Christine Garnier

Christine Garnier is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), affiliated with the College of Letters and Science. Her research focuses on modern and contemporary art, with an emphasis on material, economic, and environmental histories. She specializes in North American art from the 19th and 20th centuries, including landscape studies, sculpture, decorative arts, and photography, alongside decolonial and critical theory.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Art History, Harvard University
• M.A., Harvard University
• M.A., Tufts University
• B.S. in Mathematics, The Catholic University of America

Her current book project, "The American Silverscape: Art, Land, and Extraction, 1848-1905," examines how silver artworks mediated debates over land use, Indigenous sovereignty, and natural resources in 19th-century America. Garnier’s work bridges Indigenous and settler art histories, emphasizing objects’ roles in power dynamics and environmental narratives.

Awards & Fellowships:

• ACLS Fellowship
• Postdoctoral Fellow, USC Society of Fellows in the Humanities

Her research has been supported by institutions such as the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (National Gallery of Art), the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Huntington Library. In 2024-2025, she is on sabbatical to advance her scholarly projects.