While listening to National Public Radio's "Car Talk" recently, Kimberly Smith was struck by a comment made by the hosts of the program, Click and Clack. After a caller stated she was an art history Ph.D. candidate, the two men remarked how absurd it was that someone would devote their life to something so far removed from the real world.

"I completely disagree," Smith says. "I think it is very important to be visually literate, to understand how visual devices are used and how a work of art reflects its cultural context. Teaching art history is about more than just appreciating the art. It's about asking hard questions, thinking about complex ideas and developing intellectual skills that should be used not only in the classroom, but in life."

Smith is an art historian who never took an art history course until college, unless you count one junior high class that didn't exactly provide lifelong inspiration. When she declared her art history major at Duke University, the decision was based solely on books she'd read outside of school and numerous trips to museums.

"My passion for art was an unexpected discovery. I came across a book about Vincent van Gogh that I found fascinating. That sparked an interest to learn more about Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. I was a bookworm." When she wasn't reading, Smith was a competitive pianist in Kansas City and a member of her high school's a cappella choir group.

By her senior year at Duke, Smith realized she wanted a career in academia. "I love to learn," she says. "I was pretty sure nothing else would satisfy me in that way." After spending a year working at an art gallery in New York City, Smith traveled to Berlin to learn German, a requirement for most graduate art history programs.

In 1992, she entered the Ph.D. program at Yale University. Although she served as a teaching assistant for three courses, Smith didn't feel she'd had a "real teaching experience" by the time she completed her work. "I was a little concerned because I didn't know how I would feel when it was my own class. Luckily, I ended up loving it."

Her first teaching position was a one-year appointment as a visiting assistant professor at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. It also was her first exposure to a small liberal arts college setting. "I liked Memphis a lot, especially the barbecue. I was addicted. The city is so interesting, full of Civil Rights history, and blues and rock history. Rhodes was a similar school to Southwestern, and I enjoyed my time there. It helped that I knew what to expect before I came here, and I understood the advantages of teaching in this kind of environment."

Since arriving in 1999, Smith says she has been most impressed by students’ responses to her academically rigorous courses. "I've found that they are up to every challenge I give them."

Smith herself was recently challenged to contribute an essay for the book, "Justice For All," which was given as a memento at the inauguration of Southwestern University's 14th President, Jake B. Schrum. "I was flattered to be asked. It was intriguing because I'd never before articulated in a published form an explicit connection between justice and art."

Away from teaching, Smith still enjoys playing the piano. She also loves to travel, and an upcoming trip to Spain will give her a chance to see the famous Prado Museum in Madrid.