Diana Bush
Teaching Associate Professor
School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Research
Primary fields: Modern and contemporary art, histories of photography, critical theory and aesthetics.
Research interests: The potential for time-based practices, the cinematic in particular, to create opportunities for critical engagements of stasis-based objects.
Aesthetics and historiography, especially as the latter informs public reception through writing, collecting, and exhibition practices.
Collage, montage, and other appropriative practices.
The potential for inherent instabilities of modern technology to allow for creative engagements and interventions in artistic production, public reception, and pedagogical practice.
Professional interests: Equity and justice in education and educational opportunities.
Humanities education and related program development for STEM populations.
Research interests: The potential for time-based practices, the cinematic in particular, to create opportunities for critical engagements of stasis-based objects.
Aesthetics and historiography, especially as the latter informs public reception through writing, collecting, and exhibition practices.
Collage, montage, and other appropriative practices.
The potential for inherent instabilities of modern technology to allow for creative engagements and interventions in artistic production, public reception, and pedagogical practice.
Professional interests: Equity and justice in education and educational opportunities.
Humanities education and related program development for STEM populations.
General Information
EDUCATION
Columbia University: Ph.D. in Art History and Archaeology, 2013
Columbia University: Master of Philosophy in Art History, 1998
Institute of Fine Arts, New York University: MA in Art History, 1996
Columbia University: BA in History, 1994
Columbia University: Ph.D. in Art History and Archaeology, 2013
Columbia University: Master of Philosophy in Art History, 1998
Institute of Fine Arts, New York University: MA in Art History, 1996
Columbia University: BA in History, 1994
Experience
2004 to present: Lecturer at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
2004 - 2020 (end of programs due to Covid-19): In Adult and Academic Programs: Developed and tested innovative pedagogical strategies in gallery sessions and seminars. Presented research-based content to diverse audiences.
In Community and Access Programs, which serve underserved and nontraditional communities: Developed digital classroom initiatives and projects; designed and led gallery-based sessions in the Art inSight and Interpreting MoMa programs.
2004 - 2020 (end of programs due to Covid-19): In Adult and Academic Programs: Developed and tested innovative pedagogical strategies in gallery sessions and seminars. Presented research-based content to diverse audiences.
In Community and Access Programs, which serve underserved and nontraditional communities: Developed digital classroom initiatives and projects; designed and led gallery-based sessions in the Art inSight and Interpreting MoMa programs.
Institutional Service
- Faculty Senate Member
- Faculty Senate Member
- CAL 105 faculty search committee Member
- Undergraduate Studies Committee Member
- Visual Arts image collection Member
- College of Arts and Letters Seminars Member
Consulting Service
2004 to 2008: Researcher and archivist for a major private collection of 20th century painting, sculpture, photography and media.
2004: Researcher and editor for The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life, by Tom Reiss.
1999 to 2006: Researcher, translator, and editor for a prominent nonfiction author at work on ancient cultures of the Middle East. Produced translations and summaries of critical essays and primary resources related to Biblical exegesis and mystical writing, ancient art, history, and mythology.
1996 to 1998: Project editor for John McDonald, a former editor of Fortune magazine and author of My Years with General Motors. The resulting manuscript, A Ghost’s Memoir: The Making of Alfred P. Sloan’s My Years with General Motors, was published by MIT Press in 2002.
2004: Researcher and editor for The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life, by Tom Reiss.
1999 to 2006: Researcher, translator, and editor for a prominent nonfiction author at work on ancient cultures of the Middle East. Produced translations and summaries of critical essays and primary resources related to Biblical exegesis and mystical writing, ancient art, history, and mythology.
1996 to 1998: Project editor for John McDonald, a former editor of Fortune magazine and author of My Years with General Motors. The resulting manuscript, A Ghost’s Memoir: The Making of Alfred P. Sloan’s My Years with General Motors, was published by MIT Press in 2002.
Appointments
2018 - present: Stevens Institute of Technology
Teaching Associate Professor in the College of Arts and Letters and program in Visual Arts and Technology.
2011 - 2018: Stevens Institute of Technology
Teaching Assistant Professor in the College of Arts and Letters and program in Visual Arts and Technology.
2009 - 2010: Fordham University, Department of Art History
Primary instructor for Art History Introduction: World Art.
2001 - 2004: Columbia University, Department of Art History and Archaeology
Full-time teaching fellow and primary instructor for Art Humanities, a freshman course in the Core Humanities Program.
2000 - 2001: Barnard College, Department of Art History
Discussion section instructor for Introduction to Art History.
1998 - 1999: Hunter College, Department of Art
Discussion section instructor for Introduction to the History of Art.
1997: New York University, Department of Fine Arts
Primary instructor for the intermediate-level course Modern and Contemporary Art in New York Collections: A Museum and Galleries Field Study.
Teaching Associate Professor in the College of Arts and Letters and program in Visual Arts and Technology.
2011 - 2018: Stevens Institute of Technology
Teaching Assistant Professor in the College of Arts and Letters and program in Visual Arts and Technology.
2009 - 2010: Fordham University, Department of Art History
Primary instructor for Art History Introduction: World Art.
2001 - 2004: Columbia University, Department of Art History and Archaeology
Full-time teaching fellow and primary instructor for Art Humanities, a freshman course in the Core Humanities Program.
2000 - 2001: Barnard College, Department of Art History
Discussion section instructor for Introduction to Art History.
1998 - 1999: Hunter College, Department of Art
Discussion section instructor for Introduction to the History of Art.
1997: New York University, Department of Fine Arts
Primary instructor for the intermediate-level course Modern and Contemporary Art in New York Collections: A Museum and Galleries Field Study.
Honors and Awards
2022-2023: Appointed a judge for creative photography submissions to the NAACP's 45th National ACT-SO Achievement Program, held at the NAACP yearly national conference.
Professional Societies
- CAA – College Art Association Member
- CAA – College Art Association Member
- CAA – College Art Association Member
Selected Publications
The Dialectical Object: John Heartfield, 1915-1933, book manuscript (forthcoming, 2023).
"Joseph Cornell’s Found Objects: The Nostalgia of the Cinematic" (draft manuscript, 2022-2023).
“American Modern: The Art Criticism of Samuel Kootz,” invited contribution, ed. Jennifer Farrell, The History and Legacy of Samuel M. Kootz and the Kootz Gallery (Charlottesville: The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, 2017): 52-63.
Essay on Grady Gerbracht’s Commutes (NJ Transit Series), published in Drawing Papers II (New York: The Drawing Center, 2000).
"Joseph Cornell’s Found Objects: The Nostalgia of the Cinematic" (draft manuscript, 2022-2023).
“American Modern: The Art Criticism of Samuel Kootz,” invited contribution, ed. Jennifer Farrell, The History and Legacy of Samuel M. Kootz and the Kootz Gallery (Charlottesville: The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, 2017): 52-63.
Essay on Grady Gerbracht’s Commutes (NJ Transit Series), published in Drawing Papers II (New York: The Drawing Center, 2000).
Courses
CAL 105: An Archaeology of Western Modernity
CAL 105: What is Media Culture ?
CAL 105 (freshman colloquium): Knowledge, Nature, Culture
HAR 180: History of Art, Prehistory to Modern
HAR 280: Modern Art: Histories and Theories
HAR 281: A History of Photography
HPL 348 (philosophy program): Aesthetics
HAR 380: Media Culture and Theory
HAR 384: Modern Utopias, 1917-1934: de Stil, Bauhaus, Constructivism
HAR 385: Contemporary Art
HAR 395: Seminar in Theory and Criticism
HAR 395: Film Theory
HHS 395 (history program): Images of American Life
CAL 105: What is Media Culture ?
CAL 105 (freshman colloquium): Knowledge, Nature, Culture
HAR 180: History of Art, Prehistory to Modern
HAR 280: Modern Art: Histories and Theories
HAR 281: A History of Photography
HPL 348 (philosophy program): Aesthetics
HAR 380: Media Culture and Theory
HAR 384: Modern Utopias, 1917-1934: de Stil, Bauhaus, Constructivism
HAR 385: Contemporary Art
HAR 395: Seminar in Theory and Criticism
HAR 395: Film Theory
HHS 395 (history program): Images of American Life