Nancy Demerdash

Nancy Demerdash is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Albion College, specializing in architectural and urban history of North Africa during the 19th and 20th centuries. Her research focuses on modernist architectural forms in Tunisia during its transition from French colonial rule to independence, analyzing spatial politics, social housing, and heritage discourses. She holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University (2015) and an M.S. from MIT’s Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture (2009), alongside a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2006).

Her academic roles include teaching courses on global modern/contemporary art, Islamic art, and African art at Albion College, as well as serving as Assistant Editor for the International Journal of Islamic Architecture since 2016. Demerdash’s scholarship has been supported by grants from institutions like the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, and Princeton University.

Her research interests span postcolonial urbanism, vernacular architecture, cultural preservation, and diasporic art practices. Key contributions include analyzing French colonial urban planning in Marrakesh, interrogating censorship in Gulf art, and exploring memory in African textile art.

Her publications address transnational Muslim digital diasporas, post-revolutionary Egyptian archives, and the aesthetics of Algerian salons. Awards include the Rhonda A. Saad Prize (2016) and the Spiro Kostof Fellowship (2016).

Demerdash’s teaching emphasizes empathic curatorial strategies and global art historiography, reflecting her commitment to interdisciplinary approaches to art and architecture in transnational contexts.