and examines counter-geographies that challenge the long-standing narratives of cultural violence tied to colonization and plantation economies. Currently, she is working on a book project based on her award-winning PhD dissertation titled "Worldbuilding Moment: Aesthetics Economics Caribbean Festival Arts’ (Carifesta) Revolutionary Era, 1966-1981," which seeks to unify a region historically divided by colonial empires. Dr. Rooney has co-organized symposia focused on Caribbean Festival Arts and has contributed to the Digital Archive of Guyanese Caribbean Festivals. As an educator, she teaches courses across bachelor's and master's programs related to Media, Art, Design, and Architecture.

Research Interests

Experience