Jennifer Roberts

Jennifer Roberts is the Drew Gilpin Faust Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, specializing in American and contemporary art. She serves as Director of Undergraduate Studies and has held the Slade Professorship at Cambridge University (2019) and delivered the 2021 Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery of Art. Her research bridges the arts, natural sciences, and material culture studies.

Her scholarly work investigates the material intelligence of art and its creators, with a focus on the challenges of transmitting meaning across time and space. Current projects include a book co-authored with artist Dario Robleto (forthcoming 2026) analyzing the Voyager Golden Record's life-signature engravings, supported by the Sloan Foundation. She has also pioneered interdisciplinary courses integrating printmaking theory with studio practice alongside Matt Saunders.

Roberts' research has shaped key themes in art history, including the intersections of printmaking, telegraphy, and visual communication. Her work explores how physical operations like reversal and transfer in printing influence artistic logic, as seen in her curated exhibition Jasper Johns/In Press and her forthcoming Contact book. She actively produces photography for scholarly contexts, including Harvard's astronomical glass plate collection.

Her publications demonstrate a consistent focus on materiality, from 18th-19th century American visual communication in Transporting Visions (2014) to early conceptualizations of time in Robert Smithson's work (Mirror-Travels, 2004). The Minding Making Project at Harvard further underscores her commitment to artisanal knowledge as academic research methodology.