Professor Rebecca Duffy Stasiunas Headshot. (Photo Sofia Gutierrez/The Gettysburgian)
By Jules Young, Arts and Entertainment Editor
Rebecca Duffy Stasiunas, a Gettysburg college alum class of 2016, began as an adjunct instructor this semester, filling in for Professor Yan Sun during her sabbatical. Currently, she is teaching intro to material culture – The Lives of Objects, and introduction to asian art.
Professor Duffy Stasiunas is originally from Long Island, but has spent most of her time between Pennsylvania and Delaware since first coming to Gettysburg College. She graduated from Gettysburg with a double major in Art History and History, and minors in East Asian Studies and Public History. She was also involved in the Center for Public Service, working with museum sites in Nicaragua and various Park Service sites through the Civil War Era Studies Program. She went on to do occasional work for the Park Service post graduation. After Gettysburg, she went on directly to get her master with the Winterthur program in American Material Studies at the University of Delaware. From there, she worked as the curator at the Reid House and Gardens in Newcastle, Delaware, and began her PhD in Art History with the University of Delaware in 2022, which she has nearly completed.
She was invited to teach for the semester by Professor Sun herself given their close relationship when Professor Duffy Stasiunas was a Gettysburg student. She commented on their “shared interest in material culture” and “shared interest in art from Asia,” though that is not currently Duffy Stasiunas’ area of study directly. Her expertise is in Latin American art history, though “objects coming out of [Latin America] are directly inspired and in conversation with aesthetics from South and East Asia,” melding the two subjects quite seamlessly.
When asked about her personal experience with art, she praised the college’s requirement for Art History majors to take part in studio art classes. While it is not her expertise, she looked back fondly on her drawing classes with Professor John Kobleski and ceramics classes with Professor Tina Gebhart. Ceramics was of particular importance to her, because she was interested in the role of ceramics in her historical studies. She joked that, when she draws something on the board in class, she can no longer say “good thing my drawing instructor isn’t here,” because he is, in fact, still at Gettysburg College.
Professor Duffy Stasiunas has done some teaching before returning to Gettysburg College this semester. She has primarily taught at larger public universities, such as the University of Delaware, in subjects such as intro to art history and art in the enlightenment. She remarked that “often [her classes]… involve material culture and science because that’s where [her] interests are.” She has shifted her teaching style to be more interactive given the smaller class size. This has been enjoyable for her in the eagerness of her students to come to her “wanting to know how their professors are thinking, wanting to do better, and wanting to learn more.”
So far, Professor Duffy Stasunas has greatly enjoyed her return to Gettysburg, and would be happy to continue if a position were to open to her.
This article originally appeared on page 11 of the February 2026 edition of The Gettysburgian magazine.
