Ellen C. Feiss
Assistant Professor, Art History
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
What are your thoughts on teaching?
As a scholar of modern and contemporary art, I show my students how art is involved in the world we live in, not solely decorative or rarefied but as a field that intersects with many others they might be studying or will work in. I incorporate hands on learning in my classroom through seeing works of art up close, both in museums and elsewhere (in the public realm for example) and through meeting working artists.
Tell us about your field of expertise.
I specialize in modern and contemporary art of Europe and the Americas in imperial and global contexts, and art theory and method. My work draws on feminist and historical materialism and critical theories of race, gender, and sexuality. I study claims for art’s social utility: its revolutionary potential, or as added value in processes of reform, movement work, and procedures of justice. I also write broadly about art after 1960.
What hobbies/interests do you enjoy outside of academia?
Dance, fashion/antiquing, and local labor history
