T'ai Smith

T'ai Smith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory at the University of British Columbia (UBC), affiliated with the Faculty of Arts. She holds a PhD and MA from the University of Rochester’s Program in Visual and Cultural Studies, and a BA in Visual Arts/Art History from Barnard College, Columbia University.

Her research focuses on modern and contemporary European and American art and design, with emphases on visual studies, critical theory, media theory, and cultural techniques. She authored Bauhaus Weaving Theory: From Feminine Craft to Mode of Design (2014) and is currently drafting Fashion After Capital: Frock Coats and Philosophy from Marx to Duchamp, funded by SSHRC.

Smith’s work intersects fashion, capitalism, and cultural economies. Recent publications address AI and fashion, crypto art, Bauhaus legacies, and textile media philosophy. She has held fellowships at UBC’s Peter Wall Institute and Germany’s IKKM, and received awards like the SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2016) and the American Craft Council’s Emerging Scholar Award (2015).

Teaching includes seminars on art history methodologies, media theory, and textile philosophy. She co-leads a public Facebook group exploring fashion’s role in art, media, and political economies.