Nushelle de Silva

Nushelle de Silva is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Fordham University's Lincoln Center Campus, affiliated with the Department of Art History. Her research explores the intersections of architecture, mobility, and cultural exchange, particularly in the Global South during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Her educational background includes a PhD and SMArchS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an AB from Princeton University. These qualifications underscore her interdisciplinary training in architecture and art history.

Her research focuses on portable architectures, infrastructures of movement, and the spatial dimensions of preserving cultural objects in transit. A central theme is how global exhibition exchanges have shaped museum architecture and conservation practices. She is currently developing a book titled Conveying Culture: Traveling Museum Exhibitions and the Technopolitics of Care, which examines the evolution of preventive conservation in tandem with post-WWII international exhibitions.

The selected publications reflect a strong engagement with transnational exhibition histories, Cold War cultural diplomacy, and postcolonial museum practices. Her work bridges architectural history, museology, and material culture studies, emphasizing the movement of people, objects, and ideas.

• Fellowship from MIT
• Grant from Ithaca College
• Fellowship from Winterthur Museum
• Fellowship from Paul Mellon Centre for British Art
• Fellowship from Society for Architectural Historians
• Fellowship from Design History Society
• Fellowship from Association for Art History
• Grant from Towards Equity in Publishing (Dedalus Foundation/American Art journal)

Nushelle de Silva has secured research funding from major institutions in art, architecture, and design history. While no formal advisees are listed, her teaching includes foundational and advanced courses such as Introduction to Art History: Architecture, Global Modern Architecture, and Can Museums Be Decolonized?, indicating mentorship and pedagogical leadership in critical areas of contemporary art historical discourse.

No specific lab or research team is mentioned, though her work implies collaboration with museum professionals, conservation experts, and international institutions involved in exhibition exchange.