Javier Berzal de Dios PhD
Early modern European art and architecture; critical theory, continental aesthetics, and phenomenology
Spring '19: Mondays and Wednesdays 10-11:30, and by appointment
(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 and theatricality in early modern southern Europe as well as how contemporary artistic and thinkers respond to Renaissance art.
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/