Dr. Koontz received her Ph.D. in Collections Management | Historic Costume & Textiles from Florida State University with concentrations in history, museum studies, and college teaching. She was awarded the first Hope B. McCormick Fellowship in the Hope B. McCormick Costume Center at the Chicago History Museum. Her current research focuses on object-based material culture in dress, curatorial practice, collections management, innovative exhibition design & presentation, and emerging technologies within these fields of study.
Before her tenure at The University of Alabama, she taught at Florida State University and SUNY Oneonta. Dr. Koontz’s previous research focused on innovative approaches in higher education to design/creative thinking and critical making in the context of community engagement through active and collaborative participation. Projects included Black Belt Bamboost, The Carrie Project, and le Art de la Mode. The Black Belt Bamboost project was an Excellence in Community Engagement Award recipient, recognized by the UA Council for Community-Based Partnerships (CCBP), as an Outstanding Faculty/Staff-Initiated Engagement Effort for 2014.
Professional Organizations
- Design Principles & Practices
- Arts in Society
- The Inclusive Museum
- e-Learning & Innovative Pedagogies