Professor Bentz specializes in the painting, sculpture, and architecture of early modern Europe (15-17th centuries). Her research focuses on Italian garden and landscape history in particular, as well as the architectural and urban history of Rome and the history of art collecting. She is currently at work on a book that examines gardens and antiquities collections in 16th-century Rome.

Professor Bentz received her M.A. from George Washington University in 1996 and a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 2003. Prior to joining the faculty at Saint Anselm College in 2006, she taught at Penn State's Study Abroad Program in Todi, Italy, Emory University, and Columbia University. She has received fellowships from Penn State University, the Fondazione Lemmerman in Rome, The Robert Lehman Foundation with the Renaissance Society of America, and the Kress Foundation. During her dissertation research, she was a Junior Fellow in Garden and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. From 2004-2006 she was a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University.

In addition to Introduction to Art, Introduction to Architecture, Art and Architecture of the Middle Ages, Renaissance Art, Baroque Art, Professor Bentz teaches a senior seminar in Art Theory. Her special topics courses include Italian Renaissance architecture, European villa and garden design, and the history of prints and printmaking. She also teaches in the college's Humanities Program.