The primary responsibility of the residential college Dean is to supervise the academic progress of students and advise them throughout the process of selecting courses, picking a major, and completing graduation requirements. Because academic success is often closely connected to non-academic concerns, however, the Dean is also a great resource for a wide range of other matters, including everything from personal crises to post-graduation plans. In cases of incapacitating illness or family emergency, the Dean is authorized to postpone deadlines for academic work or final exams, so it is important and wise to be in close touch with her as soon as possible when these things arise. The Dean also oversees room draw and student housing.
Mia Reinoso Genoni came to Yale in 2008, as the Mellon Special Collections Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in the History of Art and Archaeology from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and her A.B. from Harvard University, with a joint concentration in Fine Arts (History of Art and Architecture) and English and American Literature and Language. Her research and teaching interests include: architectural treatises and representation; architecture, urbanism, and the city; the history and theory of the book and word-image studies; and monumental painting and sculpture. In addition to her duties at Berkeley College, Dean Genoni also teaches and advises students in Humanities, History of Art, and Renaissance Studies, making ample use of the Yale Library Special Collections and the Yale University Museums and Galleries. Seminars offered by the Dean include Monuments of Naples, The Historical Imagination in Early Modern England, and Evidence in Humanistic Inquiry, co-taught with Norma Thompson, Associate Director of the Whitney Humanities Center. Her favorite works of art at Yale are the Beinecke copy of Francesco di Giorgio Martini's Trattato, An Allegory of the Tudor Succession at the BAC, and the BAC building itself, by Louis Kahn.
During her postdoctoral years at Yale, Dean Genoni created a series of interrelated exhibitions around the campus: "The Utopian Impulse" in the Memorabilia Room at Sterling Memorial Library, "Invented Bodies: Shapely Constructs of the Early Modern" in the Gallery at the Whitney Humanities Center, and "By Draught or Design: England, Architecture, and Identity" in the Wright Gallery at the Haas Family Arts Library. The final component is a digital exhibition, "Ideal, Real, and 'New' Worlds: Architecture, Utopia, and Empire in Early Modern England." This exhibition, found at http://library.yale.edu/exhibitions/ideal/, is an interactive humanities project, curated by Dean Genoni and her students from "The Historical Imagination." In addition, her first book, The Invention of Renaissance Architecture: Filarete and the Architettonico Libro is forthcoming.
A devotee of yoga and rollerblading, Dean Genoni is also an outdoor and travel enthusiast. In these pursuits, she is often accompanied by her intrepid Pekingese, Ming Tea. Ming is also a friend of the arts - those who wish to discover the derivation of her name should look to film studies for their answer(s).
Dean Genoni encourages all students to come talk to her about whatever is on their minds, from the academic to the personal. She is available to discuss thorny problems, listen to sudden bursts of inspiration, provide guidance during times of stress, and share in life's joys, both great and small. The dean can be reached at mia.genoni@yale.edu. To schedule an appointment, please contact Michella Brophy at (203) 432-0502 or michella.brophy@yale.edu.
 Dean Genoni at the Castel dell'Ovo, Naples. Click here for a virtual tour of her trip to Naples. |
 Ming Tea rooting for the home team in Central Park. |
Michella Brophy is the Senior Administrative Assistant to the Dean. Michella organizes student registration and oversees course schedule deadlines. She is the often the first person to contact if you have questions regarding academic requirements. She is also the person to see if you would like to add or drop a course, request a double major form, apply for a tutor, ask questions about promotion or clearance for graduation, and/or receive a copy of your unofficial academic record. You can also talk to her about the dossier service available at the Dean's Office, by which your letters of recommendation can be kept on file and upon your request be mailed to law or graduate schools or places of employment. Need an appointment to meet with the Dean? Either phone or stop by the BKDO and she will arrange it. Michella enjoys playing the piano, hiking, and traveling but most of all spending time with her ten-year-old daughter Caitlin, whom you may see at Berkeley – a place she loves to visit!
Michella is in F14 and can she can be reached by e-mail at michella.brophy@yale.edu or at 432-0502 on weekdays.
