Javier Berzal de Dios PhD
Early modern European art and architecture; critical theory, continental aesthetics, and phenomenology
(360) 650-3733
I am excited to have the opportunity of being a contributor to your experience and success here at WWU!
I hold a PhD in art history from the Ohio State University and a BA/MA in philosophy from CUNY Queens College. I have been at Western since 2014. I mostly teach early modern art history courses (Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo), though I sometimes teach classes on architecture, aesthetics, and historiography. As a teacher, I'm always interested in fomenting dialogue in the classroom and exploring artworks and ideas in depth. My goal is to embrace art in a sophisticated, but not pedantic way.My research and writing explores notions of viewership, reception, and civic engagement in early modern practice and contemporary theory. When I am not teaching or writing, I enjoy traveling, reading, playing boardgames and videogames, watching the NBA, and fencing.
SELECTED PROJECTS AND PUBLICATIONS
Visual Experiences in Cinquecento Theatrical Spaces. University of Toronto Press. Link
Estival Observations: Space, Monument, Thought. Curated show at the Western Gallery, Bellingham, Summer 2018. More info here.
“Velázquez’s Democritus: Global Disillusion and the Critical Hermeneutics of a Smile.” Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme 39, no. 1 (2016): 35-62
“A Note on Deleuze and Renaissance Art.” SubStance 45, no. 1 (2016): 44-65
“In the Classroom with Professor Hilail Gildin.” Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy 43, no. 1 (2016):15-17
“The Name of the Rose, as yet.” apt, Tenth-Anniversary Issue (Winter 2015). Web. http://apt.aforementionedproductions.com/2015/12/the-name-of-the-rose-as-yet-by-javier-berzal-de-dios/
“Slow Teaching.” Art History Teaching Resources. September 2015. Web. http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/2015/09/slow-teaching/
“Learning Evolves.” Smarthistory Blog. August 2015. Web. http://smarthistoryblog.org/2015/08/02/learning-evolves-by-javier-berzal/
“Palladio and Scamozzi, Teatro Olimpico.” Smarthistory. October 2015. Web. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/renaissance-venice/late-renaissance-venice/a/palladio-teatro-olimpico
“Conjuring the Concept of Rome: Alterity and Synecdoche in Peruzzi’s Design for La Calandria.” Sixteenth Century Journal 45, no. 1 (2014): 25-50
“Andrea Palladio, Villa Rotonda.” Smarthistory. September 2013. Web https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/renaissance-venice/late- renaissance-venice/a/palladio-la-rotunda
“The Surrender of Breda by Diego Velázquez.” Smarthistory. May 2013. Web https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/monarchy-enlightenment/baroque- art1/spain/a/velzquez-the-surrender-of-breda
“Interview with Christopher Atkins, Associate Curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and author of The Signature Style of Frans Hals.” The Art Founders Project. January 2013. Web. http://theafproject.com/interview-christopher-d-m-atkins-philadelphia-museum-of-art/