Hala Auji

Hala Auji is an Associate Professor of Art History and the Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair for Islamic Art at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). She holds faculty positions in the School of the Arts within the Department of Art History. Her research focuses on transcultural modernity, print culture, museum practices, and photography in eastern Mediterranean communities during the long nineteenth century. She integrates interdisciplinary approaches from graphic design, criticism, and comparative literature into her work.

Dr. Auji earned a PhD in Art History from Binghamton University (SUNY), an MA in Criticism and Theory from Art Center College of Design, and a BFA in Graphic Design from the American University of Beirut (AUB). She previously served as an Associate Professor of Islamic Art at AUB.

Her research explores intersections of class, gender, race, and ethnicity within Islamic art and Middle Eastern studies. Current projects include a transregional history of Ottoman printed portraiture (late 19th century), emphasizing authenticity, mechanical reproduction, and theories of vision. She teaches graduate courses on museum pedagogies, global art history, and modern Middle Eastern art, alongside undergraduate courses addressing Orientalism, nationalism, and colonialism.

As co-chair of the biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art, she oversees an associated book series with Yale University Press. Her work has been supported by prestigious fellowships from institutions such as the Forum Transregionale Studien and Harvard University’s Houghton Library.

Her scholarly contributions bridge historical and contemporary issues, including decolonial methodologies in art history and the materiality of print culture. She actively engages with global modernism, archival practices, and the politics of cultural heritage preservation.