My mission as an educator is to empower future arts leaders to push the boundaries of artistic practice, and to help them realize a better world. As a curator, writer, and educator, I bring an interdisciplinary perspective to graduate and undergraduate courses in the following areas of expertise:

• Curatorial Practice – Exhibition histories, curatorial methodologies, institutional critique, and the relationship between art, audiences, and public space.
• Arts Organizations & Management – Alternative organizational models, artist-led initiatives, and the practical dimensions of working in the arts.
• Media, Technology & Critical Theory – Network culture, internet art, critical theory, and the social and political implications of technological change.

My classes connect historical and theoretical inquiry with the realities of contemporary artistic and cultural production. Readings are grounded in critical theory, media studies, and philosophy, while assignments emphasize professional application for artists, curators, art historians, designers, and other creative practitioners.

Teaching Appointments: New York University · UC San Diego · California College of the Arts · University of Southern California · Scripps College · San Francisco Art Institute

For inquiries regarding teaching, lectures, and academic collaborations, please get in touch.

Selected Courses

Curatorial Practice

Fall 2024 · Professor of Practice · Visual Arts, UC San Diego

Exhibitions organize art objects in time and space. It assumes a subject, object and world. In doing so, the simple act of the “exhibition” is an extraordinarily weighted one. This class presents a survey of exhibition history and curatorial practice through the lens of media history and the struggle for social justice, beginning in the 19th century. It considers the roots of colonialism and nationalism within the encyclopedic museum, and how this carries through to the present day, while also reflecting on how an evolving media and technological environment informs the experiential possibilities of exhibition-making, in and outside of formal institutions. Throughout, the courses encourages students to ask how exhibition-making and curatorial practice can be a vehicle for true change during the extraordinary context of the present.

View syllabus →

Advanced Projects in Art: Towards the Future

Winter 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2025 · Professor of Practice · Visual Arts, UC San Diego

A professional development course for senior undergraduate artists preparing to enter the contemporary art world. The class begins with exercises to ground students in their personal values, with the goal of building a career and art practice based on those guiding principles. Readings and assignments are geared towards demystifying various aspects of the art world – from exhibition production to conservation to art criticism to funding – while also touching on the many professional pathways within the industry. The required readings draw on recent publications in the field, emphasizing contemporary debates and conversations regarding structural inequity, technology, and institutional reform. The writing assignments provide students with an essential toolkit of items – including an artist statement, sample portfolio, C.V., an exhibition proposal and a short grant narrative – that students can re-use to foster future opportunities.

View syllabus →

Do It Yourself: The Theory and Practice of Art and Social Engagement

Summer 2020, 2021, 2022 · Lecturer · MA in XE: Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement, New York University

The course engages students in a critical discussion of alternative organizational models, social justice, and feminism in the context of nonprofit organizations. Some questions this course poses include: how do you start and run your own independent initiative, whether it’s a publication, an art gallery, a music venue, or a filmmaker’s co-op? What are the ideas that inspire such initiatives and how are they channeled or reflected in practice? Throughout the course we will look at models of such organizations, and discuss the challenges they face, both theoretically and practically, ranging from strategic planning and project management, to enacting activist politics and feminist principles. The course features guest lectures by leading figures in various creative industries who will reflect on their own experiences. By the end of the term, students will have a basic framework for starting their own initiative, as well of a sense of the broader creative landscape in which they might engage.

View syllabus →

Teaching History