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Erika Naginski is the Robert P. Hubbard Professor of Architectural History at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD), Department of Architecture. She is affiliated with the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture. Prior to joining the GSD, she taught at MIT and the University of Michigan, and held fellowships at Harvard’s Society of Fellows, the Radcliffe Institute, and the Clark Art Institute. Her research explores Baroque/Enlightenment architecture, early modern aesthetic philosophy, and public space theories. Key projects include analyzing the intersection of architecture with art history, the philosophical foundations of medium studies, and the socio-political dimensions of public art during revolutionary periods. Recent work focuses on eighteenth-century conceptions of history and archaeology. Naginski’s courses include Architecture and its Texts (1650-1800) , The Shapes of Utopia , and The Ruin Aesthetic , emphasizing critical discourse and historical methodologies. She has published extensively on topics such as Piranesi’s influence, utopian spatial concepts, and the role of ruins in architectural thought. Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship (2007) for her study on architecture, archaeology, and historical conception. Editorial Roles: Serves on the editorial board of Res . Labs/Teams: Active in the Aga Khan Program’s interdisciplinary initiatives on Islamic architecture.

• Architectural History
• Aesthetic Philosophy
• Baroque and Enlightenment Architecture
• +3 more

Shiqiao Li is the Ellen Bayard Weedon Professor of Asian Architecture at the School of Architecture , University of Virginia. Their work bridges architectural theory, historical analysis, and contemporary urban planning in China. Teaching Focus: Contemporary Chinese urban planning, architectural history, and design studio instruction Key Research Areas: Urban typologies, cultural districts, and the interplay between architecture and socioeconomic change Publications highlight their expertise in Chinese urbanism (2014, 2021) and early modern English architecture (2006). While no explicit awards or student advising records appear in this dataset, their scholarly output spans theoretical and practical dimensions of architecture across cultures and eras.

• Urban Planning
• Architecture
• Chinese Studies
• +2 more

Robin Thomas is Professor of Art History and Architecture and Head of the Department of Art History at Pennsylvania State University's College of Arts and Architecture. His office is located at 238 Borland Building. He earned a BA from Emory University, followed by an MA, M.Phil, and PhD from Columbia University. Thomas specializes in European architecture and urbanism (1400–1800), with a focus on Naples. His research explores: Early-modern urban development and palace architecture Slavery's role in construction practices Baroque spatial aesthetics Architectural education and intellectual history Music-space relationships Bourbon dynasty's building programs His publications consistently examine 18th-century Italian architecture through interdisciplinary lenses, merging political history, social anthropology, and visual culture. Recent works analyze racial dimensions in construction, Enlightenment reforms, and royal iconography. Awards include: College of Arts and Architecture Outstanding Teaching Award (2014) Fulbright Fellowship Whiting Foundation Humanities Fellowship Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship (Metropolitan Museum of Art) Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry Fellowship

• European Architecture
• Urbanism
• Baroque Art and Architecture
• +5 more

Drew Edward Davies is Professor of Musicology at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music, specializing in 17th- and 18th-century music across Latin America, Iberia, and Europe. His research spans colonialism, early modern repertoires, and interdisciplinary connections with architecture. He chairs the Department of Music Studies and collaborates with performance groups like the Chicago Arts Orchestra. Education : PhD from University of Chicago Key Projects : Academic Coordinator of 'Musicat' Seminario in Mexico City Leadership : President of Society for Eighteenth-Century Music (2021-2025) His scholarly output includes critical editions of 18th-century Mexican composers and multi-volume catalogs of cathedral music archives. He has presented internationally at conferences and festivals spanning 15 countries. Awards include the Wiley Housewright Award for his PhD dissertation and the J.M. Thomson Prize for his article on Guadalupe villancicos. Selected Publications : Forging Repertories: Cathedral Music in New Spain and its Performance (Oxford, 2024) Catálogo de la Colección de Música del Archivo Histórico de la Arquidiócesis de Durango (Mexico City, 2013)

• 17th- and 18th-century music
• Latin American musicology
• Iberian music history
• +5 more

Jesús Escobar is the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor in the Humanities at Northwestern University, specializing in art, architecture, and urbanism in early modern Spain and its transatlantic empire. His research focuses on Baroque art, cartography, and the intersection of architecture with imperial power structures. Editor of the scholarly series Buildings, Landscapes, and Societies President of the National Committee for the History of Art Current Member of the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (2024–25) His notable works include the award-winning books Habsburg Madrid: Architecture and the Spanish Monarchy (2022) and The Plaza Mayor and the Shaping of Baroque Madrid (2003). He is currently researching transatlantic experiences with architecture during the Spanish Habsburg era. Key publication trends span early modern cartography, transatlantic architectural exchange, and the sociopolitical dimensions of Baroque urbanism in the Spanish Empire. Eleanor Tufts Award (2023, 2004) Professor Escobar mentors graduate students in architecture, urbanism, and cartography within the early modern Spanish Empire and welcomes proposals on artistic exchange in the Spanish Habsburg world. His work has received grants from the Fulbright Program, National Endowment for the Humanities, Clark Art Institute, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts.

• Architecture
• Urbanism
• Cartography
• +5 more

William Theiss is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Connecticut, specializing in Central European cultural, social, and intellectual history from 1500-1800. His research focuses on the administrative uses of sacred church records (Kirchenbücher), the sociology of memory, and state formation. He holds a BA in Comparative Literature from Yale University (2016), an MPhil in Early Modern History from the University of Cambridge (2017), and a PhD in History from Princeton University (2023). His current projects include revising his dissertation into a book titled The Registration of Souls in Central Europe and researching Stoicism's role in the German Counter-Reformation. Teaching interests span Mediterranean antiquity to global early modern history, including Latin and ancient Greek languages. His work has been supported by the Gates Foundation and the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies. Recent publications explore 17th-century Parisian cultural life, Florentine liturgical architecture, and German humanist art criticism. Office: Wood Hall Rm 322 (Storrs Campus), currently on leave for Fall 2025.

• Early modern Europe
• Renaissance and Reformation Germany
• Holy Roman Empire
• +11 more

Santa Arias is a Professor and Department Head in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Arizona. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her work centers on spatial analysis in colonial studies, focusing on early modern Iberian imperialism (XV-XIX centuries), with emphasis on historiography, geographical discourses, and visual representation. Her research adopts a transoceanic perspective, examining how colonial power structures were articulated through space, place, and nature. Key projects include The Nature of Empire: Geo/graphing the Tropics during the Enlightenment , exploring geographical thinking in late colonial discourses, and Entanglements from San Juan , analyzing Puerto Rico's Bourbon-era geopolitical thought. Awards include a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and CIES/Fulbright to Colombia. Her five co-edited volumes include Mapping Colonial Spanish America (2002) and Coloniality, Religion, and the Law (2013). She emphasizes transdisciplinary methods, combining archival research with spatial analysis to advance colonial studies. Her publications span over three decades, from early work on Bartolomé de las Casas' rhetorical strategies (1990s) to recent studies on Caribbean Enlightenment thought. She trains students in critical methodologies linking geography, imperialism, and cultural production.

• Colonial Studies
• Early Modern Iberian Colonialism
• Geographical Discourses
• +5 more

Carole Paul is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Museum Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), affiliated with the Department of Art History within the College of Letters and Science. Her research focuses on 17th- and 18th-century Italian art and architecture, the history of museum collections, and the cultural dynamics of the Grand Tour era. Paul holds a B.A. from Barnard College and M.A./Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. Her work explores the intersection of exhibition strategies, social performance, and art appreciation in early modern Europe. Notable projects include studies on the Villa Borghese museum's redecoration and the Capitoline Museum's foundational role in shaping public cultural spaces. She has been awarded fellowships from prestigious institutions like the Kress Foundation and the Getty Research Institute. Paul’s publications analyze how museums transformed public engagement with art during the Enlightenment. Current projects include a forthcoming book on the Capitoline Museum’s historical significance. Her academic contributions bridge art history with museum studies, emphasizing the evolution of cultural institutions.

• Art History
• Museum Studies
• Early Modern Art (17th-18th Century)
• +3 more

Benjamin Hooker serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor and core faculty member in the Media Design Practices graduate program. He is also a partner at the design studio Hooker&Kitchen. His prior appointments include visiting faculty and 'designer in residence' at Intel Research (Berkeley), research fellow at the Royal College of Art's School of Architecture and Design, and final-year tutor in Graphic Design at Central Saint Martins College (London). His academic credentials include a Master of Arts (MA) from the Royal College of Art (RCA). Hooker's research critically investigates Digital Media , Interaction Design , and Urban/Domestic Computing through Critical Design methodologies. His work interrogates labor in digital economies, materiality of computational systems, and sociotechnical entanglements in everyday life, often employing speculative frameworks to challenge normative technological trajectories. Key themes include political economy of technology, feminist technoscience, and grotesque aesthetics in interface design. Analysis of his 15 most recent creative works (2025-2012) reveals consistent engagement with critical examinations of digital infrastructure, labor, and materiality. Projects like WORK UNDER OUR LABOUR GROWS (2025) and THE LOGISTICAL BAROQUE (2017) explore labor and logistics, while GROTESQUE INTERFACES (2017) and DWELLING MACHINE (2012) dissect domestic technology through critical and speculative lenses. His portfolio bridges art, design theory, and critical technical practice to address societal implications of emerging technologies. No scientific awards were documented in the source material. Information regarding student advising and research grants was not provided in the available text. His teaching responsibilities encompass graduate courses including Thesis Continuation (GMDP-699-01), Post-Grad MDP Research (GMDP-799-01), and Development Studio 3 (GMDP-548A-01). Hooker co-founded the collaborative design studio Hooker&Kitchen, which functions as a primary research and production platform for his internationally exhibited works. The studio's output critically examines technology's societal impacts through experimental installations, speculative objects, and critical interventions in urban/domestic contexts.

• Digital Media
• Interaction Design
• Critical Design
• +2 more

Claudia Brodsky is a Professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University , where she has taught since 1985. Her research spans Literature and Philosophy , with a focus on epistemology, aesthetic theory, and interdisciplinary approaches to European literature from the 17th century to the present. She specializes in German, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese literatures, particularly the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Modernism. Education: B.A. (magna cum laude) from Harvard; Ph.D. with distinction from Yale Past affiliations: Yale German Department, Stanford German Department, Institute for Advanced Studies (Freiburg) Her work examines intersections of literature, philosophy, and architectural theory , analyzing authors like Goethe, Kant, Rousseau, and Proust. Key contributions include studies on Cartesian architectonics, the poetics of Wordsworth, and the role of language in social contract theory. She has advised over forty Ph.D. students across Comparative Literature, German, Spanish and Portuguese, and the School of Architecture. Scientific awards include the de Karman Fellowship , multiple DAAD Fellowships , the Elias Boudinot Bicentennial Prize Preceptorship , and Humboldt Faculty Fellowship . She has held leadership roles in the MLA Executive Committees for Romanticism, 18th-Century Literature, and Interdisciplinary Studies, and participated in ICLA, ASECS, and Goethe Society conferences.

• Literature and Philosophy
• Epistemology and Theory of Representation
• Comparative Poetics
• +8 more

Professor Guy Spielmann is an Associate Professor in the Department of French and Francophone Studies at Georgetown University, serving as French Floor Coordinator and Faculty in Residence. Born in Marseille, he holds degrees from Université de Provence and a PhD from Vanderbilt University. His career includes teaching linguistics and performing arts at Georgetown since 1994, directing its summer program in Tours (2005-2015), and holding academic roles at institutions like Middlebury College and SciencesPo Lille. His research focuses on Early Modern performing arts, semiotics, and interdisciplinary studies, culminating in projects like the OPSIS virtual resource center and the MILE language education framework. He also leads the Compagnie SapassoussakasS theatre company and contributes to cultural studies through his work on comics and pedagogical innovations. Education: PhD from Vanderbilt University, degrees from Université de Provence. Key professional roles include Director of Middlebury College French School (2003-2004), Visiting Professor at Université Marc Bloch/Strasbourg II, and guest lecturer at multiple French institutions. His scholarly work bridges theatre history, semiotics, and cultural analysis, with publications in journals like Esprit Créateur and edited volumes. He has authored monographs like Le Jeu de l'Ordre et du Chaos (2002) and Parades (2006). His OPSIS initiative (Spectacles du Grand Siècle) digitizes Early Modern performance materials. Research interests emphasize Early Modern stagecraft, commedia dell'arte, and the semiotics of cultural spectacle, extending to contemporary topics like comics (founding the International Comic Arts Forum) and language pedagogy. His MILE system integrates multidisciplinary approaches to language teaching, influencing textbooks like Deux Mondes . Spielmann also advises on national educational initiatives, including the AP French Language and Culture exam committee (2016-2019). His work blends academic rigor with creative practice, directing stage productions and workshops globally. Collaborations include projects in France, North America, Tunisia, and the UK. He explores themes of power dynamics in theatre, the role of spectacle in society, and the interplay between historical texts and modern adaptations.

• Early Modern Performing Arts
• Semiotics
• Theatre History
• +4 more

Ellen Welch is a Professor of French at the University of North Carolina. Her research focuses on French literature and culture of the Ancien Régime, particularly theater, performing arts, and the intersection of literature with global engagements. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania (2008) and teaches courses on French literature, including undergraduate offerings like FREN 315 (Imposteur!) and graduate seminars on topics such as 'News, Media, and Culture in 17th-Century France.' Her first book, A Taste for the Foreign , examines exoticism in early French novels, while her most recent work A Theater of Diplomacy (2017) explores how theater mediated France’s diplomatic relations. Current research investigates 'noise' in 17th- and 18th-century literature through media studies and acoustics. Major Awards: ACLS Ryskamp Fellowship, National Humanities Center Fellowship Collaborations: Co-convener of the Triangle French History and Culture Seminar Professor Welch has advised multiple graduate students, including Diana Garcia on visual poetics and Andrew Gard on 17th-century French theater. Her work bridges literary analysis with interdisciplinary approaches to cultural history, emphasizing diplomatic interactions and media studies.

• French Literature
• Ancien Régime Culture
• Early Modern Theater
• +5 more

Meredith S Martin is a Professor of Art History at New York University and the Institute of Fine Arts. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from Harvard University and a B.A. from Princeton University . Her research focuses on 18th- and 19th-Century French and British art, architecture, and material culture , with particular attention to histories of empire, colonialism, enslavement, art and gender politics, cross-cultural encounters, and historical revivalism . She is a founding editor of Journal18 and co-creator of the Ballet des Porcelaines , a reimagined 18th-century French ballet that premiered at the Met and toured internationally in 2021–22. Her current projects include a study of links between late 18th-century Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and the Paris art world, supported by a Kress Digital Art History Award (2025–26) and a NYU Digital Humanities Seed Grant (2024) . She has also co-written and produced a film with the National Gallery in London and is co-curating a 2026 exhibition at the Institut du monde arabe on enslaved Muslims in the early modern Mediterranean. Her 15 most recent publications span topics such as maritime art and galley slavery in Louis XIV’s France, porcelain’s cultural symbolism , and colonial intersections in global art history . These works emphasize visual culture, postcolonial critique, and materiality across Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. Martin has received numerous scientific awards , including the Iris Foundation Outstanding Mid-Career Scholar Award (2025) , the Kress Digital Art History Award (2025–26) , and multiple 2023 accolades for her book The Sun King at Sea , such as the Leo Gershoy Prize and David F. Pinkney Prize . She also secured significant fellowships, including the Provost's Global Research Initiatives Fellowship (2019–2020) and the ACLS Collaborative Research Fellowship (2016–2018) . Her teaching includes courses like Art and Money in the Early Modern World and Architectural Space and Decoration in Eighteenth-Century Europe . She has advised numerous institutions and exhibitions, including collaborations with the Morgan Library and Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art .

• 18th- and 19th-Century French and British art
• Architecture and material culture
• Histories of empire and colonialism
• +7 more

Matthew Gin is Assistant Professor of Architectural History in the Department of Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, within the College of Arts + Architecture. His scholarship moves architecture away from paradigms of permanence by examining forms of spatial production that have largely vanished and are known only through fragmentary material traces. Education: PhD in Architectural History from Harvard University MED in Architectural History from Yale University BA in Art History and BM in Baroque Flute from Oberlin College Gin's research focuses on early modern Europe and the Atlantic World, with particular emphasis on temporary pageant decorations in Enlightenment France. His work reconstructs ephemeral decorations using contracts, drawings, and inventories to understand how they shaped knowledge production and power relations. His scholarship connects historical practices of ephemeral architecture to contemporary issues like sustainability, offering pre-histories of modern recycling practices through the examination of eighteenth-century material reuse systems. Gin's publications reveal a consistent focus on ephemeral architecture across historical periods, connecting 18th century French festival architecture to contemporary events like the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony. His work demonstrates how temporary structures have enduring impacts on cultural memory and political expression, examining how spatial arrangements in ceremonial events communicate sovereignty and social harmony. Research Support: Society of Architectural Historians American Philosophical Society John Carter Brown Library Historians of Eighteenth-Century Art and Architecture Gin's research has been supported by multiple prestigious fellowships that have enabled extensive archival work on ephemeral architecture. His current book project, 'Paper Monuments: Making Ephemeral Festival Architecture in Enlightenment France,' represents the culmination of this research. Prior to academia, Gin worked at the Museum of Modern Art and the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, providing him with practical experience in architectural curation and preservation that informs his historical scholarship. While specific research labs aren't mentioned, Gin's work bridges architectural history with material culture studies, sustainability research, and performance studies, creating interdisciplinary connections through his examination of temporary structures and ceremonial spaces.

• Architectural History
• Early Modern Europe
• Atlantic World
• +7 more

Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann is the Frederick Marquand Professor of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University. He specializes in European art and architecture from 1500–1800, emphasizing global contexts, world art history, and the geography of art. His research explores transcultural exchanges, collections, and the historiography of art. He has advised doctoral students on topics ranging from 17th-century Swedish art to Jesuit studies of China. Kaufmann is affiliated with Princeton’s Renaissance and Early Modern Studies program and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies. He has held fellowships at the American Academies in Rome and Berlin, and is a member of multiple national academies of science. Education: Ph.D., Harvard University, 1977. Awards include the Palacký Medal and two honorary doctorates. He co-edits the Oxford Bibliography of the History of Art and has authored influential works on global art history and Central European art. Research focuses on global circulations of art, including studies of Netherlandish art in Asia and the Cabinets of Art and Wonder. His teaching spans Baroque art, global art theory, and the intersection of art with science and magic. Awards: Palacký Medal (2003), Honorary Doctorates (Dresden 2010, Brno 2013) Grants: Multiple fellowships and editorial roles, including editor-in-chief of the Oxford Bibliography of the History of Art. Labs/Teams: Active in museum collaborations and international academic networks, contributing to exhibitions and conferences globally.

• European Art and Architecture 1500–1800 in Global Context
• World Art History
• Geography of Art
• +5 more