Natalie B. Kampen, professor of women's studies and the Barbara Novak '50 Professor of Art History, joined the faculty of Barnard in 1988. Professor Kampen taught courses in women's studies on feminism and on gender and visual representation. Her art history courses included Roman art and architecture, women and art, and graduate courses on Roman art. She had written books and articles on Roman art and gender, social status and sexuality, and on the representation of history and biography in Roman imperial sculpture. She applied feminist theory to develop understandings of Roman art and of the values that have shaped the history of art. Her work had taken two paths in recent years. The first is an examination of gender issues in Greek and Roman art, especially as manifested on public monuments. The second investigates imagery and style in the military monuments of the Roman provinces. Her most recent book, Fictions of Family in Roman Art, was published in 2008 by Cambridge University Press.

Professor Kampen has led international field trips to Italy and North Africa for her students in art history and classical studies so that they can view and explore the artifacts and locations that they have discussed in the classroom.