John Davis

John Davis is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Knowlton School, The Ohio State University. His research focuses on technology, construction, and environmental history in the Americas, particularly post-Civil War reconstruction and military-civil engineering intersections. He teaches courses in landscape history and is the author of the upcoming book Reconstructors: Work, Land, and Engineering after the Civil War (University of Chicago Press). Davis co-edited Military Landscapes (2021) and contributed to Architectures of the Greater Caribbean (forthcoming).

• Educations:
• B.S., University of Virginia
• M.Arch., Harvard University Graduate School of Design
• Ph.D., Harvard University

His research explores how physical infrastructure projects reflect political and social ideologies, particularly through case studies like Mississippi River engineering, post-war reconstruction landscapes, and Caribbean coastal dynamics. He emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches blending history, ecology, and material culture.

Recent articles analyze themes like dam politics (At the Base of the Giant’s Throat), Olmsted’s wartime contributions (Olmsted in the South), and coastal resilience (NORCO in the Greater Caribbean). Davis’s work bridges technical histories with broader socio-political narratives, highlighting marginalized labor roles in infrastructure projects.

No scientific awards explicitly noted in the text. His advising activities and grant details are not listed here.

He is affiliated with The Ohio State University’s Knowlton School and maintains active engagement with historical preservation initiatives and landscape policy discourse.