Anna Isbell received a BA in Anthropology and a BA in Art History from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and her MA and PhD degrees in Art History from the University of Iowa. Her dissertation focused on the intersection of madness, femininity, and physical weakness in Victorian visual culture. She is currently working on her upcoming manuscript ‘Of ladies most deject and wretched’: Lovesickness and Femininity in Victorian Visual Culture.

Before joining the University of Iowa, Isbell taught at Norfolk State University and was gallery director of the James Wise Gallery. While she specializes in the visual culture of nineteenth-century Europe, she has taught a variety of classes in many areas of art history. She currently offers introductory classes in African art and global art, as well as upper-level classes in the history of photography, modern/contemporary art, and nineteenth century topics.

In addition to teaching, Isbell has presented at numerous conferences, including the Midwest Victorian Studies Association, the Interdisciplinary Nineteenth Century Studies conference, the Consortium of the Revolutionary Era, and the Nineteenth-Century Studies Association conference.