Donald Anthony Preziosi (born January 12, 1941) is an American

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

. He is Emeritus Professor of Art History at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. In August 2007, he became the MacGeorge Fellow at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

.Donald Preziosi: Enchanted Credulities: Art, Religion and Amnesia
/ref> He is a past president of the

Semiotic Society of America The Semiotic Society of America is an interdisciplinary professional association serving scholars from many disciplines with common interests in semiotics, the study of signs and sign-systems. It was founded in 1975 and includes members from the Un ...

(1985). In his writing he combines disciplines as diverse as intellectual history,

critical theory A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from soci ...

and

museology Museology or museum studies is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and education. Terminology The w ...

. His 1998 book ''The Art of Art History: A Critical Anthology'' is considered 'the most widely used English-language introduction to art history'. At UCLA, Professor Preziosi developed the art history critical theory program and the UCLA museum studies program. At Oxford, he held the Slade Professorship of Fine Arts in 2001, where he delivered a series of lectures entitled ''Seeing Through Art History''.

Education

Preziosi received his bachelor's degree from

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...

and his master's degree in Linguistics and a Ph.D. in art history from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

.Distinguished alumnus returns to Fairfield University for lecture and honor
/ref>

Bibliography

* ''LABRYS'' (Charlton Press, New Haven), 1970) * ''Architecture, Language, and Meaning'' (Mouton, The Hague), 1979 * ''The Semiotics of the Built Environment'' (Indiana Univ Press, Bloomington & London), 1979 * ''Minoan Architectural Design'' (Mouton, Berlin), 1983 * ''Rethinking Art History: Meditations on a Coy Science'' (Yale University Press, New Haven & London), 1989 * ''The Ottoman City and Its Parts: Urban Structure & Social Order'', Irene Bierman, Rifa'at Ali Abou-El-Haj & Donald Preziosi, eds.1992; o-Editor and two introductory essays* ''The Art of Art History: A Critical Anthology'' (edited, with two essays and 10 introductory essays; Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York, 1998) * ''Aegean Art and Architecture'' (with Louise Hitchcock; Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York, 1999) * ''Brain of the Earth's Body: Museums & the Fabrication of Modernity'' (Minnesota University Press, Minneapolis & London, 1999) * ''In the Aftermath of Art: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Politics'' (Routledge, 2005) – essays on visual culture and art history, 1988-2003, with a Critical Commentary by Johanne Lamoureux

External links

Dictionary of Art Historians Profile

References

American art historians American semioticians Fairfield University alumni Harvard University alumni University of California, Los Angeles faculty Living people 1941 births Slade Professors of Fine Art (University of Oxford) Historians from California Presidents of the Semiotic Society of America {{US-art-historian-stub