Nana Adusei-Poku  Dr. Nana Adusei-Poku is joining us as an assistant professor in African Diasporic art history this Fall '22. Her research and teaching interests include four central themes or areas: artistic production from the African Diasporas; cultural shifts and their articulation at the intersections of art, politics, and popular culture; curatorial practice as a research tool; and critical pedagogy in relationship to decolonize aesthetics--all explored within a truly interdisciplinary field linking art history, African diaspora studies, critical race theory, curatorial praxis, museum studies, gender and sexuality studies, feminist theory, and more. Current book projects include a study of Black Melancholia as condition and concept (we are thrilled to cite Nana's just-opened exhibition Black Melancholia at the CCS Bard Galleries, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, receiving serious appreciation in the press) and an edited volume, Reshaping the Field: Art of the African Diasporas on Display, for Afterall. Prior to Berkeley, Nana was a Term Associate Professor and Luma Scholar at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard, and held Research Professor positions at the Hogeschool Rotter... [show more]

Professor Emerita Joanna G. Williams, distinguished scholar of South and Southeast Asian art, passed away at her home in Berkeley on June 16, 2022, at the age of eighty-four. She was one of the foremost scholars of South and Southeast Asian art and architecture and, indeed, one of the most well-regarded for her seminal work on fourth- and fifth-century sculpture and architecture as well as later folk traditions. Born in southern Indiana, Williams received a B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1960 and a M.A. from Radcliffe College in 1961. She then received a Ph.D. from Harvard University for her dissertation titled Buddhist Wall Paintings of Khotan (1969). Williams joined the faculty at UC Berkeley in 1967, where she held a joint appointment in the Departments of History of Art and South and Southeast Asian Studies. Her distinguished career extended over four decades and included landmark publications such as The Art of Gupta India: Empire and Province (1982) and The Two-Headed Deer: Illustrations of the Rāmāyaṇa in Orissa (1996). Based on extensive fieldwork, The Art of Gupta India offered a groundbreaking analysis of Indian sculpture and architecture of the fourth and fifth centuries. Turning to debate... [show more]

We are excited to share with you the 2021-2022 issue of our departmental newsletter. A huge thanks goes to Julia Bryan-Wilson, Justin Underhill, Heather Reilly, and Julie Wolf. This link will take you to the newsletter.

Congratulations to the members of the Class of 2022 who participated in our Commencement ceremony! Doctoral Degree

Susan Eberhard

Shivani Sud

Bachelor of Arts Degree

Natalie K. Aguilera

Quetzal Arévalo

Haochen Bai

Nicolas Hendrix Bult

Lily Callender

Renée L. Castro-Ring

Marisa Cunanan

Nusheen Ghaemi

Matthew L. Gomberg

Fae Gonzalez-Moosa

Jordan Gonzalez

Eugenia (Snow) Guilfoyle

Christine Haggin

Collette Sweet Marie Keating

Jadyn Lee

Sophia Maso

Sam McGinnis

Iris Rebecca McGuckin

Ninel Melkonyan

Matisse Mulligan

Robin P. Nguyen

Theo Rai

Neha Shah

Ruby B. Shapiro

Margaret A. Smith

Melanie Zoerb

The Bay Area Undergraduate Art History Research Symposium will take place on April 9 from 1pm-4:30pm at Mills College's Lisser Hall (reception to follow on the Lisser Hall terrace). Meet undergraduate students from the San Francisco Bay Area and learn about their latest research. Nusheen Ghaemi, one of our very talented History of Art majors, will be presenting. 

We invite you to take a look at our summer session classes. 

Session A (six weeks, May 23-July 1)

HA 186A | CCN: 15770 Art and Labor: The Visual Culture of Work in Early Twentieth-Century United States  Amy O’Hearn Mon-Thurs / 12-2:00pm   HA N190B | CCN: 15771 Food and Drink in Mediterranean Art Jennifer Black  Mon-Thurs / 3-5:00pm   HA 190H | CCN: 14367 Folklore and the Folkloresque in Contemporary Art Kristine Barrett Mon-Thurs / 10-12:00pm  

Session D (six weeks, July 5-August 12)

HA 34 | CCN: 15774 Mediations and Materials: Art in China Susan Eberhard Mon-Thurs / 10:00-12:00pm   HA 190C | CCN: 15776 Bronze, Ivory, and Dragon’s Blood: Making the Middle Ages in the Indian Ocean World  Ariana Pemberton Mon-Thurs / 12:00-2:00pm

History of Art Commencement exercises will take place on Wednesday, May 18th at 9:00 a.m. in the auditorium at The UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA). Save the date! This year’s commencement speaker is Christina Yang, Chief Curator BAMPFA, and an alumna of the department.