Elizabeth Guffey

Elizabeth Guffey is a Professor of Art History at Purchase College, State University of New York. She coordinates the MA program in modern and contemporary art, criticism, and theory. With degrees from UC Santa Barbara (BA), and Stanford University (MA, PhD), her research focuses on the intersections of art/design, visual culture, museology, and disability studies. She authored acclaimed books like Designing Disability (2017) and Posters: A Global History (2014), and co-edited Making Disability Modern (2020). As founding editor of Design and Culture, she promotes interdisciplinary design scholarship.

Her work critiques exclusionary design practices through projects like analyzing Jim Crow signage and disability iconography. She actively engages with inclusive museum practices and has presented at venues including the College Art Association and the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations. Her teaching spans courses on design history, 19th-century art, and inclusive museum curation. Office hours: Monday and Thursday 1–2 PM.