Learning to interpret change through images
David Joselit sees images as a way to understand and interpret political and cultural change, both in institutions like museums and in more informal ways. He has traveled to museums around the world, including the Museum of Black Civilisations in Dakar, Senegal, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, to examine the ways in which contemporary international facilities embrace Western traditions while attempting to reimagine the idea of artistic universality in a globalized landscape. Joselit, who earned a bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. from Harvard in art history, joined the department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies this semester as a professor of visual studies. Q&A David Joselit GAZETTE: How does your background as a curator and critic influence your teaching and research? JOSELIT: I used to be a curator, briefly at the De Cordova Museum and for several years at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston before getting my Ph.D. in art history here. I’ve always had...