Dr. Dorothy Barenscott

I am an art historian specializing in modern and contemporary art and have been a member of the Fine Arts department since 2010. Among the art history and special topic courses I have developed for our department are the history of architecture, history of photography, avant-garde and new wave cinema, art theory, art and fashion, street and graffiti art, new media art and theory, together with the creation of two popular survey courses in film studies and visual art, urban, and screen culture that attract non-BFA majors to our program. Over the past 15 years, I have also established and proudly led the popular KPU Fine Arts Field School to several art cities around the world including New York, Paris, London, Venice, and Kassel.

I completed my Ph.D. in Art History, Visual Art, and Theory at the University of British Columbia and have lectured on the history of modern and contemporary art, photography, architecture, and film at the University of British Columbia, University of Lethbridge, Trent University, and Simon Fraser University. I have also held doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships with the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada and completed visiting fellowships in the U.S. and Europe.

My interdisciplinary research plays a big role in my teaching and mostly relates to the interplay between urban space and emerging technology and media forms in the articulation of a range of modern and postmodern identities. I have also had a sustained interest in the history and theory of avant-garde art movements, the art market, the business of art, radical urban placemaking, and regularly speak and write about art history pedagogy. My published work on these topics have appeared in many key art history and theory journals internationally, and I regularly present my research at international academic conferences, workshops, and invited talks. 

Outside of my teaching and research, I contribute art writing and criticism to exhibition catalogues, deliver art gallery talks, curate small projects, and act as a specialist consultant for Openwork Art Advisory—a position that has had a big impact on my current research trajectory connected to the business of art. I have also maintained a public blog with a social media presence for over a decade titled Avant-Guardian Musings.