Collegiate Affiliation
Art History

Office Hours - Fall 2022
Tuesdays, 11:00-1:00 or by appointment

Dr. Jane Blocker is the Melvin and Gertrude Waldfogel Scholar of the College and a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers.  She is a specialist in contemporary art and critical theory offering historical survey courses such as "Art Since 1945" and "Contemporary Art," thematic courses such as "Art on Trial" and "Art and the Environment," as well as advanced courses and seminars on gender and sexuality in art and 20th century theory and criticism.

Broadly speaking, her research seeks to understand the nature of history, particularly as it is practiced relative to the contemporary. Her work has examined performance art as a curious object of art historical study, one that troubles traditional understandings of memory, the archive, witnessing, and the body. Using feminist, queer theory, and critical race approaches, it also takes up questions of history's biases and exclusions, its assumptions and blind spots, as well as the ethics of historiographic practice and the historian or witness as a privileged subject position. Her most recent work examines the problem of the contemporary for history.

Educational Background & Specialties
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Educational Background

  • Ph.D.: Art History, University of North Carolina, 1994 -

Specialties

  • contemporary art
  • critical theory
  • performance art
  • the body in art
  • 20th century theory and criticism
  • transgenic art
  • theories of representation
  • theories of witness
  • historiography
  • feminism
  • alternative media