Karin J Zitzewitz

Karin J Zitzewitz is Chair and Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art of India and Pakistan in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Maryland's College of Arts and Humanities. She joined the university in 2023 after faculty positions at Michigan State University and a Harper Fellowship at the University of Chicago.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Anthropology, Columbia University (2006)

Professor Zitzewitz specializes in South Asian modern and contemporary art, examining intersections of artistic form, infrastructure, and economic liberalization. Her research integrates cultural anthropology with art historical analysis to explore postcolonial identity, secularism, and transnational art networks. She is author of the award-winning Infrastructure and Form: The Global Networks of Indian Contemporary Art, 1991-2008 (2022), which documents how India's economic liberalization catalyzed shifts from painting to installation and new media.

Scientific Awards and Recognitions:

• 2021 Millard Meiss Publication Award from the College Art Association
• Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship
• American Institute for Indian Studies Fellowship
• Paul Mellon Centre for Studies of British Art Grant
• Fulbright Fellowship

Zitzewitz secured a €2.5 million European Research Council grant (2024-2029) as senior researcher for "The Anthropology of the Future: An Artworld Perspective." She founded Michigan State University's five-year Critical Race Studies Artist Residency, supporting nine artists whose works appeared at Sharjah Biennial, PS1 MoMA, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt. Her editorial leadership included chairing Art Journal's Editorial Board (2020-22).

As a curator, she organized exhibitions for Naiza Khan and Mithu Sen, with features in ArtForum and BOMB Magazine, and contributed essays for Tate Modern and Peabody Essex Museum catalogs. Her scholarly impact extends through co-editing special issues of Art Journal and Journal of Material Culture.