She is currently William B. Hamilton Distinguished Professor of Art History at Duke University, North Carolina and has been working on a project regarding the use of new technologies for visualising historical materials.
[7] Whilst undertaking her studies in England, Wharton lectured at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts at Birmingham University and has taught throughout her long career; the Marquis ‘Who’s Who’ lists her as a noteworthy humanities educator.
"[13] Developing ideas formulated by Henri Lefebvre and Bruno Latour, Wharton examines how buildings, or other inanimate things, "do not have to be conscious to have agency".
[13] In 1969, Annabel Wharton married the British historian James Epstein[citation needed] who is now Distinguished Emeritus Professor of History at Vanderbilt University.
[16] Wharton's long-term partner of nearly 30 years, Kalman P. Bland, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Religious Studies at Duke University, died in England in June 2017 after becoming ill whilst the couple were travelling together in Europe.